unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Mick Wallace
Political group: The Left
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Mr President, this push for a more featherless EU with qualified majority voting is grist to the mill of those who argue the EU is an anti-democratic entity. The people of Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 because of the potential loss of sovereignty, neoliberal reforms and the threat to Ireland’s neutrality. The second referendum saw the treaty accepted because of an intense ‘yes’ campaign that threatened and bullied the Irish people into submission. Those who campaigned for the ‘no’ vote have been vindicated and more. We could have imagined how militaristic the EU would become, how undemocratic it would become, where our foreign policy is being run by the United States. Now, a proposal to go even further to silence minority positions, when only a small minority oppose a genocide happening before our eyes in Gaza. Those who are so keen to build a militarised Europe are doing untold damage to the European project that we yearn for. The people of Europe don’t want your militarised Europe.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Dubravka Šuica
Language: EN

The Commission is ready to fully play its role, as already said. As regards this Parliament’s proposal for treaty changes, it will be first and foremost for the Council and the European Council to follow up on Parliament’s resolution.  Let me use this occasion to refer back to the Conference on the Future of Europe, which I had the honour of co-chairing jointly with Guy Verhofstadt, one of the co-rapporteurs on this important report, and with the Presidency of the Council.  The conference was a unique process involving citizens in policymaking. It produced valuable and meaningful results. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have committed to following up effectively on the conclusions of the conference, each within the remit of their competences and in accordance with the Treaties.  Your report is one of the important responses to the final proposals of the Conference of the Future of Europe. Beyond its content and proposals to change our founding Treaties, this report shows that all institutions are doing their part in following up upon the proposals from the conference.  As already said, the Commission stands ready to fully play its institutional role in the procedure set out in the Treaty. From the outset, I want to assure you of the Commission’s full commitment to play an active role in the process. The Commission is also committed to continuing to follow up to the conference, as shown in our Commission’s work programme for 2023 and for 2024, largely based on initiatives that are directly or indirectly linked to the conference, also by integrating citizens panels as a new form of engaging citizens in our policymaking. As we prepare for the challenges ahead, we will remain inspired by this approach.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Guy Verhofstadt
Country: Bulgaria
Language: EN

But on unanimity, it is a little bit strange that this criticism comes from the Polish side, on the abolishment of unanimity, because Poland knows what damage unanimity can do. Your country even disappeared for decades because of the unanimity that existed in the Polish Parliament. That completely undermined the existing of the Polish State. So, you will be the first in fact to defend the end of unanimity. I remember very well – if you allow me, Mr President – the discussions on the Lisbon Treaty with President Kaczyński and Prime Minister Kaczyński at the time. They were not very pleased with the outcome of the Lisbon Treaty, certainly not with the whole issue about the 55/65 qualified majority rule. They were against. What we do here in the proposal is we make the position of small- and medium-sized Member States, and especially of a big Member State like Poland, stronger in the proposal, by saying that you need, in the future, two-thirds of the Member States to approve by qualified majority a proposal, and to lower the 65%, what is in fact a veto for France and Germany, to 50%. I am pretty sure that if that was on the table at the moment of the Lisbon Treaty that both President Kaczyński and Prime Minister Kaczyński would be victorious and would be happy with such a proposal. So, maybe you have to reconsider your own attitude in the past a little bit before saying ‘no’ to this important proposal of the European Parliament.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Gabriele Bischoff
Country: France
Language: DE

