unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Intersectional discrimination in the EU: socio-economic situation of women of African, Middle-Eastern, Latin-American and Asian descent
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Alice Kuhnke
Country: Germany
Language: SV

Det betänkande som vi nu ska rösta om är ett steg i rätt riktning. Med detta betänkande erkänner vi intersektionell diskriminering. Vi säger att vi ska göra mer för att bekämpa den, och vi lägger fram en rad förslag på verktyg hur detta ska göras. Jag vill tacka för ett gott samarbete med alla från höger till vänster. Samarbetet och den konstruktiva stämningen har gett mig hopp.
Debate: National vetoes to undermine the global tax deal
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

However, the Commission urges caution in the use of the measures providing compensation for the temporary cessation of fishing activities, as widespread use of temporary cessation could have the unintended consequence of exacerbating the disruption of the fisheries supply chain because of the drop in supply on the market. We have therefore forwarded a written statement to this effect for the inclusion in your minutes. The Commission welcomes the swift adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the amendment to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, thus making the specific support measures available to operators to alleviate the consequences of the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine on fishing activities and to mitigate the effects caused by that military aggression on the market of fishery and aquaculture products, including the additional costs of raw material, input and energy.  However, the Commission urges caution in the use of the measures providing compensation for the temporary cessation of fishing activities in cases where the Russian aggression ‘impedes the economic viability of fishing operations’. Indeed, temporary cessation is subject to the condition that all fishing activities carried out by the fishing vessel benefitting are ‘effectively suspended’, which means that the fishing vessel concerned has to stop any fishing activities during the period concerned by the temporary cessation.  The Commission encourages Member States to prioritise the measures that aim to compensate additional costs and income forgone incurred due to the market disruption caused by the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine and its effects on the supply chain of fishery and aquaculture products, which are better suited to keeping the supply chain of fishery and aquaculture products functioning. Widespread use of temporary cessation could have the unintended consequence of exacerbating the disruption of the fishery supply chain because of a drop of supply on the market.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Othmar Karas
Country: Germany
Language: DE

Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Erklärungen des Rates und der Kommission zu dem Thema „Die einseitige Einbringung des Gesetzes über das Protokoll zu Nordirland durch die britische Regierung und die Achtung des Völkerrechts“ ( Diese Aussprache findet unter denselben Rahmenbedingungen – Sitzplätze, Rede, blaue Karte – statt wie die vorhergehenden Aussprachen.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Mikuláš Bek
Language: EN

The Withdrawal Agreement and its Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is just over two and a half years old itself, is already at risk of being torn apart by the UK. The United Kingdom Government has proposed a law to unilaterally suspend the application of the protocol’s key provisions, and the bill is already advancing in the UK Parliament. The Council is highly concerned about the situation. We remain fully united and mobilised to protect the citizens who benefit from the Withdrawal Agreement, to protect the Good Friday Agreement and to protect our single market. The European Parliament’s active engagement was of prime importance to bring the previous negotiations to a swift conclusion. I trust that we will once again show our united front in the face of this unconstructive attitude by the United Kingdom. As always on Brexit, unity among Member States, but also among institutions, is our most precious asset. We need to send a clear signal to the UK Government. Let there be no doubt that the EU seeks to have a strategic, enduring and mutually beneficial partnership with the United Kingdom. In the current geopolitical situation, the EU and the UK stand side-by-side in our response to Russia’s brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine. We are both peaceful democracies that insist on respecting international agreements. It is therefore unacceptable to take steps which violate international commitments. In the current circumstances, we must all hold ourselves to the highest standards, including respecting international agreements. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland was the solution agreed with the current UK Prime Minister’s government to protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, and to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland while protecting the integrity of the EU single market. The EU stands fully united in rejecting a renegotiation of the Protocol as it is the agreed solution to the challenge posed to the island of Ireland by the type of Brexit chosen by the UK. In years of intense negotiations between the two sides, no better solution was found. The UK Government must return to working jointly to solve the practical issues already identified within the context of the Protocol. This is also what stakeholders in Northern Ireland expect. Recent trade figures show that the protocol is working. The GDP in Northern Ireland is growing faster than in the rest of the UK. The EU and the UK share a common responsibility to demonstrate that, instead of starting artificial confrontations, they can find durable solutions by working together pragmatically and in full respect of international commitments. Our evolving partnership must be based on respecting existing international agreements and by foreseeable actions taken within the joint bodies, further building up mutual trust. That is what our citizens expect from democratic leaders and institutions.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Seán Kelly
Political group: PPE
Country: Greece
Language: EN

