misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-03-07
Debate: Implementation of the 2021-2027 cohesion policy (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner Ferreira, dear colleagues and most importantly, dear Europeans, currently we are facing two devastating crises: the climate crisis, but most importantly, of course, Russian war on European soil. These lead to great uncertainty, but not what is uncertain – that’s quite clear. We know what we want to do. We want to become independent from Russian fossil fuels by extending our energy efficiency and renewable energies like wind and solar. This will hurt Russia now and make Europe stronger in the long term. 
We know we want to help those who help refugees. Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and the whole European Union says refugees are welcome and we need to support those people. We know that we want to strengthen the EU’s unity through cohesion. Economic prosperity in all regions brings the European people together, and a united Europe will perceive any crisis. 
The uncertainty, though, is how we reach those goals. In this uncertainty, we need, on the one hand, strategic stoicism, on the other, localised expertise. The Commission needs to ensure that even under these time constraints and the Russian aggression, our strategic goals, and the means, will be kept, including the rule of law. 
Most importantly, though, the Commission must ensure that the partnership principle is valued and that local expertise is included. Partnership agreements that do not include those means must be rejected, even if we are facing time constraints. The solution to this less time is more efficient spending of money through local experts. LEADER has shown us that it can be spent very wisely and we should use CLLD and LEADER approaches in the partnership agreements. 
Lastly, let’s be honest, we also have to criticise ourselves (I’ll be finished in a second) that we have taken too long to finish this. It was a problem from the Member States also, to not have taken the time accordingly, but that should not end up hurting the regions, and we must ensure that this comes out in the end and that they get a little bit more time in the end to use the money accordingly.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-10-18
Debate: The situation of artists and the cultural recovery in the EU (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, the culture and creative sector is still in the biggest crisis in its existence. Thousands of European artists, creators and performers have lost their income. Those people across Europe have used up all their savings, they have sold their instruments and tools and they still are living from day to day without clarity what comes tomorrow, or if they can put food on the table for their families.
And yet the political response throughout Europe’s Member States has been inadequate to deal with this tremendous crisis that culture currently faces. The freedom of expression, the freedom of the arts, the freedom of speech, the freedom of culture is at stake. We can have very nice laws, like Article 13 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, that grant the freedom of arts and the expressions. But when artists, performers, authors, creatives are struggling to survive, those rules mean nothing.
And yes, we do have governments in the EU that use the pandemic to defund the sector, to destroy the opposition and to silence their critics. When this is happening in the Union, the EU must act to protect artists, performers and the whole sector. The EU must become the guardian of culture, of freedom.
In this light, we, the European Parliament, have worked collectively to present this report that draws the attention to the horrific situation of the cultural and creative sectors and industries CCS, as well as propose improvements. I am thankful for the cooperation that we have with the rapporteur, Ms Semedo, as well as the other colleagues and, of course, the CCFT. This cooperation shows that we have crossed paths and shared an understanding of the risks that we are facing when culture is under distress.
However, I believe we also need to go further and we need to go beyond what the treaty offers the EU to do. If we want the EU to be the guardian of culture, we need to extend the competences and weave a safety net that offers social security, health care and pensions to all creatives in the EU.
We need to see more investments from the Member States like the two per cent that we propose from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) money, and we need to get the possibility to support artists and performers with funding, even if they are in a position in their country. Only then, we will see a recovery from the situation, and only then, culture will truly be free again.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-10-06
Debate: The Council's lack of will to move the European cross-border mechanism forward (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I want to start with the words of the Council itself. To quote the Treaty, it says ‘determined to lay the foundation of an ever closer Union among the peoples of Europe, resolved to ensure the economic and social progress of their countries by common action to eliminate the barriers that divide Europe.’
Those barriers are still here in the form of useless regulation, unnecessary bureaucratic complication and common public frustration. The European Cross—Border Mechanism solves these issues. It brings peoples across Europe together and raises economic prosperity. Regions that now are peripheric in regard to their Member States can become a central part of Europe with enhanced cooperation, with new jobs, with prosperity and an improvement of livelihood.
For three years already, 15 Member States have been blocking the ECBM. For what? It is because they think that the slightest reduction of their own competences is too much. Because national politicians are afraid that they might lose power. The Council is not acting in the interest of the European people. The ECBM is justified by the treaty to which the Member States have committed. 
