misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-11-21
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, this is not a regular debate. This is not a regular proposal that we are making. This is a very foundational proposal that is happening. And I am very proud and happy that I can actually live in this moment where we, as the European Parliament, trying to change the European Union. And we really have to fix the European Union because it is under attack. 
We might not see the cracks in the wall, but I can definitely hear the hammering and the banging of the far right, really trying to undermine this Union as we speak. And if we look beyond this place where we already hear this and we look outside and we see, for example, in foreign policy, Viktor Orbán shaking hands with Putin, while Putin is at the same time attacking Ukraine and killing Ukrainian citizens, it is becoming very obvious. 
When we look west and we see the US again in the grip of the far-right populists, we know that we have to really do something. So I appeal to you, colleagues, to live up to this responsibility, to understand the history, the historic moment that we currently live in and vote in favour of changing the European Union, of fixing the European Union so that it is able to act and live for the next 50, 100, 200 years.
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-11-21
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card answer. – I’m very happy that maybe soon the blaming of Poland can end. I think that’s a very positive development. From my perspective, the question is really of how we can ensure that we are able to act on a European Union level. There might be examples when other Member States have also been blocking and vetoing things that are in the common interest of the European Union.
But I think what’s core is that we have to make sure that we are able to act on the European Union level. This is not about disempowering national parliaments; it’s making sure that the things we decide on the European level are decided by a European government that is backed by a European Parliament, and this is where we have to go.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-11-21
Debate: Continuing threat to the rule of law, the independence of justice and the non-fulfilment of conditionality for EU funding in Hungary (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear colleagues, the rule of law is non-negotiable. Our laws and values are not worth the paper they are written on if they are systematically broken. And I want to be very clear with our colleagues from the far right: this is not about political differences. It is not about having different opinions on certain issues. It is about undermining the exact stage where democracy is happening. And this is not sacred. This is dirty. It is dirty to steal public money and to give it to your friends. It is dirty if you shake the hands of a dictator that is currently bombing in Ukraine. It is dirty if you have unfair elections where you manipulate your citizens to vote for you. This is dirty and this is not politics, this is not democracy – it is the undermining of democracy.
And therefore, I want to thank the Commissioners for being quite strong and upholding the rule of law by cutting the funds and making sure that this also stays the same until Orbán decides to actually be positive for his own people, for the Hungarian people, who are not the same and unlock these funds by following simply our rule of law. It is not so complicated.
And I would also ask our dear countries to review their bilateral relationships also economically, also in Germany, to see whether we have to be even stricter with the Hungarian Government now.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-18
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2022 (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, wasted government spending has a similar effect as tax avoidance or tax evasion. It reduces the positive impact of the EU budget and it erodes the trust that we as a European Union are a guarantor for transparency. So, the work of the Court of Auditors is really very recommendable and important to keep this trust, and it should be the pro-Europeans of this House who point out the issues with the budget. 
Now to the COVID-19 recovery fund. One thing has to be clear. The fund has already been a huge success because it created stability in a financial market situation which was complex, and we have been basically saying that no country will be left alone facing the COVID-19 crisis. So, that doesn’t mean that there are also some issues. When we look, for example, at the repayment, it’s absolutely clear that we need European own resources, a plastic tax, a minimum corporate tax to be able to finance the debts that we had to incur at this crucial time of our European history. 
I also want to make it very clear, Commissioner, that it would be very important that you look at your processes to see where there are issues that the Court found, so that when we set up the next permanent fiscal capacity, we do it with these learnings in mind.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-18
Debate: New European innovation agenda (debate)

  Damian Boeselager,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Viele hier scheinen im Hinblick auf den US Inflation Reduction Act die jahrzehntealten ordnungspolitischen Maßnahmen über Bord werfen zu wollen. Innovation und Wettbewerb werden in der EU immer öfter aus den Ministerbüros gedacht, und es wird die Vorstellung verbreitet, dass der Staat tatsächlich in der Lage ist, neue Märkte und Produkte zu gestalten.
