misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-11-11
Debate: Multiannual Financial Framework (including Own Resources), Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism and the Recovery Fund for Europe (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, it is happening in the US, it is happening here in Europe, it is happening all around the globe. Authoritarian leaders are trying to destroy the basic principles and the very foundations of our democracies. Donald Trump does not want to accept the outcome of a democratic election. Viktor Orbán is threatening to veto the EU budget over the rule of law conditionality. 
Some people might think, oh well, if we just back off a little bit, if we just try to see this from their perspective a little bit more, it might all turn out to be a big misunderstanding. Well, here’s the thing – it is not! This is not just a misunderstanding. These guys, they mean it. They are planning to undermine our democracy, our values, by spreading baseless conspiracy theories, by scapegoating minorities, by erasing all checks and balances we have built in hard-won battles over the centuries. This is on, and it is on now. That’s why we need to use every tool we have available in order to stand up to these attacks.
The rule of law conditionality is not just a side note in these budgetary negotiations, it is a precondition. Without it, the European Parliament is not going to accept this budget. Lastly, you can threaten us, Mr Orbán. You can try to intimidate us. You can send your trolls after us. We in this Parliament are not going to be afraid of you. We have the backing of hundreds of millions of EU citizens with whom we stand side by side in the battle for rule of law, for democracy and for our rights. It is on and we are in it.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-10-21
Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 15 and 16 October 2020, in particular the negotiations of the future relations with the UK (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I might not like to say it, but I think it has to be said also here in this House. Boris Johnson has been lying to the people in the UK: the GBP 350 million for the NHS after Brexit; no customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK; and then this oven-ready deal that basically just needed signing on the future relations between the EU and the UK. Come on, these lies have to stop. If we want to turn this around, truth has to be spoken.
First, Brexit is a mess. Second, finding a solution to this mess is not going to be easy for either side, but thirdly, and I think this is important, there might not be a good outcome to this, but there are many different levels of how difficult this can become. So, Prime Minister, stop blaming others for your own actions, take responsibility and come back to the negotiation table and avoid the worst outcome for the people in the UK. You owe it to them.
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-10-05
Debate: Rule of Law conditionality in the framework of the MFF 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, we need a strong and functional rule of law conditionality for the EU budget – an overwhelming majority in this Parliament agrees on this. The arguments why have been exchanged extensively. What I find particularly interesting are the arguments against. The Polish and the Hungarian governments have repeatedly claimed – and we have also heard this again today in this Chamber – that this is merely some kind of left-wing evil conspiracy against conservative values in the European Union. What absolute utter nonsense. Because if we look at this proposal, at this conditionality, it is actually exactly that at its core. It’s conservative. It is law-and-order politics at its best. You play by the rules that all Member States – again, all Member States – have jointly agreed on, or you live with the consequences. And the consequences might mean that you cannot distribute EU money to your liking anymore.
I want to show you: this is where the big consensus in the European Parliament starts, on this left side, and then it goes all the way up until here – the EPP. This is not a left-wing conspiracy. Let’s go back to reality and talk about real arguments. We need this conditionality and we need it now.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-17
Debate: The need for an immediate and humanitarian EU response to the current situation in the refugee camp in Moria (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, actually in this debate, far too few of the people who are most affected by this situation get to be heard: the refugees themselves.
Our colleague Erik Marquardt is in Moria right now and he wanted to change that. That is why I want all of you to listen to the testimony that Zabi from Afghanistan gave to him,
(Ms Reintke plays an audio message from her mobile phone into the microphone) 
‘Hi. My name is Zabi I’m from Afghanistan and I’m also one of the refugees who used to live in Camp Moria. Now that they have left Camp Moria, these refugees have been sleeping on the ground. This is an extremely horrible and heart-breaking situation.’
