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: 2021-06-09
Debate: Rule of law situation in the European Union and the application of the Conditionality Regulation (EU, Euratom 2020/2092) (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I remember very well the first time I came here to the European Parliament in Brussels. It was a hot and sunny September day, just after the summer break. I came out of the metro and there were cars, buses, and people speaking all kinds of languages all around me. As I was walking towards the European Parliament, it really looked like this ginormous beehive made out of concrete and glass. It was humming, it was full of life while, at the same time, many things actually seemed a little bit improvised and maybe even messy. 
I must be honest that probably this building taught me more about the European Union than what I had previously learned in school in textbooks or infographics. Because this Parliament, with its many doors and corridors, all the different shapes and styles, the sheer massiveness of the place, the extensions and annexes that came with the time, even the grey carpet and the art pieces all around the house, really are a perfect metaphor of the European Union because they show our diversity and, at the same time, show the imperfection and incompleteness of this project.
But, just like this building, just like any other building, the European Union needs, more than anything, a strong fundament – no single market, no freedom of movement, no Erasmus without a common basis that we can all stand on. And this fundament is actually pretty clearly spelled out in the Treaties in Article 2: democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. 
But we all know that this fundament is under heavy attack. The basis that unites us all, the precondition for the existence of the European Union, is being dismantled as we speak. But, instead of defending it, the European Commission has been watching, monitoring and writing reports over the past years, without, I must say, obviously fully grasping the seriousness of the situation we are in and without seeing the urgent need to stabilise our common fundament because that needs action. Now.
The European Parliament is ready to do what it takes in order to defend this common fundament and, if it takes pressure to make the Commission do the same, pressure you will get.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-06-08
Debate: European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) 2021-2027 (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the growing social divide is one of Europe’s biggest challenges today. Over 20% of Europeans are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. That is more than 92 million people in Europe. Every day, also directly here in front of the European Parliament, we can see people living in the streets without shelter.
But poverty and social exclusion cannot be understood with facts and figures alone. They shape lives. From stagnant wages, deteriorating mental health, bills that cannot be paid, and indeed people living without a roof over their heads. And the coronavirus has exacerbated all of these issues. Children and youth are the ones that are suffering the most.
For a better future for them, but for a better future for everyone in the European Union, we must be strong in solidarity. We must invest in opportunities, in fairness and in social justice. And the European Social Fund is one of the answers, with its social investment of EUR 88 billion for solidarity and social justice across and within borders. And we’re investing in children and young people so that they have the same chances, no matter where they come from and no matter who their parents are. Bringing people, especially women, back into jobs with decent wages and supporting the most marginalised people to create the conditions for a dignified life for all: that is the Europe I want and fight to live in.
And let me finish by thanking everyone, the rapporteur, the shadow rapporteurs, for the great work. I think we have really shown that, if we are together as one voice, unified in the debates with the Council and the Commission, we can have very strong outcomes. So I think this European Social Fund is also a great success of the European Parliament as a whole.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (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)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, again and again people ask me, like probably many of you: what advantages does it actually have for me that we are part of the European Union? I would then usually highlight things like the political cooperation between neighbouring countries that has led to a long-lasting peace inside of the EU, the obvious economic advantages, freedom of movement for EU citizens, the Erasmus programme, practical things like the abolishment of roaming charges, and so on and so on.
With Brexit, more and more of really everyday life examples pile up, like for example this dress. I ordered it in January online from a small-scale tailor in England for EUR 90. I received it about a month later and had to pay EUR 48 of fees and taxes – more than half of its original price. I honestly thought that this cannot be true, so I contacted the Belgian customs authorities, and here is their reply to my request: ‘Dear Sir/Madam, your package arrived on 16 February 2021 and unfortunately has to be cleared through customs. If this parcel had arrived before 1 January 2021 it would have been free of taxes.’ Just another example of the obvious.
Brexit is not a project of freedom, it is a project of building barriers. Brexit is not a project of prosperity, it is a project of bureaucracy. Brexit is not making Britain big and global, it is making it smaller and inward-looking. And this deal can, unfortunately, not change any of this – but it can be a starting point for moving back closer together, for rebuilding what Brexit has destroyed.