Die Kommission hilft hier fleißig mit. Von den 60 gestellten Staatsbeihilfeanträgen wurden 58 genehmigt. Aber das kann nicht unser Ansatz für eine gelungene Industriepolitik in Europa sein. Denn erstens ist es ganz oft eben ein nationaler Ansatz. Wenn wir uns das anschauen, die Chipfabrik in Deutschland mit fast 10 Milliarden Euro, das kann sich einfach ein kleineres EU-Land nicht leisten. Da müssen wir vorsichtig sein. Der Binnenmarkt muss zusammenhalten.
Das Zweite ist, dass ich Ihnen als Gründer eines innovationstreibenden Start-ups in der Politik sagen kann, dass es sehr schwierig ist, aus Ministerbüros heraus tatsächlich vorauszusehen, wie die Zukunft aussehen wird. Und es ist auch so, dass wir einfach wieder mehr darauf vertrauen müssen, dass unsere Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer funktionieren können, dass unser Binnenmarkt funktionieren kann, wenn wir in Forschung und Entwicklung investieren, wenn wir darin investieren, die Kapitalmärkte in Europa tatsächlich zusammenzuführen und zu harmonisieren, und wenn wir das Wettbewerbsrecht auch wieder richtig durchsetzen. Lassen Sie uns also nicht einfach nur in die Investitionspolitik reindenken aus Ministerbürosicht, sondern tatsächlich eben auch wieder ordnungspolitisch denken.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-17
Debate: General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024 - all sections (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I am sometimes thankful for the speeches from the far right, because then when I think of the exact opposite, I know what I have to say. This is true for the budget as it is for everything else.
A colleague from the far right in this debate said that we should cut funds because we give too much money to Ukraine. The opposite is obviously true, and it makes me absolutely sick to see a Prime Minister of an EU country currently shaking hands with Putin, who is at the same time attacking and killing Ukrainians.
Another one said that we need to cut funds because the corona recovery money is flowing at the same time. That reminds me of the beautiful fact that we had Polish elections, and hopefully soon the justice system will be reinstated in Poland, and then EUR 35 billion can actually flow to the Polish citizens in the dual transition – the green and digital transition.
Another one said that we should increase cohesion funds. We should not fall into this trap. We need common investment in Europe for the big strategic priorities of the European Union. For that, I will support the rapporteur in his negotiations with the Council so that we get a strong Europe, a strong budget to fight for our future.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-16
Debate: Establishing the Ukraine Facility (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the Ukraine facility is a sign of historic support for Ukraine and I’m proud to be part of the negotiation team.
It’s historic because we sent two strong messages. The first one is that our commitment to Ukraine is long and long term. The Ukraine facility is an institutional design for a long-term tool, that is why it’s so important not only how much we spend, but also how we spend the money. And I’m happy that some of our ideas were taken up here, especially when it comes to defining a minimum share for SMEs, because we do need Ukraine to build new businesses, introduce innovations and push forward the green transition instead of just putting helicopter money on state-owned enterprises.
And the second important message – and I think that’s also key to underline – is that good institutions matter. We’ve learned from the Marshall Fund that good governance, checks and balances and transparency matter, especially in a country that hopefully sooner rather than later will join the EU. We have therefore strengthened institutions such as the Rada Verkhovna, where we have involved local actors, civil society, and we asked for a list of final beneficiaries to be able to follow the money.