The ECBM is just because it is in line with the Commission’s mandate and does not infringe competences. The ECBM is needed because it improves the situation for border regions and betters the lives of the people in those regions. The ECBM is appropriate because the benefit overwhelms the loss of competences. When will the Council adopt a position and start negotiation with us? When will you finally take the treaty seriously and start working for the European people?
I believe I speak for all my colleagues in the Committee on Regional Development when I say that all our doors are open for you and for talks so that we can ease concerns, build trust and bring the European Cross-Border Mechanism to a conclusion, because we are ready to work for the European people.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-06-23
Debate: Common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy 2021-2027 – European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund 2021-2027 – Specific provisions for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and external financing instruments 2021-2027 (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the green vision for the European cohesion policy is to put the people at the centre of our policy. We see the economy, the social programmes and even climate protection as a means to do exactly that: to support and improve the life of Europeans, of all Europeans. And this life happens in the regions. It’s the regions that are the place for social security, for fair chances and for political and individual self-determination.
The cohesion policy that we discuss today is a big step towards this green vision. We made it possible to support climate neutrality and a sustainable economy. We made it almost impossible to waste European money, either by destroying nature or by feeding into corruption. And we brought people together. We said individual citizens should make the decisions in their regions. However, we are still not finished because a ‘do no significant harm’ rule is not a ‘do no harm’ rule. And not a decrease of funds is not an increase that we urgently need. And to almost make it impossible to spend money on corruption is not making it impossible, so we still have work to do.
Cohesion policy, though, has always brought people together, has made security and solidarity and equality in Europe possible. We want security, we want solidarity, and we want unity in Europe and so we want better cohesion policy. Today we will celebrate the cohesion policy proposal that we have today. But for tomorrow we will continue to work to improve the life of the European citizens.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-05-18
Debate: Creative Europe programme (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Creative Europe ist ein Erfolgsprogramm. Aber wir dürfen auch nicht vergessen, dass der Kultur— und Kreativsektor in der größten Krise aller Zeiten steckt. Millionen Beschäftigte stehen immer noch ohne Job und ohne zukünftige Perspektive da. Dieser Umstand ist nicht nur eine Katastrophe für Kunst und Kultur – nein, diese Situation zehrt auch an den Fundamenten unserer gesamten Gesellschaft.
Die Kunstfreiheit in Europa ist bedroht, auch weil Autokraten die Kunsthochschulen unter ihre Kontrolle bringen und weil Kulturschaffende keine soziale Absicherung haben. Europa ist eine Wertegemeinschaft. Dazu gehört eben auch der Schutz von Kunst und Kultur. Dafür muss die EU aber auch Einkommensmöglichkeiten für Künstlerinnen und Künstler schaffen, wenn diese in ihren Nationalstaaten aufgrund von Ideologie finanziell ausgetrocknet werden. Creative Europe tut das bereits an vielen Stellen, nur leider sind die Bewerbungen immer noch aufwendig, und Bewilligungen sind viel zu selten. Daher gehört Creative Europe deutlich aufgestockt.
Zusätzlich benötigen wir dabei aber auch noch einen Kultur— und Medienfonds ohne grenzüberschreitende Komponente. Und vor allen Dingen brauchen wir eine europaweite soziale Absicherung von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern, die Arbeitslosigkeits—, Gesundheits— und Rentenversicherung vereint. Wo die Mitgliedstaaten versagen, muss die EU mehr tun, um die Kultur, die Kulturen und die Kulturvielfalt in Europa zu sichern.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-05-18
Debate: Erasmus+: the Union Programme for education and training, youth and sport (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident! Europa kann man nicht lernen, man muss es erleben. Aus diesem Grund haben wir mittlerweile zwei Programme, die jungen Menschen ein europäisches Erlebnis ermöglichen: das European Solidarity Corps und Erasmus+. 
Erasmus ist das wohl berühmteste europäische Programm und auch das erfolgreichste, um Menschen zusammenzubringen. Eine ganze Generation Erasmus-Babys gibt es bereits. Trotz der Notwendigkeit für das europäische Projekt und obwohl wir ein 750 Mrd. EUR schweres Budget mit dem Namen NextGenerationEU verabschiedet haben, wird gerade hier noch ein bisschen gespart. Die Kommissionspräsidentin hat das erste Versprechen, was sie in ihrem neuen Amt gegeben hat, nicht gehalten: Erasmus wurde nicht verdreifacht – das ist einfach enttäuschend. Dafür bin ich aber extrem froh, dass wir als Parlament über die Fraktionsgrenzen hinweg für dieses Jugendprogramm gestritten haben. Wir haben es geschafft, die Programme so inklusiv und zugänglich wie noch nie zu gestalten, und immerhin eine Verdoppelung des Budgets erreicht. 