This deal might not be a final answer to the challenges that lie ahead of all of us, but it can be a basis for conversation. So let us take this deal, expand it where it is incomplete, change it where it needs changing, and build a relationship that can actually be sustainable and mutually beneficial again.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-03-25
Debate: Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, every year, just as in the European Union, hundreds of women are killed by their partners, ex-partners and close relatives in Turkey. Thousands are battered, raped and beaten.
After deciding to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, you might argue that Erdoğan does not care about this brutal violence against women, but actually it is worse. Autocrats like Erdoğan and his lookalikes in the European Union are afraid of free and independent women. They are afraid of societies where women can freely decide about their own bodies, their money and their lives. They are afraid of the strength of women and LGBTI movements and that is why they hate the Istanbul Convention. That is why they hate us to be protected from discrimination and violence, and that is why they attack our freedom and independence. 
We cannot let these autocrats win, not in Turkey nor in the European Union. We express our solidarity with all the feminists and queers who are standing up to this in Turkey right now. But most of all we need to have the full accession, ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention all over Europe.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-03-11
Debate: Application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092, the rule of law conditionality mechanism (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I think this Parliament has been abundantly clear about what it expects from the Commission. When a legal act is adopted and enters into force, it should be used in applicable situations by the Commission, especially when it deals with such crucial matters as the functioning of democracy. But it unfortunately seems to me that the Commission follows a different logic, and that is to be very, very cautious with any activities that could potentially further escalate existing conflicts with Member States.
The story goes like this: that if the Commission acts, for example, by activating the rule of law conditionality, it would fuel eventually an anti-European sentiment in countries like, let’s say, Hungary or Poland, when actually when you look at the situation, we have got to a point where the opposite is true.
If the European Commission fails to act in defence of the rule of law and fundamental rights, there will be a rise in anti-European sentiment – not by the usual suspects, but by the people who have for years defended the European Union in these countries, who have stood up for the primacy of EU law: the judges, the prosecutors, the lawyers who have upheld the Treaties, the NGOs who have defended fundamental rights and democracy, the people who demonstrated for their rights in the streets, the many who have counted on the assurances that the European Union is an area of freedom, justice and security, and that the Commission will indeed defend fundamental rights and democracy. Listen to these people, Mr Commissioner, not only the governments in the respective countries.
And lastly, Mr Commissioner, to me, two statements that you have made in your speech seem to be contradictory. On the one hand, you say that objective reasons to activate the regulation will be used from now on. But on the other hand, you also say that there is a waiting period in which you will not act until the ECJ has made an assessment. And to me, only one of these statements can be true.
So again, this Parliament has been clear: use all legal acts, all instruments at hand, and use them now.
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-03-10
Debate: Declaration of the EU as an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, you call us lunatics, you call us an irrelevant minority, you call us perverts, you call us an ideology, when all we ask for is equality. You paraphrase books written thousands of years ago to justify your hate. You take away our rights to distract from the shortcomings of your own politics. You scapegoat our community when all we ask for is safety. You attack our families. You tell people we are a threat. You deny us the right to be who we want to be, when all we ask for is freedom. 
But we will not give up just because you keep attacking us. We will fight for our freedom. We will fight for our safety and we will fight for our equality. This declaration might only be a first step; we know that our lives are still in danger, our rights restricted, our freedom brutally suffocated in far too many places in the European Union, but it is a step and we are many. We are everywhere and we are strong. This declaration shall be a signal. A signal to the community everywhere in Europe. This battle is far from being over. This story is far from being told, and it will take all of us together. But then, yes, then we can do it. We can make the European Union an LGBTIQ freedom zone.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-02-10
Debate: Challenges ahead for women’s rights: more than 25 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (continuation of debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident! Wenn die Geschichte der Frauenbewegung eines gezeigt hat, dann das: Mit nett fragen kommen wir nicht weit im Kampf gegen das Patriarchat, sondern nur mit fordern, mit protestieren, mit streiken, es darauf ankommen lassen und immer wieder mit einer großen Solidarität auch über Grenzen hinweg. Und genau an diesem Punkt stehen wir ja heute wieder. Denn auch Sachen, die bereits erkämpft schienen, werden wieder infrage gestellt.
