lmms-lab-audio/europal-asr huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-06
Mr President, I am sorry that the public visibility of the global strategy was at least partly deflected because of the Brexit debate, and I strongly support the High Representative in bringing forward its publication. I believed before that Europe must act concertedly to help create a peaceful and more just world, and I do not think any differently today. There is much in this strategy which Socialists and Democrats strongly welcome. There is no acceptance of a relative decline in Europe, but rather an understanding that, in a changing world, Europe itself must change to uphold our interests and our influence. That is the importance of the concept of strategic autonomy. It means that soft power may not on its own be enough, but the power of soft power should not be underestimated in the quest to prevent and overcome conflict: by being more than just a security strategy, this strategy may be more effective in making us all more secure. It means that it is a global strategy because Europe does have global interests and it is right that we address the tensions on the Korean peninsula or support for the Columbia peace process, as well as the problems of our immediate neighbourhood. It means that in defence, as in other things, European cooperation really does not have to mean loss of sovereignty. The Socialists and Democrats welcome the commitment to making the sustainable development goals a cornerstone of EU external policy and to upholding the concept of decent work in Europe and outside it. There are obvious dangers in an exercise such as this: that it is easier to define threats than to deal with them, and easier to draw up a strategy than to implement it. The key message from my Group is that this must be a strategy for Europe not just in the European External Action Service but in every European capital. This strategy challenges us all, and it is the responsibility of all EU Member States to meet that challenge.
Date: 2016-07-07
Madam President, in 2012, together with fellow members of the Human Rights Subcommittee I visited Nabeel Rajab in Juw Prison, Bahrain, and today, four years later, he is rearrested and the Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme tell us that he is in solitary confinement and his life is at risk. This is just one case, but should be put together with the travel bans against those human rights defenders, preventing them going to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the restoration of the death sentence and on the arrest of opposition politicians, all cited in our resolution. The truth is that four years later, human rights in Bahrain have deteriorated. We recognise there have been improvements on labour laws and on the freedom of religion, but there has been no improvement on human rights. We see that freedom of expression is violated, contrary to the country's own constitution, and more than 300 people have been stripped of citizenship, contrary to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We want cooperation with Bahrain, but our resolution says that that cooporation cannot continue as normal unless we see the improvement of human rights. Human rights in this country must change. They have to listen, and we will never ever forget a human rights defender who is at risk, anywhere in the world.
Date: 2016-09-13
Mr President, we should all agree with the strong words of the High Representative against the failed coup in Turkey but we must insist that our support for elected governments is not interpreted as legitimising every action of this government, just as our support for due process for alleged coup plotters from the Gülenists should not be interpreted as political support from Europe for their movement. Ms Mogherini, the removal of elected mayors from the Kurdish HDP party is more than a matter of concern. It is quite simply a different sort of coup, and it repeats the actions taken in the actual coup of 1980. Europe must stand resolute on Turkey amending anti-terror legislation if we are to make progress on visa liberalisation legislation which the UN has said denies due process and targets human-rights defenders. Finally, a coup is the ultimate attack on democracy, and Christian Democrats must drop their opposition to opening negotiating Chapters 23 and 24 on democracy. If you do not see that now, frankly, you never will.
Date: 2016-10-04
Mr Kuźmiuk, you speak on behalf of your conservative group and argue in your group that social protection for workers is a bad thing and should be stripped away, and that that is going to help. But when we look at Greece, and even at what the IMF says, the sort of reductions of social protection that your group advocates leads to more firing and less hiring. Do you accept that today in Greece which you profess to be concerned about the maintenance of social protection for the rights of employees is important?
Date: 2016-10-05
Mr President, I have worked for peace and human rights in Colombia for all the time I have been a Member of the European Parliament, and I am proud to be part of the NGO 'Justice for Colombia'. We should know with deep sadness the result in the referendum on the Colombian peace deal. Deeper still should be our determination to keep the quest for peace alive. European and international support is now more important than ever for this process. Why would people vote for more bombings? Why would people vote for more kidnappings? Why would people vote for yet more bloodshed? I do not believe that they did. Too many people thought that this deal involved impunity which it never did, and perhaps they were told so by people who themselves fear going to jail and whose own impunity is their own motivation. If so, what happened last weekend may have delayed the day of justice, but that day will come, and so, for the Colombian people, will peace.