(The President interrupted the speaker)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-17
Debate: The need for an immediate and humanitarian EU response to the current situation in the refugee camp in Moria (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, if I must, I am going to read out the rest of the statement that Zabi from Afghanistan gave. He said:
‘If you think that the refugees are not suffering here, please see if you can come here with your own families, with your beloved ones. Cross the sea with a rubber boat and try to see if you can sleep on the ground with your beloved ones. Try it without having enough food, water or some sort of shelter. How can this happen? Honestly, we as refugees believed that human rights would be respected in Europe. The fact that we are refugees still doesn’t mean that we should be a burden on anyone’s shoulders. No, we can work as long as there are opportunities provided for us. We know how to even offer help because we have been through so much in life. We had heart-breaking reasons for leaving our countries. We had heart breaking reasons for leaving our families and our beloved ones behind. I don’t really know what else to say because these words should be enough to wake up those who take decisions.’
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-14
Debate: Statements by the President

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, this Parliament is going to debate the situation in the refugee camp in Moria on Thursday, and rightfully so as the situation has dramatically deteriorated after fires broke out last week. There are thousands of people without shelter and without clean water, many of them children.
It is clear that we have to act. The European Parliament is actually ready to act. It is just the Council that is blocking. Under this precondition, I believe it is absolutely unacceptable that we debate this situation without the Council being present. So I would like you, Mr President, to make sure that the Council has to be here when we discuss the situation in Moria.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-14
Debate: Determination of a clear risk of a serious breach by the Republic of Poland of the rule of law - LGBTI-free zones in Poland within the scope of the Rete Lenford case (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, when we look at the situation in Poland and when we look at the findings of this report, we can clearly state that this is not just a systematic breach of the rule of law anymore, but this is a fully fledged rule of law crisis, in the middle, in the heart, of the European Union. 
If you think that I’m exaggerating the situation, or that I’m overstating something, I would like to give you one number, and maybe you are going to rethink that judgment. Currently 10% of all Polish judges, one in ten – in some districts, every single judge – is under urgent threat of being targeted with disciplinary measures. 
What was their crime? They think that defending the rule of law and defending the independence of the judiciary is something that you can actually say out loud. 
This is an unprecedented attack on EU values and the very foundation of the European Union, and probably not one, not two, and maybe not even five, Court of Justice of the Eureopan Union rulings are going to be enough when the ruling party is trying to take political control of the judiciary. 
We have to stand not only with the judges in Poland, but we have to stand with the EU citizens that are demanding access to justice in Poland. 
As the co-chair of the LGBTI Intergroup, I can tell you that every week, every single week, we receive more messages of worry and sometimes, I must say, despair from the LGBTI community in Poland. 
Every week there are new attacks, every week there are new lies spread, there is new anti-LGBTI propaganda, and I don’t know what to tell them anymore, Madam Commissioner, because they all ask the same question: when is the European Union finally going to act? The silence of the Commission over this summer has been screaming into the faces of all of those people whose rights are under attack right now.
And I urge you: do something, start an infringement procedure against LGBTI-free zones in Poland now, Madam Commissioner.
Lastly, and I hope, especially, that Mr Duda is watching but also to our colleagues from the Polish ruling party here in this Chamber: look at me, look at Marc, look at Malin, look at Maria. We are not an ideology. We are human beings. We are made out of flesh and blood. We want to have exactly the same fundamental human rights like everyone else. And I know that deep inside of you, you actually know that, so stop using us and the LGBTI community in Poland for your disgusting political agenda.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-06-18
Debate: European protection of cross-border and seasonal workers in the context of the COVID-19 crisis (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident! Hunderte neue Corona-Fälle in einem Schlachthof in Gütersloh. Und in der Tat: Das Erste, was dem nordrhein-westfälischen Ministerpräsidenten Armin Laschet dazu einfällt, ist: Das hätten ja die rumänischen und bulgarischen Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer selber mitgebracht.