Colleagues, I also want to say that reconstruction will need many additional funds. Let’s face it, 50 billion over four years will not be sufficient to support Ukraine until the end of the war and for the reconstruction. But we started by setting this programme up long term, and I am happy that we do that, because in the end – I mean, some colleagues and I, we went to Ukraine recently – what Ukrainians are enduring for democracy is really hard and I think giving some support here is the least we can do.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-04
Debate: Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, we do need a deal and we do need a system very fast, because otherwise we will hear this kind of fear mongering from the right that we heard earlier, not even shying away from Nazi terminology. This is something we have to get over. There is no far right party that didn’t rise on the topic of migration and asylum. I think that’s very clear. But it does matter what kind of deal we get, what kind of system we get. And here I just want to say that while I’m happy that maybe we have a crisis position soon, it also matters what’s in that position. And to be honest, what the Member States are currently proposing doesn’t really work. I mean, let’s look at it. Jailing people and children in the camp would have not helped Italy in Lampedusa, nor would it have helped the asylum seekers. Extending the time of jailing wouldn’t have helped. Transferring some cash to Lampedusa from other Member States wouldn’t have helped. So we need to look at the actual system that we want and that actually works. So a system that works would have fast decentralised procedures, a system that works which, understand that we are one union, and that we need to distribute people across the Union to not have borders. A system that works would have understood that integration challenges and opportunities need to be solved within integration and not by reducing the amount of migrants or asylums that we get here. And a system that works would have a functioning search and rescue system, a system that works wouldn’t put anyone in camps, especially not children. We are better than that. And a system that works wouldn’t follow negative rhetoric, but understand that 75 % of people actually getting asylum decisions at the moment in Germany are positive. So let’s work for a system that works rather than just closing any deal. 
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-04
Debate: Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card answer. – So I think what I was trying to say and what I said is that every far right party in Europe has grown on the topic of xenophobia and migration and asylum, and that is the truth. I also condemn anyone that uses easy populist solutions of saying, you know, the others are evil and we should keep them out. And it doesn’t matter what kind of party family they’re from. But it’s definitely true that every far right politician sitting here has used this rhetoric and even went so far as to using Nazi terminology in this House. And that is not okay and that’s not acceptable.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-10-03
Debate: Interim report on the proposal for a mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, we have said that there are many challenges that the European Union is facing – amongst them, a crazy dictator putting tanks into Ukraine and neighbouring countries that hopefully soon will be a candidate, and obviously the global competitiveness challenge due to the overdependence of supply and demand on China and the need to create, massively, green jobs and phase out brown ones. 
But all these challenges need cash, need funding to be addressed, and if we look at what has been proposed by the Commission with the placet of the Council, it is not enough. I mean, 50 billion for Ukraine is a good start, but it will not be sufficient to even cover the pensions and wages if the US doesn’t live up to its part of the deal. This will not be enough to trigger reconstruction. When it comes to a common investment strategy, I’m sorry, but we know that Germany alone spent around 10 billion for one single factory in Magdeburg, so it cannot be enough to just have, you know, 6 billion out there to strategically invest. This will not be good for the single market. 
Let’s get real. We need to address the challenges of our time. For that, we need a budget that is actually worth it.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-09-14
Debate: Parliamentarism, European citizenship and democracy (debate)

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, colleagues, I want to thank the rapporteurs for a strong draft and I want to agree with Mr Karas, the thing that the populists fear the most is a functioning parliamentary democracy. 
And what is a parliamentary democracy? It’s not so complicated. If we were just 100 people in a room, we could potentially still decide together. But since we are many more millions of people, we delegate our power to a couple of people to take decisions. To be able to take decisions, meaning I can bring in new ideas. That’s the right of initiative. I can decide on the government that is actually governing these decisions that proposes new ideas. And I can decide about how the money is allocated, the cash, and that’s budget authority. You bring these three points in your report, and I think they’re very, very crucial.
In addition, I really like that you also look into what happens in between elections and there are good ideas of citizen participation that we can learn from. And it should also be clear that if I move to another EU country, I have the right to also participate in the democracy that is there – national elections, regional elections, and of course, the European elections.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-09-13
Debate: SME Relief Package (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, dear colleagues, Volt – the political movement that I represent – is technically a start-up, maybe by now a scale-up. And we are very much aware what it means to deal with compliance requirements, trying to find affordable lawyers and fight artificial market barriers.