Date: 2016-10-26
Mr President, Martin, thank you. Thank you, on my last day in the European Parliament, to all of you in all of the Groups, Members and staff, for your friendship and for your cooperation. Thank you to the British Labour Party and to the Socialist and Democrat Group to whom I will remain for ever loyal, to my own family, sitting in the public gallery, to whom I will be always loyal too. I am proud to have represented my constituency, the East of England; it really is 'bootiful'. I am proud, as a working-class boy who could never have expected to do so, to have represented my country and our continent. It has been a privilege and an honour to serve. I will always remember being here on the days of EU enlargement and of conflict resolution, of championing business responsibility on behalf of this Parliament, and my new career will be true to those values and principles. I, my party, and many in my country, argued for Europe, and we will continue to do so. We must take our responsibility for the referendum defeat, and I am sorry, when I leave this building, I do not expect to return as an MEP. But if my country makes the historic mistake of leaving the European Union, I look forward to the day when it will return.
Date: 2017-03-15
Madam President, first of all, I would like to thank my colleague Mr Tannock and the shadows for their very good cooperation and a very well-drafted and balanced report. Montenegro has already made progress but still more needs to be done, whether on corruption, organised crime, reform of the judiciary, media freedom, the rights of ethnic and sexual minorities and gender equality. Overall there has been some progress, but it is still not enough. Nevertheless, I would like to congratulate the Montenegrin Government and citizens for the progress they have already achieved in their progress towards the European Union. The issue of election day has already been raised. I have to say that, as Greens, although we have no doubt about Russian influence not just in Montenegro but also in other parts of the region we would have liked to separate the language on Russian influence and on the coup attempt on election day, because this is still under investigation. We do not yet have any independent information about what really happened. We would also have liked to separate the EU and NATO, because this is about EU accession and not NATO accession. Nevertheless, thank you for including many aspects on ecology. I hope we will have your support for two more amendments tomorrow on the protection of Lake Skadar and our concern about 80 hydropower power plants, which need to be constructed with environmental impact assessments.
Date: 2017-05-16
Mr President, tomorrow is the International Day Against Homophobia, and that is why I am wearing this rainbow here to remind everyone who is listening, who is speaking here and who is listening to us that this is a day where everybody should stand up, like we are doing in this Parliament, against homophobia, transphobia, against all kinds of violence against LGBTI people wherever it occurs, in Europe and on other continents. And as Soraya Post has already explained, this is a specific debate on what has been reported happening in Chechnya, in the Russian Federation, in the last couple of weeks. Arbitrary detentions, torture of hundreds of men, either really gay or perceived to be gay, and three of them at least have also been killed. They have been demanded to disclose the identity of other LGBTI people. This is a life of fear that nobody on this planet should be allowed to live, and nobody who protects the perpetrators should not be brought to justice. It is clear that we demand in this resolution and I have to say the resolution we prepared is one of six groups in this Parliament, I really appreciate that there is broad support we demand from the Russian Federation and the Chechnya regime to protect LGBTI people and also to speak out and say this is not against any religious traditions; this is something being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or intersex that has existed all over the planet in all times and all epochs, in all religions, in all cultures everywhere, and exists and should not be worked against. So now we also ask the External Action Service to see that the guidelines that we have are really implemented all over this planet in order to make sure that LGBTI human rights defenders are helped by the European diplomats, and lots is done in that; we already have many good reports by that. I also appreciate that the EAS is having the building illuminated on tomorrow's International Day Against Homophobia in the rainbow flags, and this is important to show visibility and to struggle for equal rights for everybody.
Date: 2017-05-18
Mr Takkula, you cannot use Rule 59 on this. You have to use Rule 190. If you want to do that you have to tell us, and then you need the support of a Group, your Group or another one, or you need 38 MEPs who support it. So my first question to you is: do you want to use Rule 190?
Date: 2017-05-18
Mr Takkula, Rule 193 says texts adopted by Parliament shall be subject to legal-linguistic finalisation under the responsibility of the President. As far as I understand, this has been done on this text. Legal linguistic changes are fine and should be done with every text so they fit what it is supposed to mean. So if you are not asking for Rule 190, I cannot follow up on a vote or whether you have enough support on a vote about referral back to committee, so either you ask for Rule 190 or I have to continue with the vote. Please decide what you want.
Date: 2017-05-18
Now I understand you well you want to apply Rule 190. Do you have the support of your Group? Just a second, let me go one step after the other. Do you have the support of your Group? It does not look like it. Or the support of 38 MEPs? Will those who support the request please stand up? Is it the ALDE Group? All right. We have a Group supporting the request for Rule 190 on adjournment of the vote and referral back to committee. We will now have one MEP speaking in favour and one speaking against. I will first give the floor for one minute to an MEP speaking in favour of Rule 190 and referral back to committee. Mr Dzhambazki, you have the floor.