Und Europa ist eben mehr als ein Geldautomat. Europa ist die Antwort darauf, dass wir Frieden, Fortschritt und Sicherheit in Europa brauchen und dass wir Souveränität doch auch nur gewinnen, wenn wir wirklich unsere Kräfte hier poolen, zusammen, in so vielen Bereichen. Was passiert denn mit Staaten, mit Unternehmen, die sich nicht reformieren können, wenn sich das Umfeld ändert? Die gehen unter. Deshalb ist es doch wichtig, dass wir sicherstellen, dass wir uns anpassen. Und da kann man über den richtigen Weg streiten – und wir haben viel gestritten, auch unter den Berichterstattern. Wir haben uns auf einen Kompromiss geeinigt, und da gefällt mir auch nicht alles. Aber das ist das Wesen auch von Kompromissen und eben dann auch gemeinsamen großen Paketen. Deshalb möchte ich noch einmal appellieren, diesen Schritt zu gehen, weil wenn wir ihn nicht gehen, wird es keine weiteren Schritte geben. Und ich glaube, dass die Bürgerinnen und Bürger uns ganz klar ins Stammbuch geschrieben haben, dass es Veränderungen braucht, auch für ihre Zukunft. Ich möchte noch einmal zur ID- und zur ECR-Fraktion sagen – ich glaube, man hat das heute gesehen: Die wollen nicht darüber streiten, welchen besseren Weg Europa gehen will, die wollen Europa rückabwickeln. Und ich glaube, das ist etwas, was die Mehrheit in ihren Ländern, auch der Bürgerinnen und Bürger, nicht will.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Rainer Wieland
Country: Germany
Language: DE

Herr Kollege Saryusz-Wolski, ich rufe Sie wegen des Begriffs der Lüge zur Ordnung. Wir sollten uns das gegenseitig nicht vorwerfen, das ist unparlamentarisch.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Daniel Freund
Country: Spain
Language: EN

We had colleagues here, one of the friends of you, Nigel Farage, who said he is going to bring all that sovereignty back to the United Kingdom. It seems that the kind of sovereignty that he brought back to the UK is more the kind of sovereignty that a country like North Korea really has a lot of: nothing in the supermarkets; no gas at the gas station; no workers to keep the health sector going; the worst economic performance of any developed economy that we have seen since the moment that they left the Union. So, all of you on the right have abandoned that same dream that, when Nigel left, you were still saying, ‘well, my country is going to be the next that leaves.’ Now you’re not saying that anymore. Sovereignty on things like climate change, sovereignty on things like taxing large corporations, sovereignty to defend yourself against Russia. None of that sovereignty lies in any of our small Member States. None of us can do that alone. But there is a chance for sovereignty at EU level. If we work together, then we can act on these issues. So, the question whether abolishing the veto takes away sovereignty from small Member States, it’s the question of: do you want to have a veto in a system that looks like North Korea or do you want to have your democratic say, your votes, in a European democracy that can actually deliver? That’s the question. And I don’t want to go into a North Korea-style system that you guys keep dreaming about.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Helmut Scholz
Country: Luxembourg
Language: EN

That means that I remind all of us, all of you, that the founding document of the integration process was and is the manifesto of Ventotene. When it had been written in the darkest times of the European history, when Spinelli and others thought about the question of how we would organise the co-existence and co-living in friendship, in peace, of citizens who shot each other. I think we should always remind ourselves of this antifascist founding consensus of the European integration process.  Yes, today we have to face that changes to the Treaties are necessary. The social reality – you have described it from the varied points – is under danger because there are neoliberal policies which are worrying the citizens in a lot of Member States. And we have to think, has an internal market foreign policy interest? Has an internal market interest in struggling against the climate change to keep the biodiversity alive? Etc. And these are the challenges we have to face.  Therefore, the citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe expressed a strong will in their recommendations to change the Treaties in their interests. So we have to deliver to the citizens to make the European Union working for their interests and not from national interests. It is not any longer only the nations and the states who are playing a role. The citizens have to take part in the decision-making, and therefore we need to open the Treaties and change them in that direction.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Anna Fotyga
Political group: ECR
Country: Denmark
Language: PL