Colleagues, we all talk and we love to talk about the backbone that SMEs are for our economy. But we really need to look into the details of the laws to understand what we can do to help them. We need to make sure that they do not need lawyers and legalists to be able to understand what the law looks like.
I can give you some positive examples where we have managed to do this. For example, in the Data Act, we ensure that some compliance criteria don’t need to be fulfilled if you’re a small company. And also in the Ukraine facility, we are trying to currently channel a lot of the money also to the SMEs to ensure that we help them. Why? Because SMEs are not only the backbone of our economy, they are also the backbone of our society and they are the ones asking for democracy and for free societies. So we should really help them strive.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-09-12
Debate: Composition of the European Parliament (debate)

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, so we rubber-stamp this proposal by the Council with the 15 extra seats, the deletion of the transnational lists and the invalid budget effect. Okay, we can do that.
But I think we have to see that we have learned two things: first, that the Council can be extremely fast if it wants something; and second, that we in Parliament can be extremely weak even if we have negotiating power.
Why? What I mean is: what if the Council also acted quickly on the electoral law? We have been waiting for one year to even hear from you on this regard. The transnational lists should be decided there and I am happy that we will have a chance to do that.
But this also applies to treaty change. From my perspective, this Parliament already triggered Article 48 more than a year ago as a follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
And what about us? We can say that a consent procedure is not a strong procedure, but the MFF is also a consent procedure, on the seven-year budget, and there we have a full negotiation team actually fighting.
The approval of the Commission President is also a consent procedure. So let’s learn how to be stronger and how to really defend our citizens’ interests rather than to bend to national party leaders.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-09-11
Debate: Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card question. –Mr Benifei, I just have a very short question, which is in regards to the freedom of the mandate. People who criticise the new rules often say it would somehow infringe on the freedom of the mandate. Can you understand that argument?
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-09-11
Debate: Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, colleagues, it’s really high time that we come forward with this report. It has been months since Qatargate happened and we haven’t done much. So I’m very happy that now with the majority of the groups, we actually come – thank you, Gabi – forward with this report. 
I just want to say it very clearly – transparency does not conflict with the freedom of the mandate. We have nothing to hide and we have a lot of trust to win back. So it’s good that we show what kind of side income we earn, what kind of meetings we have, because we have nothing to hide, and how we spend our money, because we have nothing to hide. Transparency is not in conflict with the freedom of the mandate. 
I am proud that I could contribute to a more transparent House, and I wish that we all vote in favour of the most important report that we will vote now. Let’s live up to the trust that we need in this House because why should people follow laws if they don’t trust the process that actually makes them? Let’s live up to it. Let’s vote in favour of this report.
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany — Volt)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-07-13
Debate: Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, it is true that, when we started using ChatGPT, I think we all realised it is a bit like this book On Bullshit, by Harry Frankfurt, the great philosopher, who showed us that, you know, the bullshitter doesn’t really know what the difference between truth and lie is, and he’s much more dangerous actually, than the liar because of that. But to be honest, the more I used it, the more I understood its potential.
It helped me actually write a code to, you know, write my own chatbot in Python, commit it to GitHub and then like upload it to Heroku to somehow make it work. I couldn’t do this without the help of, basically, ChatGPT writing that code for me. So what do we learn from this?
I think we need a couple of principles out there to help us really work with it. The first one is that we should make sure that large models are safe to use and not biased. We should educate our kids, but also our politicians to be able to understand what this technology is. We need authenticity labels to understand what kind of content is AI created. We need to make sure that those who own the data benefit from it or have the right to safeguard it.
We need to tax locally to stop concentration of wealth. We need to make sure that public data is used for public good. We need to make sure that we have a start—up friendly ecosystem to be able to have good AI models here, and we need smart enforcement in global coordination.