Date: 2017-06-13
Mr President, let me first of all thank our colleagues for all the positive remarks and support that I got from so many of them, including from the Council and the Commission. Let me also before I forget welcome the Ambassador of Kosovo to the European Union, Bernard Nikaj, up there with Valëza Oruçi. I am glad he is here. Let me also address the few I think hardly any of them are still here who have been very critical of Kosovo. These are the non-recognisers and those from the far left and the far right. First of all, there was a verdict from the International Court of Justice in 2010, which said that the unilateral declaration of independence was in accordance with international law, and this was confirmed by the UN General Assembly. So stop saying that this is against international law. Secondly, you will not be able to turn back history. The Republic of Kosovo exists and is recognised by 114 UN Member States. We will all continue to struggle to make Kosovo part of that European Union in a very positive way. Turning back to what now has to be done in Kosovo, a new government has to be formed, and I hope this will happen swiftly. We cannot wait another nine months as happened last time. This is because of Kosovo's citizens: they will not do it for us. It is not for us here in the Parliament or for the European Union that a government should be formed; it is for delivering on the promises that the candidates have made to the people, and it is for delivering what people expect: for example, visa liberalisation. It is sure that the new Assembly now has to ratify, as swiftly as possible, the border demarcation with Montenegro there is no way around that and deliver on the track record of convictions against organised crime and corruption. That has to be done by the government. Without that, progress will not be possible and citizens will not believe that there is a new government that is theirs. That is important. We have the support, and I hope we will have a good vote tomorrow for this report in the interest of Kosovo's citizens.
Date: 2017-07-04
Mr President, I would like to know from the Commissioner how come that reportedly five EU Member States voted in favour of Saudi Arabia becoming a member of the Commission on the Status of Women. Had there been no coordination in New York on that, Commissioner? We want an answer to that, we want transparency about how EU Member States vote. Is it because some of those Member States export arms to Saudi Arabia, despite an EU code against arms exports to countries that wage war against others, like Saudi Arabia against Yemen? Or is it because they have good business relations and don't want to harm them? Do women's rights really count that little? I do not want to see that in the EU or elsewhere. We know that Saudi Arabia is one of the worst violators of women's rights and human rights. Even men like Sakharov Laureate Raif Badawi, who have demanded women's rights, are imprisoned for 10 years. So I really want to know from you, Commissioner, what happened there? Why did all the EU Member States not vote against Saudi Arabia joining the Commission on the Status of Women? That should have been done.
Date: 2018-02-06
Madam President, the oral question talks about the best way to mainstream FGM prevention. I would like to say that best way to do that is through prosecution, and I am going to do confine my remarks to that subject. In France, I understand, over 120 parents and two practitioners have been prosecuted in over 50 criminal cases. By contrast, in the UK no successful convictions have been brought to date, despite the existence of a specific Female Genital Mutilation Act, from 2005. We don't see enough emphasis placed on securing successful prosecution. It is not enough to have legislation in place if it is not used. Indeed, a landmark UK case collapsed due to lack of preparedness by the Crown Prosecution Service. There is clear evidence that if a mother has been cut then a daughter has an 80% chance of being subjected to mutilation. These women are fellow Europeans. Their problems are our problems and I would ask you specifically, Madam Commissioner, to request information from Member States on prosecutions and ask them why it is not happening quickly enough and what they are going to do to improve it. Because, in my view this has been going on a long time, it is the only way we are going to make it stop. Madam President, I make it a policy not to accept blue-card questions from UKIP. I don't give them any more oxygen.
Date: 2018-02-28
Mr President, today freedoms and rights are at stake in Spain. Freedom of speech, freedom of communication, freedom of assembly, the right to choose your own government and the independence of the judiciary have all been violated in Catalonia. Today, four Catalan leaders are being held in custody without trial and without bail. Although they have always been peaceful, they are accused of violent sedition and rebellion. They could be jailed for 30 years. The Catalan President and some Ministers have decided to go into exile in Belgium and Switzerland in order to avoid an unfair trial. Madam Commissioner, for how long will the Commission keep supporting these policies?
