unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Bogdan Rzońca
Political group: ECR
Country: Portugal
Language: PL

Panie Przewodniczący! Ja chciałem zapytać i poprosić o jednoznaczną odpowiedź. Mianowicie chodzi o art. 14 Traktatu o Unii Europejskiej. Czy ten artykuł nie zostanie po prostu zburzony przez wprowadzenie dodatkowego – europejskiego – okręgu wyborczego? Proszę zatem powiedzieć – zwracam się do Pani Komisarz – czy ta nowa ordynacja nie działa przeciwko traktatom europejskim.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Clare Daly
Political group: The Left
Country: France
Language: EN

Mr President, there’s no doubt about it, there’s a huge disconnect between the citizens of Europe and the EU institutions. We see growing inequality, tiny numbers voting, even a country leaving. And what we have here is actually a technical fix to something that isn’t a technical problem, because the reasons people aren’t voting isn’t because of shenanigans around the allocation or the breakdown of the way in which you divided the spoils or anything like that. The reason is that there is a disconnect from the citizens because this is a neoliberal project which furthers the interests of big business ahead of the interests of citizens. And the citizens of Europe know that the Parliament isn’t a real parliament. Its powers are very limited. It’s a consensus factory really, a sideshow to the real power, which is wielded by the Council and where neoliberal governments can crush economies if it suits them. We in Ireland remember the eurozone crisis and the iron rod of austerity. So until we address that, any voting arrangements you like isn’t going to change that.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Franc Bogovič
Political group: PPE
Country: Italy
Language: SL

Nekatere elemente te spremembe te zakonodaje podpiram v tistem delu, ko govorimo o mlajših ljudeh, ki imajo dostop do volitev. Podpiram tudi, da omogočimo lažji dostop invalidom. Vsekakor pa sem zelo zadržan in nasprotujem transnacionalnim listam.  Mi smo vsi izvoljeni v državah. Imamo svoja volilna okrožja, nagovorimo volivce in potem tem volivcem tudi odgovarjamo. Vsak konec tedna sem ob petkih veliko med ljudmi in nihče me še ni doslej vprašal oziroma ogovoril s tem, da bi bila ta demokracija v Evropi boljša, če bi – ne vem – Slovenca zastopal nekdo iz Finske ali od kod drugod.  Mi smo združeni v politične skupine in tam lahko potem tudi svoje politične interese skupin zastopamo. Vsekakor pa to, kar je bilo rečeno v razpravi, da je to sedaj približek temu vodilnemu kandidatu in da to je porok, da bo vodilni kandidat tudi predsednik komisije, enostavno ne drži in je zavajajoče. Hvala.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Maria Grapini
Political group: S-D
Country: Portugal
Language: RO

Dezbaterea din această seară arată că, de fapt, încă sunt foarte multe lucruri de clarificat și cred că este, din punctul meu de vedere, acum mai neclar decât a fost la începutul dezbaterii. Și am să spun câteva lucruri.  S-au spus aici argumente foarte mari: unele sunt tehnice, unele sunt politice. În primul rând, trebuie să se răspundă și poate doamna comisar dă răspunsul. Ce facem cu articolul 14 din Tratat? Adică îl încălcăm sau nu? Trebuie să știm ce facem cu asta. Al doilea: eu sunt dintr-o țară de 20 de milioane. Cetățenii dintr-o țară și mai mică, de exemplu Croația sau o altă țară mai mică, nu au posibilitatea să cunoască cele 27 de locuri. Și sunt mulți candidați pentru cele 28 de locuri din toate statele. Cum explicăm cetățenilor? S-a argumentat, aici că, mă rog, conferința cetățenilor ar fi optat pentru acest lucru. Întrebarea mea este câți dintre cetățeni au participat la această dezbatere? Nu cumva noi suntem mai reprezentativi pentru că avem în spate milioane de voturi, pentru că acum, când vorbim, ne votează o țară întreagă pe noi? Și mai este un răspuns care ar trebui să se dea. Eu fac parte dintr-un partid mic care nu face parte dintr-o familie europeană. Partidele mici se exclud sau nu? Da, susțin persoanele cu dizabilități, susțin egalitatea.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Ladislav Ilčić
Political group: ECR
Country: France
Language: HR