Te same siły, które proponują zmiany, w ostatnich latach łamały obowiązujące traktaty, zastępując kulturę konsensusu, siłą, także w dziedzinach, w których Bruksela nie ma kompetencji. Grupa ECR i ja osobiście od lat argumentowaliśmy, że utrzymanie konsensualnego procesu podejmowania decyzji w polityce zagranicznej i bezpieczeństwa służy wspólnocie.  Przez lata przywódcy Unii i teoretycznie najsilniejszych stolic mylili się w swoich ocenach i prowadzili błędną politykę wobec Rosji i Chin. Podejmowali w tej sprawie szkodliwe decyzje, np. o budowie gazociągu północnego. Kolejnym przykładem narzucania decyzji był wpływ Niemiec i Francji na politykę wobec Ukrainy po aneksji Krymu poprzez tzw. format normandzki. Tymczasem stosowanie formuły konsensusu pozwala na wypracowanie wspólnej wizji WPZIB, a co za tym idzie jedności w ramach UE.  Sądzę, że w obliczu globalnych wyzwań UE winna afirmować jedność Zachodu, unikając wewnętrznych agresywnych starć ideologicznych. Dlatego zdecydowanie odrzucam przedłożony projekt. Jestem przekonana, że nie zgadza się z nim większość moich rodaków, a także obywateli innych państw członkowskich.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Maria Grapini
Political group: S-D
Country: Portugal
Language: RO

În plus, consider că cetățenii europeni ar fi trebuit să fie consultați prin referendum în fiecare țară și apoi să votăm noi aici modificarea tratatelor. Țara mea suferă de 12 ani că nu este în Schengen din cauza unui singur om - reprezentantul Austriei în Consiliu! Ar trebui să mă opun existenței unanimității, dar din păcate textul propus induce alte inechități și voi vota împotrivă.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner
Political group: ECR
Language: FI

Muita mietintöön liittyviä ongelmia on lukuisat ehdotukset määräenemmistöpäätösten lisäämisestä, mikä merkitsee yksimielisyysvaatimuksesta luopumista. Parlamentille halutaan lisäksi täysimittainen lainsäädännön aloiteoikeus. Komissio nimettäisiin uudelleen ”Euroopan toimeenpanoelimeksi”. Tämä enintään 15-jäseninen elin koottaisiin sen puheenjohtajan poliittisten mieltymysten mukaan. Nykyisellään jokaisella maalla on oikeus nimittää oma komissaarinsa. Pidän erikoisena myös esitystä siitä, että eurosta tulisi koko unionin yhteinen rahayksikkö. Monessa EU-maassa on tällä hetkellä käytössä oma kansallinen valuutta.  Hämmästelen kovasti kiirettä, millä perussopimusten muuttaminen yritetään viedä maaliin. Liittovaltiofanaatikkojen toiveena on, että perussopimusmuutokset saataisiin voimaan jo ennen EU-vaaleja. Toivon, että tämä kansallisvaltioiden suvereniteetille vahingollinen esitys ei tule menestymään neuvostossa.
Debate: Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Monika Vana
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: France
Language: DE

Wir sprechen uns darüber hinaus für geteilte Kompetenz im Gesundheitswesen aus und für einen universellen Zugang für alle zu sexueller und reproduktiver Gesundheit. Auch das Einstimmigkeitsprinzip muss endlich fallen – mit der expliziten Ausnahme der Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik.
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Rainer Wieland
Country: Germany
Language: DE

Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über den Bericht von Siegfried Mureşan und Nils Ušakovs im Namen der Delegation des Europäischen Parlaments im Vermittlungsausschuss für Haushaltsfragen über den Standpunkt des Rates zum Entwurf des Gesamthaushaltsplans der Europäischen Union für das Haushaltsjahr 2024 (11565/2023 – C9-0422/2023 –
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Johan Van Overtveldt
Country: Spain
Language: NL