Mein ganz besonderer Dank gilt dabei auch der Ausschussvorsitzenden: Liebe Sabine, Deine Sturheit hat im Rat wirklich dafür gesorgt, dass wir bei den horizontalen Prinzipien bei allen drei Dossiers etwas erreicht haben. Wir müssen dieses Programm jedoch auch weiterentwickeln und ergänzen. Wir müssen Chancengleichheit in ganz Europa herstellen und Menschen jeden Alters eine europäische Erfahrung ermöglichen. Dabei benötigen wir neben Erasmus und ESC einen gemeinsamen Bildungsraum, und wir brauchen auch ein European Sabbatical, welches einen Austausch im Berufsleben ermöglicht.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-05-18
Debate: European Solidarity Corps Programme (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, liebe Damen und Herren! Alle in Europa schauen gerade den ESC – aber natürlich den Eurovision Song Contest und gerade das erste Halbfinale da drin. Aber ich glaube, in Zukunft werden die Menschen mit ESC dann doch eher den European Solidarity Corps verbinden, denn der ist der europäische Freiwilligendienst, und er bietet die Möglichkeit, Solidarität mit Unternehmensdrang zu verbinden und Erlebnisse mit Lernerfahrung. Ein Abenteuer erleben, Gutes tun, eine neue Sprache lernen, eine neue Kultur erleben, vielleicht sogar die Liebe seines Lebens finden, auf jeden Fall mal raus von zu Hause – all das bietet der ESC. Unser Ziel ist es, dass jeder junge Mensch in Europa diese Möglichkeit wahrnehmen kann. Und dafür werden wir in Zukunft auch das Budget, glaube ich, nochmal ziemlich drastisch erhöhen müssen. Da werden wir noch hinkommen.
Wenn wir in die Zukunft blicken, dann wünsche ich mir, dass wir durch einen gemeinsamen Bildungsraum Chancengleichheit in Europa geschaffen haben und Verständnis für und Vertrauen ineinander ermöglicht haben. Untermauert und begleitet wird die Bildungserfahrung in Europa von ständigem Austausch dank Erasmus+. Und nach der Schule ist es für unsere jungen Europäerinnen und Europäer eine Selbstverständlichkeit, ein Jahr Freiwilligendienst im Ausland zu verbringen – dank ESC. 
In der Ausbildung und später im Job werden erneut Auslandserfahrungen gesammelt dank Erasmus und European Sabbatical. Und durch die gemeinsame Erfahrung, gelebte Solidarität und den kulturellen Austausch werden wir den kommenden Generationen ein Verständnis für Europa mit in die Wiege legen, das uns allen noch unbekannt ist. Die Beschlüsse von heute sind der Beginn eines Europas, das zuvorderst aus Menschen besteht, aus Menschen, die in Vertrauen miteinander leben.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-05-17
Debate: Just Transition Fund (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the JTF is the only social policy element in the Green Deal. The JTF is an insurance to all people that the transformation towards a climate-friendly economy will not only be compatible for everyone, but actually be beneficial for everyone. The JTF is the promise that no one will be left behind, and it’s the starting gun for the race towards climate justice. The JTF is therefore the most important component of the Green Deal and the best tool for piercing the thick board that is climate action.
Mr Schmit, dear colleagues, now in its final form the JTF will enable much-needed investments in a forward-looking economy and in social policies. Thanks to Green pressure in the Council and in Parliament, no money will be burned in gas investments. Instead, with the green rewarding mechanism we included an incentive to turbo-charge on climate protection. And the JTF is already having success before it has even been adopted: Poland has finally announced it would phase out gas by 2049 because it does not want to forego JTF payments. However, if we want to be in line with the Paris Agreement we need to include a 2030 target. The green proposal for this was sadly rejected. Well, at least the Federal Constitutional Court agrees with us here.