Poštovani predsjedavajući, točno je što je rekao gospodin Verhofstadt da ovaj prijedlog neće ukinuti nacionalne liste.  Međutim, nije rekao činjenicu da će to oslabiti nacionalne liste. Naime, dosad se 100 % zastupnika biralo iz nacionalnih lista a sad će se taj postotak smanjiti jer će se neki određeni postotak zastupnika birati iz transnacionalnih lista. Prema tome, jednostavno to što govorite da nacionalne liste ništa neće izgubiti jednostavno logično matematički nije točno i nemojte to govoriti. Druga stvar, retorika jasno pokazuje da se nameću neki europski standardi, recimo da mogu glasati ljudi mlađi od 18 godina, od 16 pa nadalje što nije ingerencija Europske unije. I treće, kad govorimo što je dobro za demokraciju, dobro je da glasač pozna onoga za kojeg glasa a ja u Hrvatskoj mogu odgovorno reći da ljudi ne poznaju te ljude koji će voditi te liste, i zato jednostavno mi, ako je ono što je demokratski je da se glasa za nacionalne liste.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Mick Wallace
Political group: The Left
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Mr President, the people advocating for this initiative claim they want more engagement from the citizens across Europe with the EU. But, I mean, how in God’s name is this going to fix us?  Many people are asking, what is democracy? Democracy is where the people have a say in how their society is organised. There isn’t much of it around. In Member States, it’s been watered down dramatically by the weakening of local government – one of the best vehicles that the people had for connecting with those that were ruling them.  Everything has been centralised and it’s even worse at EU level. Who runs this place? We have three institutions – we’ve the European Parliament, we’ve the Council and we’ve the Commission. We are the only ones directly elected but we can’t initiate legislation. If it’s really a question of democracy, why aren’t we the ones that are initiating legislation? The Council is more powerful and so is the Commission than us. The Council meetings are held in secret and the Commission are not elected by the people. How can you talk about this place having democracy? That’s a myth.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Helmut Geuking
Political group: PPE
Country: Spain
Language: DE

Herr Präsident! Ich hätte ganz gern einmal von der Frau Kommissarin gewusst, inwieweit das Spitzenkandidaten-Modell rechtsverbindlich ist. Denn meines Wissens nach ist das nicht rechtsverbindlich, das nur in Erwägungen reinzuschreiben, und daher kann man sich diesen Zahn ziehen. Das ist eine Mogelpackung hoch zehn, was wir hier vorliegen haben, und es dient nur einem Interesse: Es dient nur dem Interesse des Machtausbaus der großen Parteien, vor allem der deutschen Parteien. Das ist natürlich zum Fremdschämen gegenüber der CDU, wovon ich massiv enttäuscht bin. 3,5 %-Sperrklausel, wobei das Verfassungsgericht geurteilt hat: Eine Sperrklausel von 3 % ist schon nicht zulässig – zwei Mal.  Jetzt will man hier das Recht beugen und benutzt dieses Parlament dafür. Das ist ein Skandal. Das ist eine absolute Rechtsbeugung, die in Deutschland stattfinden soll, um hier das Bundesverfassungsgericht zu untergraben. Dies kann und darf man nicht zulassen, und deswegen kann man nur insgesamt dagegen stimmen.  Zu transnationalen Listen sage ich Ihnen ganz ehrlich: Der Bürger möchte vor Ort in der Region seine Kandidaten kennenlernen und die ins Parlament entsenden – damit man sich hier einig wird – und nicht irgendwelche fiktiven Abgeordneten wählen. Vielen lieben Dank, aber hier erwarte ich Ihre Antwort, Frau Kommissarin.
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Domènec Ruiz Devesa
Country: Malta
Language: ES