De aanpassingen die de Raad en het Parlement tijdens de conciliatie aan het voorstel van de Commissie hebben aangebracht, komen tegemoet aan de huidige uitdagingen. Laat ons niet vergeten: die uitdagingen zijn zeer reëel. Er woeden twee oorlogen aan onze buitengrenzen op dit eigenste moment. Er is dan ook uitvoerig in bijkomende middelen voorzien voor humanitaire hulp. Verder hebben we ook voor Erasmus+, het investeringsprogramma voor de vervoersinfrastructuur (CEF Vervoer) en het onderzoeks- en ontwikkelingsprogramma Horizon in extra middelen voorzien. Dit zijn zinvolle programma’s, met bewezen toegevoegde waarde voor de hele Unie. Verder zijn er nog een aantal kleinere verhogingen. Ik verwijs bijvoorbeeld naar de extra sommen voor de strijd tegen het antisemitisme, dat helaas toch weer opduikt in onze steden. De co-rapporteurs zullen het akkoord uiteraard meer in detail toelichten. De begroting voor volgend jaar is opgemaakt in het huidige meerjarig financieel kader, een kader dat werd opgesteld na COVID, maar vóór de Russische agressie jegens Oekraïne. Ondertussen wacht iedereen op een herziening die meer ruimte moet geven om — in het belang van al onze burgers — de EU de nodige armslag te geven voor de rest van de periode van dit MFK, dat wil zeggen tot einde 2027. We kijken dus uit naar de onderhandelingen in de Raad. Het Parlement heeft zijn huiswerk gedaan. Het is in de Raad dat het zaakje stokt en we hopen dat hier snel verandering in komt. Na het bereiken van een akkoord over die herziening zal de begroting voor 2024 worden aangepast. We moeten als Europese Unie tonen dat we efficiënt en snel kunnen schakelen. Ik reken dus op een doorvoering van de aanpassingen in het vroege voorjaar van 2024.
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Siegfried Mureşan
Country: Germany
Language: EN

I can also say that we have together, as a united Parliament, managed in negotiations with the Council and the Commission to make sure that the EU programmes are properly funded. We have managed to increase the allocations to the European research programme, to the infrastructure programme, more Erasmus scholarships for European students. We have managed to allocate more resources for young farmers, more resources to better protect our borders, to protect our immediate neighbourhood, to protect the environment. A total of EUR 807 million of increased allocations exactly to the areas needed. And to make sure that the money from the European Union budget is well spent, we are also strengthening the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to make sure that irregularities and fraud – which exist but which are, of course, an exception and not a significant phenomenon – we should make sure that they are tackled so that citizens in Europe know that EU money is well spent. Of course, these negotiations took place in a difficult context, in a context in which we see people expect more from the European Union. Whenever there is a crisis, the European Union should play an active role, should help. It does, but in order to be effective in doing this, it needs a proper budget. And this is why we have to adjust our seven-year multiannual financial framework to make sure that, up to 2027, we can further support our economy, we can better protect our borders, we can do what we need on security and defence. Because we will have to do more, faster and for a longer period of time. And we should make sure that we provide sustainable funding for Ukraine up to 2027. This is why we, as a Parliament, believe that the revision of the multiannual financial framework is so much needed. Parliament has a strong position on this. We urge the Council to also come to a position and to the negotiating table as soon as possible, so that we can give, also beyond 2024, predictability. We have a good budget for 2024, but we need to work also on the future. In the end, I would like to thank colleagues from the European Parliament. The good achievement on Parliament’s side was only possible because we were united. Many thanks to all my shadow rapporteurs, to all colleagues who stayed up late at night in the budget reconciliation and to secure this good result. Thank you, Commissioner Hahn, to you and to your team from the Commission, and many thanks to the Council Presidency. It’s a good common success of European institutions.
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Nils Ušakovs
Country: Belgium
Language: EN

We could add EUR 85 million to Horizon, bringing the total budget to almost EUR 12.9 billion – money that the scientific community so desperately needs. Health research is also included in the programme. EUR 60 million more in the Erasmus+ programme, bringing the total to around EUR 3.9 billion. This means more support for young people to travel and experience student life in another European country and city. I know this very well from the experience of Latvian students in particular, and it is by far one of the most successful programmes in the European Union. The current economic crisis makes this programme even more important, and I am glad that the European Union supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. All in all, we could add EUR 670 million more to meet the needs and demands of Europeans. On the other institutions, where I am in charge as rapporteur, I admit we could not achieve a maximum result. There are many constraints we have to take into account: the pressure on Heading 7, high inflation, energy costs. But overall, we managed to reinforce five institutions and agencies, which is very welcome: the European External Action Service, the European Court of Auditors, the European Court of Justice, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Justice, values, data protection and of course, foreign affairs are the priorities. I would like to thank the Spanish Presidency and Secretary of State, Ms Samblás, Commissioner Hahn, it has not been easy this year, but willingness to find compromises is a powerful tool. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Mureşan, and the shadow rapporteurs for their collaboration and of course, the secretariat and the team who make it possible.
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Esperanza Samblás
Language: ES