Es schicken sich einige Länder an, gegen den Konsens und das gemeinsame commitment aus der Pekinger Erklärung vorzugehen. Und – perfider könnte es nicht sein – in ihrer verqueren Welt tun sie das angeblich sogar noch im Kampf für Menschenrechte.
Am Start ist da das who is who der Frauenhasser: Saudi-Arabien, Bahrain, Belarus und natürlich Polen und Ungarn – autoritäre Regime gemeinsam mit autoritären Regierungen in der Europäischen Union.
Ich habe eine Botschaft an diese Regierungen wie vor hundert Jahren, vor fünfzig Jahren und vor fünfundzwanzig Jahren: Wir lassen uns nicht einschüchtern! Wir werden weiter für unsere Rechte kämpfen – heute mehr denn je!
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-02-09
Debate: The de facto abortion ban in Poland (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, what the Polish Government is very obviously trying to do is to transform Poland into some sort of dystopian Gilead, a place where men have control over women and their bodies. And nobody who is watching the situation can deny that any longer. But, for years, the people who were pointing to that fact, most of all millions of women in Poland who were warning and saying how scared they were for their own rights, were told by many not to be so overdramatic and hysterical. And now they are angry and they have every right in the world to be so. That is why they are rising up. They are going onto the streets and protesting for their fundamental rights.
Let us learn this lesson, colleagues. When women warn that their rights are in danger, you’d better listen to them instead of trying to shut them up. But, most of all – and I can repeat this another million times if need be, Madam Commissioner – act, do something about this situation. The Polish judiciary, Polish women, the LGBTI community in Poland – what else has to happen so that we finally see true commitment from the Commission for European values and for the fundamental rights of European citizens?
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-01-21
Debate: The gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period - The EU Strategy for Gender Equality - Closing the digital gender gap: women’s participation in the digital economy (continuation of debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, if I’m allowed, just give me five seconds to say: aren’t we all overly joyful about the historic moment that happened yesterday, where for the first time a woman became US Vice—President, and on top of that, a Black and Asian-American woman. To me, it was really a moment of shattering of glass ceilings and a great moment of joy.
Now, talking about the gender equality strategy: I was born in 1987 in western Germany. My mother always wanted to work and for that, a lot of barriers were put in her way. Last week, my sister became a mother for the first time, and the fact that for her, it’s going to be much easier to combine her work life and her family has a lot to do with the European Union, with a very proactive anti-discrimination policy that has really shaken up conservative countries like, for example, Germany.
But today, if we’re being honest, the women in Germany are not as equal in their rights, as for example, women in France or Sweden. That is why, especially for conservative countries like Germany, we need a strong European Union. Be it on equal pay, on the fight against gender-based violence, or for sexual and reproductive rights. We need a push from Brussels, Madam Commissioner.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-01-20
Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the Portuguese Presidency (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, Madam Commission President and most of all, dear Prime Minister Costa. Forty-six years ago, the people in Portugal took to the streets for democracy and freedom. They took to the streets to peacefully overthrow an authoritarian and oppressive regime. Their struggle for democracy and freedom will never be forgotten in Europe’s history.
Many years have passed since then, but today again authoritarians are grabbing power in Europe, threatening democracy and the rule of law. Again, we need a strong Portuguese voice in the struggle for freedom and democracy.
So, Prime Minister use the next six months to stand strong for our shared European values. This Parliament has for years now fought for a more determined European reaction to breaches of rule of law and EU citizens’ fundamental rights. Very often, unfortunately, without the Council Presidency at our side.