Sí quiero aprovechar para recordar —por lo que decía la vicepresidenta en su última intervención sobre si los diputados elegidos en una lista europea serían responsables ante los que lo han elegido, dejando la pregunta en abierto— que cabe recordar que, de acuerdo con el Tratado, señora vicepresidenta, los diputados al Parlamento Europeo ya representamos al conjunto de la ciudadanía, no representamos solamente al país donde hemos sido elegidos.  Pero creo que también ha quedado claro que, aunque ha habido mucha negatividad por parte de algunos colegas respecto, concretamente, a la circunscripción paneuropea, no se ha presentado una sola propuesta alternativa para resolver el problema de las veintisiete elecciones nacionales paralelas que tenemos en este momento en las elecciones al Parlamento Europeo, ni para visualizar el candidato a presidente de la Comisión.  También creo que hay que recordar, como ha dicho también algún colega, que realmente votar contra este proyecto de ley, ya sea en una parte o en todo, supone también votar contra la mejora de los derechos electorales de las personas con discapacidad, votar contra la posibilidad de votar por correo postal y también votar en contra de la igualdad de género, bien a través de listas cremallera, bien a través de cuotas. Tengamos esto bien presente mañana en la votación.  Además, este proyecto llega en un importante momento para Europa, tras la pandemia, la agresión de Putin a Ucrania y la conclusión de la Conferencia sobre el Futuro de Europa. Europa se está reforzando ya en su dimensión sanitaria, en la financiera, en la energética y en la defensiva. Nuestra cohesión política interna también es importante en este momento.  El sistema del cabeza de lista, si se aplica correctamente, constituye un refuerzo del liderazgo político de Europa y de su legitimación democrática. Este proyecto de ley electoral refuerza nuestra unión política, construye el
Debate: Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Victor Negrescu
Political group: S-D
Country: Finland
Language: RO

Listele transnaționale pot conferi posibilitatea unei reprezentativități europene pentru membrii Parlamentului European, dar mai ales o responsabilitate directă față de toți cetățenii europeni. Astfel, putem spera și la implementarea adecvată a sistemului prin care primul de pe listă să fie propunerea pentru șefia Comisiei Europene și să întărim în acest fel legitimitatea executivului european.  Trebuie însă să evităm accentuarea dezechilibrului între statele membre și să ne asigurăm că România nu pierde din reprezentativitate. Dar de la intenții bune la practică, drumul este lung. Mai avem de lucrat, dar împreună sunt convins că o să găsim soluția.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Michal Šimečka
Country: Italy
Language: SK

Ďalším bodom programu je rozprava o správe, ktorú predkladá Martin Hojsík v mene výboru pre životné prostredie, verejné zdravie a bezpečnosť potravín, o návrhu Zmena príloh IV a V k nariadeniu (EÚ) 2019/1021 o perzistentných organických látkach (
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

We need to remember that this legislative revision will be instrumental in helping us attain the objectives of the European Green Deal. It is fully in line with the zero pollution action plan, the chemical strategy for sustainability and the circular economy action plan. It also implements our international obligations under the Stockholm Convention and, of course, it ensures the environmentally sound management of waste which contains persistent organic pollutants toxic to the environment and to human health.  We very much appreciate your efforts to find the best approach to minimise emissions of persistent organic pollutants from waste and to promote the uptake of safe secondary materials.  Looking at the amendments you propose, I see that our objectives are clearly aligned. I also note that you would like to go further and faster on the limit values to be set in waste for most of the substances in scope. I also take note of your request to the Commission to equate the concept of the persistent organic pollutants waste with that of hazardous waste in the review of EU waste legislation, and of your proposal to list an additional family of these substances constituted by perfluorohexane sulfonic acid and its components.  Setting these limits is a delicate exercise. We need to consider both our obligation and our very legitimate desire to reduce the presence of these substances to a minimum, but also technical feasibility and proportionality. The interplay with Green Deal objectives such as climate neutrality and the ambition for a more circular economy are also very important and need to be taken into account.  All these points will require further discussion in the coming weeks and months. Some of them will depend on the decision to be taken in the forthcoming Conference of the parties to the Stockholm Convention about the listing.  Thanks to the swift and efficient work on this complex file in the ENVI Committee, it has been possible to build broad support for your mandate, little more than five months after the Commission adopted its proposal. This is truly remarkable, bringing us to where we are today with trilogues scheduled to commence in less than two weeks.  The legislative proposal to amend the waste annexes of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation was one of the first deliverables the Commission proposed under the circular economy action plan. It may also be the first to be adopted, with a political agreement in sight before the end of June.  And I sincerely hope we can achieve that. And I can assure you that we can count on your sustained support and you can count on the Commission’s constructive support during the negotiations.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Deirdre Clune
Political group: PPE
Country: France
Language: EN