Quiero comenzar trasladándoles la satisfacción del Consejo por el hecho de que hayamos podido llegar a un acuerdo en el Comité de Conciliación, tras largas e intensas discusiones durante la noche del 10 al 11 de noviembre, lo que se produce unos días antes de que finalice el período de conciliación, rompiendo la pauta de los últimos años. El resultado positivo de las negociaciones pone de manifiesto que nuestras tres instituciones son capaces de trabajar eficazmente en un espíritu de comprensión mutua y cooperación leal. Juntos hemos trabajado duro para encontrar una solución que prepare a la Unión para los retos del cuarto año del marco financiero plurianual. El presupuesto negociado para 2024 responde a nuestras prioridades, incluidos los últimos acontecimientos geopolíticos, cumple nuestras obligaciones legales y proporciona apoyo a acciones importantes para los ciudadanos europeos. En cuanto a las reuniones que hemos mantenido en los últimos meses, tanto las oficiales como los contactos informales, quiero destacar el ambiente positivo que ha reinado siempre en todas nuestras conversaciones. Ambas partes hemos estado dispuestas a comprometernos constructivamente para llegar a un acuerdo, a replantear el debate en torno a los intereses compartidos y a encontrar soluciones. Me alegra informarles de que el texto conjunto acordado en el Comité de Conciliación fue aprobado formalmente por el Consejo ayer, 20 de noviembre, y esperamos que el Parlamento Europeo pueda aprobarlo también. De esta forma, el presupuesto general para el ejercicio 2024 podrá ser adoptado dentro de los plazos previstos por el Tratado para permitir un comienzo ordenado de 2024.  Antes de terminar mi intervención, quiero reiterar mi agradecimiento al presidente de la Comisión de Presupuestos del Parlamento Europeo, Johan Van Overtveldt, a los ponentes Siegfried Mureșan y Nils Ušakovs, así como a sus equipos, por la buena cooperación durante las últimas semanas y meses. También quiero hacer extensivo mi agradecimiento a todos diputados al Parlamento Europeo que contribuyeron a garantizar el resultado de la conciliación. Y quiero agradecer de modo especial al comisario Hahn y a todo su equipo el modo en que han facilitado nuestras negociaciones, buscando soluciones que permitieran que ambas partes llegáramos a un acuerdo.
Debate: budgetary procedure: Joint text
Date: TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: José Manuel Fernandes
Political group: PPE
Country: Ireland
Language: PT

Quero agradecer aos nossos relatores, e em especial ao Colega Siegfried Mureşan, por termos conseguido, face a uma situação de constrangimentos no Quadro Financeiro Plurianual, aumentos significativos em prioridades do Parlamento Europeu como o Horizonte Europa – o programa de investigação –, o apoio aos jovens agricultores em 20 milhões de euros suplementares, e também o apoio para o Erasmus+, com um reforço de 60 milhões de euros, e ainda o apoio para a ajuda humanitária, reforçado em 250 milhões de euros.  Viro-me agora para a Presidência. Eu espero que na sua Presidência, na nossa Presidência da União Europeia, haja ainda a revisão do Quadro Financeiro Plurianual.  E tenho mais um pedido para os Estados-Membros: é essencial que executem, que executem depressa. Estão a executar muito devagarinho, não só o PRR como os fundos da Política de Coesão. E mais um pedido para ambos, para a Comissão e para o Conselho: nós precisamos de alargar o prazo dos Planos de Recuperação e Resiliência. O prazo de 2026 é um prazo exagerado. O Parlamento está disponível para essa revisão.