Date: 2018-04-18
Mr President, when the EU27 adopted the framework for a future relationship with the UK I'm sure there was a sigh of relief on both sides of the negotiating table, for now we can start, stop talking about the past, and focus on the future. You mentioned, Mr Tusk, how important free trade is. I have one request, and I speak also for the rapporteurs from the other two or three big political groups: we are concerned that while there is a focus on EU-Japan, which is absolutely correct, please do not demote the importance of the EU-Singapore agreement. We should have signed this in the last Parliament but we delayed it on the EU side, and we really owe it to the Singaporeans to get on with that trade agreement. Let us also focus on a trade agreement between the EU, the world's largest trade bloc, and the UK, the world's 5th or 6th largest economy. As Manfred himself has said, as we look at the global challenges there will be occasions when it is in both the EU's and the UK's interests to work together. As the Salisbury attack and the ensuing intervention has shown, let us also resolve to continue cooperating in those important areas of security and intelligence, because many of the challenges we face are not just European challenges but global challenges. My hope is that, as we look to the future, we will see both an outward-looking European Union and a truly global Britain.
Date: 2018-04-18
Madam President, I couldn't agree more with the last part of the Commissioner's intervention. I also fully share the opinion of my colleague from the EPP from the Irish, Mr Hayes, about the importance of national competition authorities, and in this sense the countries in the north of Europe can give some lessons to the southern European countries in this respect. This is why we give a strong mandate to the Commission in this report to take a look at what is going on in some capitals concerning this very important point. Let me also answer some concerns about the tax competition: of course I believe in tax competition and we can talk about our own edition of the tax base, but I am against tax harmonisation concerning the rate: I think that is a very liberal approach. If we look at the United States, very briefly, they have a centralised monetary policy but a highly decentralised fiscal policy. There is a lot of empirical evidence and a lot of economic literature showing that it is very important to compensate the differentiated effects of the centralised monetary policy. This is why it is needed to have a highly decentralised fiscal policy to compensate territorial and sectoral differentiated effects of the single monetary policy in the US. I think that Europe can learn big lessons from this long experience they have in the US. Finally, Madam Commissioner, it has been a pleasure to work with you and your team. Your work has been quite impressive, we have to recognise, in the last years. I want you to be successful and end your mandate as well as you have started it. You have raised the bar and I hope you finish your mandate and your job as well as you have started it.
Date: 2018-04-19
Mr President, the release of political prisoners and the lifting of the majority of EU restrictive measures in 2016 were encouraging steps which paved the way towards the development of the EU-Belarus relations on a more positive agenda. However, I regret that no progress has been achieved in the field of electoral reform, in line with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Venice Commission recommendations. And unfortunately the local elections reconfirmed the shortcomings in law and practice. In light of these shortcomings, I share the opinion that the Belarusian authorities have to put forward a comprehensive reform of the election law and processes and to apply it before the next presidential elections. I also support the call for closer monitoring of the situation by the European External Action Service and the Commission and strict conditionality vis-à-vis the prospect of greater involvement of Belarus in Eastern Partnership policies, financial support and visa liberalisation. In order to ensure closer EU-Belarus relations the Belarusian Government has to bring forward clear reform commitments with regard to which setting up benchmarks and a timeline is necessary.
Date: 2018-05-29
Mr President, I would like to thank our rapporteur. Yet again she, as always, is a strong voice for all victims across the European Union. The report makes it clear that the different definitions of a victim are a barrier to support. In Northern Ireland, the perverse definition of a victim of terrorism places the bomber and the gunman on a par with those whose lives they've claimed or changed unalterably. Our work in this Chamber should benefit the victim, and not the victim-maker. The border dimension is also important, and today I am calling on the Irish Government to properly address the case of Ian Sproule, a young man gunned down 26 years ago, where there is suspicion that rogue garda officers leaked information on him to IRA members. We hear much in this Chamber about the Irish border, yet nothing about the victims of terrorism in border communities in Northern Ireland. Every Democrat in this Chamber should be outraged.
Date: 2018-06-12
Mr President, just a couple of ideas in two minutes. On the European Monetary Fund, I think double accountability will have to be introduced. National parliaments should continue to be in charge of accounting for their programmes and actions from the IMF, but so should the European Parliament. How can we explain to our voters that the European Parliament the institution that wants to represent democracy in the EU does not have a say over the conditions in bailouts? This anomaly needs to be addressed otherwise, if MEPs cannot decide on Europe-wide important issues, why should people go to vote in the next European elections? By excluding the European Parliament from crucial decisions, the ground is ready for the next generation of eurosceptics. The second idea: on the other hand, it is important that the fiscal compact is implemented through EU law. I think it is a good moment to check how its application has worked in different Member States, and how we can improve it. For example, in the case of Spain, the central government has arbitrarily put a much more stringent deficit objective to regional governments than to the central government. This has been a way to force cuts in welfare state and social policies. Similarly, many local governments in Spain with very low debt are not allowed by the central government to use the cash they have in the banks for investments on social policies. So control of excessive spending should not be a new excuse for recentralisation.