Overall, we are all satisfied to finally come to an end with such a convincing regulation and yet all of us here are also very immeasurably disappointed. Why? Because despite the need for climate-friendly social policy, despite the effectiveness of this very regulation, and despite the explosive nature of climate protection policy, the Council did not provide the JTF with the adequate resources to enable this tool’s piercing potential. EUR 17.5 billion is too little money to 100 regions all over Europe. The Commission asked for 40 billion in the first proposal for Next Generation EU, but the Council cut this more than in half knowing that this budget is not sufficient. It is simply a shame. The JTF is an efficient and sharp tool. Due to the Council, though, it’s just too small. So we Greens get the impression that the current EU climate policy is like drilling through the thickest board with the smallest drill.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-04-27
Debate: The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement - The outcome of EU-UK negotiations (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Robert Alan Arthur said intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee for a peaceful, just and sustainable world. This intercultural dialogue is the essence of our European Union. However, this intercultural dialogue, at least with the UK, is endangered and has been endangered more than it must. 
The UK leaves the Erasmus+, a programme that not just brings European students together, but ensures youth empowerment and education in every single Member State. The UK doesn’t have to leave Erasmus, other non-EU countries are also part of it. But it does so because Johnson wants to cut the intercultural dialogue of the next generation. One that, by the way, mostly voted to remain. 
The UK also leaves Creative Europe, a programme for cultural cooperation. It doesn’t have to leave cultural Europe because other non-EU countries are also part of it, but the UK does so because Mr Johnson wants to cut the intercultural dialogue. But Johnson’s Brexit deal doesn’t just hurt those who voted to remain but also the leavers. The ESF and the cohesion funds are missing and the people in remote and de-industrialised regions are hurt by it. Fishing doesn’t work as intended and the scientific exchanges are endangered as well. Brexit only has losers and that’s a shame, but we have to do the best we can with it for the future.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-04-27
Debate: Space programme 2021-2027 and European Union Agency for the Space Programme (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, the stars on our flag are no coincidence. They are a constant reminder that we as Europeans should always strive for the stars – metaphorically, but sometimes even literally. Dear Commissioner Breton, dear colleagues, if we get to reach for the stars again, we have today taken the very first step.
The EU space programme can form the basis for a forward—looking, unambiguous European space policy. However, if we don’t just want to reach for the stars but actually seize them, then we must go even further. We are in the midst of a new space race, and if Europe continues to proceed as it has done so far, we will lose it.
Fifty-five years after the Outer Space Treaty, only a minority of the European Member States have enacted a national space law. They missed their chance. Now we have to decide: does it still make sense to have 27 individual national space laws, only to then harmonise them once again, in the midst of a worldwide space race?
No, it does not make sense. We need a uniform European space law as soon as possible, because we need safety and security and, for the private sector, we need clarity and planning security. And if we want a competitive European space economy, we must also ensure a stable income by issuing continuous public contracts. We need very close cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and to enable big projects like a European mega constellation. Only then will we stand a chance against SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Mr Breton, you are also in the very historic position of having to define what Europe’s global position will be. We have to ensure that we step forward onto the world stage to find the common ground on open regulation issues, such as space traffic management, space debris regulation and the registration of private space flights.
I personally am really proud of what we Europeans have achieved so far, in particular with world leading programmes like Copernicus, EGNOS and Galileo. However, let us not stop here. Let us accelerate and let us ensure that there are not only stars on our flag, but that there is our flag on the stars.
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-03-11
Debate: Respecting the partnership principle in the preparation and implementation of national recovery and resilience plans, and ensuring good governance of the spending (debate)

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear colleagues, Mr Dombrovskis for the Commission, by the way we are missing the Council. It’s very sad that when we talk about them that they’re not here.
When we talk about the partnership principle, we acknowledge that we politicians in Brussels, but also the politicians and the capitals, don’t know everything and they don’t know how to recover every aspect of the regional economy. Therefore, we involve the regions in the question of how to ensure that the recovery really belongs to the people, how we ensure that the recovery facilitates matters in every region of Europe. Then the question is, why aren’t we using it? Why isn’t it used for this recovery as well? 
This endangers the whole recovery project because it makes it possible that funding goes into fraud, but it also makes it possible that we lock in regions into useless investment programmes that the people on the ground don’t want. 
So please, to the Commission, you need to ensure that the that the partnership principle is valued, that the democratisation of this project, of this recovery programme is valued, and you need to ensure that no plan comes through that doesn’t value the partnership principle.