Entschuldigung, aber das geht einfach gar nicht! Erstens, weil es ein altes fremdenfeindliches Narrativ bedient, nämlich dass die Ausländer irgendwelche Krankheiten mitbringen. Zweitens, weil Armin Laschet damit die Verantwortung von sich schiebt. 
In einem geeinten Europa ist es natürlich die Verantwortung des nordrhein-westfälischen Ministerpräsidenten, auch die bulgarischen und rumänischen Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer im Blick zu haben. Denn sie arbeiten häufig unter menschenunwürdigen Bedingungen zu einem Hungerlohn und sind eingepfercht in Massenunterkünften.
Deshalb brauchen wir Ministerpräsidenten, die sich um die Rechte von Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmern kümmern, egal welche Nationalität diese Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer haben, und eine Europäische Arbeitsagentur, die geltendes Recht kontrollieren und durchsetzen kann. Und wenn das alles nicht reicht, dann schrecken wir hier auch nicht davor zurück, die Standards hochzusetzen, denn dieser Ausbeutung müssen wir endlich ein Ende setzen!
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-05-14
Debate: Emergency Legislation in Hungary and its impact on the Rule of Law and fundamental rights (continuation of debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, despite arresting people for sharing the numbers of free hospital beds on Facebook, the Hungarian Government is still saying that the debate on the rule of law in Hungary is just an evil conspiracy by the European Union against Hungary. Look, you have attacked journalists, you have attacked independent NGOs, you have attacked the freedom of academia, you have led smear campaigns against minorities, against the European Union, against Jean-Claude Juncker himself, and now it’s the trans community. This is not about equal gender recognition. This is a message. It is a message to everybody who is different. Either you assimilate with what we think is right or we will make you do it. 
But I can tell you — and this goes to the Hungarian Government — you will not win with this. This continent thrives with freedom and diversity and we will fight for that. You will not break this community. Trans people will not cease to exist just because you want them to, and we in this Parliament and in the European Union will stand with this community and defend their rights.
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-02-12
Debate: Gender Equality Strategy (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, there is actually a long list of things that I would like to put into this Gender Equality Strategy. I will only focus on two, because I believe they are absolutely crucial. The first one is indeed to have a legal proposal on the gender pay gap. It’s long overdue, and maybe we could suggest that it has the title: ‘We only waited 63 – I repeat 63 – years for the EU to make a proposal on the question of pay equality’. I think that would serve the purpose. 
The second issue that I believe is absolutely crucial – and colleagues have said this – is to have a directive against gender-based violence. The accession to the Istanbul Convention is not enough. The backlash against women’s rights is getting stronger across the European Union, and we need to have a clear position to stand up to that. I really believe that, with Trump in the US, with Putin in Russia and with Bolsonaro in Brazil, the European Union, despite the problems that we have in this union, is still the beacon of hope and freedom for feminists around the world. This gender—equality strategy really is one of the chances that we have to live up to their expectations, and that’s why we need to make it a success. 
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-02-11
Debate: Proposed mandate for negotiations for a new partnership with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I have to be honest: it’s a very special moment I think, because it’s the first time that we discuss Brexit here in this House without having our UK colleagues being here, and I must say that apart from a bunch that was sitting over there, I really truly miss them, and I think it shows again how sad it is that this Brexit is happening.
Now, I had the great pleasure and the honour to do my Erasmus year in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. Still, when I go there today, I really feel at home, and I think these are really the ties that we have to cherish also for the future.
And the economic and trade relationships are going to be absolutely crucial in the future. But if we want to build strong foundations, we also have to look at other issues, and that is why I think we have to fight to keep the United Kingdom in the Erasmus programme. Young people did not vote for Brexit, and I think it would be wrong to take away the opportunities from them that I and many millions of Europeans had in the past after Brexit. And that is why, if we want to build a strong relationship for the future, we should fight for a strong Erasmus programme with the UK in it.