They can be transported long distance, cross-border, by air, by water, ending up in the food chain and ultimately accumulating in human tissue. They can be passed from one generation to the next, even if they are no longer required or used, they still persist in our environment. And one of the risks of POPs is that whilst they are no longer required, they can still be present in waste streams such as construction waste, packaging and plastics, electronic waste, among others. No country or Union can manage these elements unless we have cooperation internationally, so it’s essential for the Aarhus Protocol, the Stockholm Convention, to  find the restrictions necessary for such pollutants. These revisions that we have today will seek to minimise, eliminate where possible, the releases of these POPs – well, I think they should be consistently called persistent organic pollutants – and to regulate the waste containing or contaminated by such chemicals. And I believe that this ambitious proposal will contribute to better management of these toxic wastes and to their removal or to their destruction. The objective of my work and that of my colleagues I know has always been to protect human health and the environment from these polluting substances. And I believe that we are going a long way to doing that here. So this report attempts to strike a balance with our Green Deal ambitions relating to toxic-free material cycles, recycling and circularity and reducing greenhouse emissions. So I’d encourage us all to support this tomorrow and to give us the mandate to move forward to the trilogues.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Maria Arena
Political group: S-D
Country: Belgium
Language: FR

Décider de limites de concentrations plus basses, comme nous l’avons fait au sein de la commission de l’environnement, de la santé publique et de la sécurité alimentaire contribue donc directement à mieux protéger les citoyens, mais aussi à assainir l'environnement pour les générations futures. Certains ont évoqué, lors des discussions, le fait que des limites plus basses de ces concentrations sur les matières recyclées conduiraient à plus d’incinération, donc plus de pollution.  Mais cela n’est pas une fatalité, car de plus en plus de techniques ne nécessitant pas justement la combustion sont aujourd’hui disponibles et permettent de détruire ces substances encore présentes aujourd’hui, et ce, sans émettre de dioxines. Ce sont donc ces filières-là que nous devons soutenir en imposant des limites plus contraignantes plutôt que d’inciter à incorporer ces substances toxiques dans le recyclage. Notre commission demande aussi un alignement du seuil déchets dangereux avec les limites prévues à l’annexe 4, et ce, pour une meilleure gestion de ces déchets hautement toxiques, au moment où nous révisons le règlement sur l’exportation des déchets, parce que nous devons aussi être vigilants sur ce que nous faisons en dehors de l’Union. Je rappelle que des limites trop faibles de polluants organiques persistants dans les déchets sont contraires à l’objectif de la convention de Stockholm, et donc il s’agit maintenant d’être cohérents. Je vous invite donc à soutenir ce texte qui demande aussi à la Commission de revoir ses ambitions à la hausse lors du trilogue, et ce pour contribuer à la réalisation d’un environnement non toxique et sans délai.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Manuela Ripa
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Spain
Language: DE

Hier muss ganz klar der Grundsatz gelten: Erst gefährliche Chemikalien raus aus den Produkten und dann recyceln oder gar nicht recyceln. Deshalb müssen Grenzwerte für POP—Abfälle so streng wie möglich ausfallen. Sie dürfen nicht durch Recycling wieder in den Kreislauf zurückgeführt werden. Je strenger wir diese Giftstoffe handhaben, desto mehr werden auch die Innovationen bei den Produkten und beim Recycling erhöht, POP-freie Produkte zu entwickeln. Ziel muss es sein, POP komplett aus unseren Alltagsprodukten zu entfernen. Unser Vorschlag ist der richtige Weg für den Schutz unserer Kinder und für eine schadstofffreie Umwelt.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Aurélia Beigneux
Political group: ID
Country: France
Language: FR