Let us make the next six months a spring for freedom and democracy inside the European Union, for the rights of minorities, of women, for equality and diversity. We count on you Mr Prime Minister.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-12-18
Debate: Future Relations between the EU and the UK (continuation of debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear colleagues, and most of all dear friends in the UK, no matter what is going to be in the deal that might or will hopefully shape EU—UK relations in the future, one thing is absolutely clear: the best deal the UK could get – and it will stay that way – was to be part of the European Union, to sit here around the table in Brussels and to take decisions together. No matter what is going to happen in the next days, weeks, months or years ahead, we must always remember our interdependence will always be stronger than Brexit, our ties will always be stronger than Brexit, and our friendship will always be stronger than Brexit. 
It is the end of the year and we are close to the end of the transition period. So, friends in the UK, so long for auld lang syne. Ce n’est qu’un au revoir, nos amis; auf Wiedersehen und, hoffentlich, bis ganz bald!
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-12-16
Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 10-11 December 2020 – MFF, Rule of Law Conditionality and Own Resources – Council regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 – Proposal for an Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources – Regulation on the protection of the Union’s budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States (debate)

  Terry Reintke,  rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. – Madam President, the louder the victory-screaming of the Hungarian Government gets, the more it is actually meant to cover up the actual facts. First of all, no agreement was reopened. Secondly, none of the legal texts were changed. And thirdly, and most importantly, the rule of law conditionality is going to come. Viktor Orbán cannot cover that up no matter how loud he actually screams. But politically the question remains, and I personally don’t think that this is something that came out just last week, but it has been there all along. 
Is this European Commission, the guardian of the Treaties, ready to stand up for the rule of law and fundamental rights even when it gets difficult? Will you apply a fully functional applicable regulation that after its adoption will enter into force on 1 January 2021, or is this Commission afraid of the noise of the autocrats and authoritarians in this Union? I can tell you – and I have to repeat myself here – the European Parliament is not afraid. With hundreds of millions of EU citizens we stand up for rule of law and democracy. Listen to us. Listen to these citizens, not to the noise coming from the autocrats and authoritarians. 
And lastly, dear colleagues in the EPP – and I say this as someone who has worked closely and constructively with many of you over the years – it does not need another debate however intense it is going to be about where Orbán and Fidesz are heading. This party is set to undermine the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy. The facts are clear. What else has to happen for you to finally take action? The time for complacency is over. Dear colleagues in the EPP, act now.
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-11-25
Debate: Abortion rights in Poland (debate)

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, nothing, exactly nothing, about what is happening in Poland right now can come to us as a surprise. Fundamentalists and authoritarians are taking political control of the judiciary, and what is the first thing they do? They take away the rights of women, of LGBTIs and others. If we don’t do anything about it, it will continue, so again, Commissioner, do not let this happen. This is a responsibility of historic proportions. Take it and do something about it. Yesterday, with 200 Members of Parliament from all across Europe and from across the political spectrum, we sent a letter again to the Commission to say to stand up against these attacks on the rule of law and fundamental rights. 
And secondly, all my admiration, my love and my solidarity to the brave people who are resisting this in the streets of Poland right now. Our bodies, our rights in Poland and everywhere else. This Parliament salutes your strength and resilience. You make all of us proud to be Europeans.
(Applause)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-11-25
Debate: The new LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (continuation of debate)

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, let’s be honest, Europe’s LGBTI community has been attacked on many occasions in recent years but, importantly, this strategy is now a comprehensive plan to create a Union of equality for all of us. We have to make sure that LGBTI citizens are no longer treated as second-class citizens in the European Union. We enjoy exactly the same right to freedom of movement as everybody else, and when we move, we want to stay protected by EU law. The Commission President rightly said a parent in one Member State is a parent in all Member States. I would like to add, like my colleague said, a marriage partner in one Member State should be a marriage partner in all Member States. 
But most of all, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of us of the people we actually have to thank for the progress we have made in our community over the last few decades. It wasn’t rich people wearing fancy suits who started this movement for equality; it wasn’t in palaces or parliaments where the struggle for our rights began. It was in the streets, in dodgy bars, in forbidden places where the talk of our liberation was ignited. Black trans activists, queers, marginalised groups – who were ridiculed, attacked and oppressed – had the courage to start this. Today and every day their power made this movement. Let us never forget that. 
(Applause)