Let us leave a light on and build bridges so that the Brits can find their way back home.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-02-11
Debate: The ongoing threat for the Rule of law in Poland (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, one thing is true. There is not only one way to build a democratic system; not all legal traditions in Europe are the same. But for all democratic systems there is a pre-condition, and that is that winning a majority does not mean that you can undermine rule of law and fundamental rights. I mentioned both of them, because actually both of these are currently under attack in Poland.
The independence of the judiciary and thus the separation of powers, which is the cornerstone of rule of law instead of the law of the ruler, but also fundamental rights, especially of those from whom they are most easy to be taken away. I believe that in our reply in the future on the discussion under the Article 7 procedure and the mechanism on the rule of law and also in the future debate, we should take both of these dimensions into consideration.
Poland is a country in the heart of Europe. Without Poland, this Union could never be complete. Polish citizens are indeed European citizens. So instead of blaming Brussels or the European Court of Justice or whoever they want for what is going on, the Polish Government should actually engage in an open and constructive dialogue to solve these very urgent and important problems. And I urge you, colleagues, to also bring this message to Poland.
Colleagues, no matter where you stand in this debate, what we have seen in smear campaigns, in hate campaigns, also against Members of this Parliament in Poland in the past month and years, is absolutely unacceptable. We can only engage in a democratic debate if we uphold the rights of, and respect towards, the other.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-01-15
Debate: Ongoing hearings under article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, I was also one of the people who had the pleasure and the honour today to speak with the representatives of the Polish judges, lawyers and prosecutors. To be honest, there was one sentence said in that meeting that impressed me a lot, and that I wanted to repeat here in this Parliament. One of the representatives said: ‘I swore an oath on the Polish Constitution when I started my job, and with all I do I’m trying to stay true to this oath and defend the rights of Polish citizens’. 
To me, this really encapsulates what kind of people we have to protect in situations like this: these are the kind of people that defend the rule of law, defend our democracies, and are the backbone of our democracies and of the systems that all of us have been profiting from in the past. Judges, prosecutors and lawyers are one of the fundaments of this tripartite system, and that is why protecting them really also means protecting the separation of powers, and thus our democracy. Indeed – and colleagues have mentioned it – what we have seen in Poland in the past years is an organised campaign against that very important backbone, and the Commissioner has mentioned the latest developments in this field. 
This Parliament and the EU institutions have taken steps in order to defend the rule of law and European citizens in Poland, but I believe that the Article 7 procedure has actually proven to very often come too late and be too inflexible to meet all these attacks that have been happening. I think we need to have a more holistic vision, and the rule of law mechanism that is going to be proposed is one of the instruments that we need, together with budgetary measures and, of course, enabling civil society, enabling these representatives to work together. 
Let me finish by saying that I really hope the Croatian Presidency is going to follow the Finnish example in standing up for the rule of law, but just be assured that – no matter what is going to happen – this Parliament will continue to stand up for the rule of law and democracy in the future.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-01-14
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, this is probably going to be the most difficult speech that I’m going to give as a Member of this Parliament. I ran to be an MEP to fight for more rights for citizens in the European Union. And now millions of European citizens are going to lose rights, and there is absolutely no way for me to talk this positive in any way. But I would like to end – and we are approaching the Brexit date – with two positive messages.
The first one is that all EU citizens in the UK have to be absolutely sure about the fact that there are dozens and hundreds of MEPs working here in this Parliament to keep this your Parliament as well. We will work tirelessly to defend your rights here in this Parliament.
And the second one, and this goes out to all the people in the UK who are heartbroken right now. And I know that even with this movement that is unique in European history, it has not been possible to put this decision back to the people.
But these demonstrations and all the signs and all the tweets and all your votes there were not in vain. You built something absolutely beautiful over the past years and this is the largest pro-European citizens’ movement that we have seen, and we will build on that. And trust me, one day I will see British MEPs being re-elected to this Chamber.
(Applause)