Alors félicitations, car aujourd'hui vient l'heure du bilan. À cause de ces choix néfastes, la pollution par le plastique est devenue la conséquence la plus visible de cette mondialisation désastreuse. On sait évidemment que l'environnement ne peut pas assimiler ce plastique et on connait évidemment les répercussions inadmissibles sur la vie animale, notamment aquatique. Le plastique est vecteur de substances extrêmement toxiques pour le corps humain, on le sait, mais les polluants organiques persistants sont également présents dans notre vie quotidienne. La première urgence est donc d'alerter nos concitoyens sur ces risques majeurs.  Mais lorsque la Commission décide enfin d'agir, les solutions proposées relèvent, comme toujours, de la précipitation, sans aucune concertation avec les acteurs de terrain. Les experts, comme les professionnels du secteur du bois par exemple, nous mettent en garde contre certaines de vos solutions et déplorent le manque de consultation. Nos interlocuteurs à nous, ce sont les professionnels et pas vos idoles comme Greta Thunberg.  Alors, on le sait, pour vous, l'écologie ne peut être que punitive et fédéraliste. Mais celle que nous proposons est localiste et nationale. Vous avez fait de l'environnement un club privé qui a applaudi les propositions les plus antinationales et les plus hystériques. Pendant ce temps, les citoyens les plus concernés ne voient jamais l'action de l'Union européenne, sauf pour saborder leur travail et les sanctionner.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Bert-Jan Ruissen
Political group: ECR
Country: France
Language: NL

Ik ben blij dat ook PFAS in de bijlage worden genoemd, maar ben niettemin van mening dat op dit vlak meer actie nodig is. Lozingen in oppervlaktewater kunnen hiermee namelijk niet worden voorkomen. Ik vraag hierbij met name aandacht voor de Schelde en de Westerschelde. De vergunningen zouden in Vlaanderen zijn aangescherpt, maar wie garandeert dat alles daar nu wel op orde is? Ik wil de Commissie dan ook vragen werk te maken van een totaalverbod op PFAS, zoals door verschillende landen wordt bepleit, en ervoor te zorgen dat het toezicht en de handhaving in de lidstaten naar behoren verlopen. We moeten de tijd van giftige lozingen definitief achter ons laten.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Anja Hazekamp
Political group: The Left
Country: Germany
Language: NL

Wij hebben veel te lang zeer gevaarlijke stoffen gebruikt in brandvertragers, antiaanbaklagen en post-its. Ik ben daarom blij dat de Commissie en het Parlement strengere normen willen vaststellen voor deze stoffen. Het is van cruciaal belang dat we ervoor zorgen dat onze grondstoffenstromen, waaronder gerecycled afval, volkomen veilig zijn. Er is echter veel meer actie nodig. Wij weten van meer stoffen, waaronder alle PFAS en nieuwe stoffen zoals GenX, dat ze zo gevaarlijk en zo hardnekkig zijn dat ze verboden moeten worden. Nederland heeft samen met een aantal andere landen een voorstel gedaan voor een Europees verbod op deze stoffen. Ik wil de Commissie dan ook vragen hier zo snel mogelijk werk van te maken. Ten slotte ben ik van mening dat de Europese landbouwsubsidies moeten worden afgeschaft.
Debate: Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation  / on persistent organic pollutants
Date: MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022
Speaker: Liudas Mažylis
Political group: PPE
Country: Luxembourg
Language: LT

Patvarieji organiniai teršalai dėl išskirtinai neigiamo poveikio aplinkai ir žmonių sveikatai privalo būti atitinkamai reglamentuojami ir nuolat vertinami. Priimant sprendimus reikėtų atsižvelgti į tai, kad patvarieji organiniai teršalai ne tik ilgai nesuyra, bet ir gali pasklisti toli nuo savo šaltinio bei atsidurti kitose valstybėse. Ne veltui nuo pastarųjų apsaugoti žmonių sveikatą ir aplinką yra priimta Stokholmo konvencija. Tikiu, kad svarstomas pasiūlymas yra tinkamas siekiant žaliojo kurso tikslų. Turėtų būti skatinamas tik toks perdirbimas, kuris užtikrintų netoksiškų medžiagų ciklus. Neturi būti pateisinamas žalingų ir pavojingų cheminių medžiagų įtraukimas į perdirbimo procesus, kuomet naudojimui ir vartojimui sugrįžtų aptariamos pavojų sveikatai keliančios medžiagos. Teisinga yra orientuotis į tai, kad nustatomos ribinės vertės būtų suderinamos su mokslo ir technikos pažanga. Taip pat vertėtų ieškoti visų įmanomų būdų, kurie galėtų užtikrinti pažangių atliekų rūšiavimo ir nuodingųjų medžiagų pašalinimo iš jų technologijų skatinimą, remtis mokslu ir investuoti į tai. Paremdami teikiamą pasiūlymą, užtikrinsime geresnį patvarių organinių teršalų ir ES žaliojo kurso tikslų suderinamumą.