The majority of MLAs returned in the recent election are in favour of the protocol. The business people that I met in my capacity as rapporteur for the Trade Committee, the vast majority are in favour of the protocol and see the benefits of being in the single market of the European Union and the UK market.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting a good friend of mine, former MEP now Under—Secretary Vicky Ford, and we had a robust discussion. I pointed out to her that if green and red lanes are a solution, come and negotiate, and we can see – because nobody has been more flexible than our good friend Vice-President Šefčovič.  I appeal to Boris Johnson, the British Government, to give over this Fawlty Towers—like approach to politics, because if they don’t, there is a danger that Basil would be confused with Boris. Regardless of the outcome in the volatile situation in Number 10, there is only one solution – put this bill aside, come and negotiate and we can reach an agreement. That is what democrats always do.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Pedro Marques
Political group: S-D
Country: Czechia
Language: PT

O desvario de um primeiro-ministro em queda não pode ser razão para quebrar o importante acordo que, com tanto custo, tinha sido possível alcançar. A agir assim, o Sr. Boris Johnson está a pôr em sério risco não apenas o acordo do Brexit, mas as relações entre o Reino Unido e a União Europeia. Está a pôr em risco a própria credibilidade do Reino Unido enquanto parceiro internacional. Mais, está até a pôr em risco, e isso é muito grave, os acordos de Sexta-Feira Santa, que trouxeram a paz à Irlanda do Norte. Mais umas horas ou uns dias em Downing Street não justificam tudo. Boris Johnson tem que parar e tem que parar já.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Nathalie Loiseau
Political group: Renew
Country: Poland
Language: EN

What do people in Northern Ireland have to say? They elected a majority of MLAs who support the Northern Ireland Protocol, provided minor adjustments are made. This is precisely what the EU has offered. We all know there is a landing zone within the protocol. Today, the protocol is not the problem. Look at the numbers. Northern Ireland is faring better than the rest of the UK. There is no shortage, except for two essential goods: predictability and trust. The problem that Northern Ireland is facing, that the UK is facing, has a name. It is not the protocol. The name of the problem is Brexit and the type of Brexit which was chosen by the current British Government.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Terry Reintke
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Italy
Language: EN

To the people in the UK, I would like to say, rest assured that, despite all the difficulty and tension, this Parliament and the citizens in the European Union can still make a very clear difference between the UK Government and the people in the UK. We know that a majority of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly actually stand behind the protocol and want to find solutions. And we know that there are millions of people in the UK who want to have a close and strong relationship with the European Union, and we will continue to put all our efforts into making that possible.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Geert Bourgeois
Political group: ECR
Country: Germany
Language: NL

Ik stel vast dat beide partijen akkoord gaan met het principe van een  Ik vraag dus dat beide partijen daarover aan tafel gaan zitten en met goed verstand tot een akkoord komen, wat ons moet toelaten om verdere ambities te ontplooien: samenwerking inzake onderzoek en ontwikkeling, samenwerking in en rond de Noordzee, inzake energie, inzake CO2-opslag, zodat we kunnen werk maken van een duurzaam toekomstig partnerschap met onze aloude Britse vrienden.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Chris MacManus
Political group: The Left
Country: Austria
Language: EN

The north of Ireland has changed. People will not accept supremacy by regressive unionism from the DUP or their paramilitary allies. The protocol protects the north from the worst damage caused by Brexit. What the British Government cannot swallow is that the economy in the north is doing better than anywhere in Britain, but the illegal Protocol Bill is designed to drag the north down – the dual regulatory system would create an impossible bureaucracy for business. Be clear: as he clings to his job, Boris Johnson will do anything. He systematically breaks international law. He undermines the Good Friday Agreement. He absolves the British military for crimes committed, denying grieving families the justice they deserve. He repeals the European Convention on Human Rights, the beating heart of the Good Friday Agreement. Britain is fast becoming a rogue state, acting unilaterally in the interests of its own elite, with no regard for the well—being of its people or the international rules—based order. Unless Britain turns to legality, it deserves to fail, which is why Scottish people want to take control of their own future, and why a referendum on Irish unity, as provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, is increasingly on the agenda.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: David McAllister
Political group: PPE
Country: Netherlands
Language: EN

Mr President, the Northern Ireland Protocol bill tabled by the United Kingdom Government is a regrettable unilateral move. As it dis—applies core elements of the Protocol in Ireland and Northern Ireland, it creates more difficulties in Northern Ireland and undermines mutual trust. Unilateral actions deliberately contradicting an international agreement are not the way forward.  The Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol, was and is the necessary foundation for the EU—UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The European Union’s reaction to the Northern Ireland Protocol bill has been proportionate, firm and calm – and rightly so, Vice—President Šefčovič. We want to have stable and positive relations with the United Kingdom based on our agreements, mutually negotiated, signed and ratified by the United Kingdom and the European Union. We remain partners with shared values. Therefore, I call on the UK Government to re—enter talks to facilitate the practical implementation of the Protocol. The Protocol is not the problem – it is part of the solution to a problem. The original problem is, and remains, Brexit.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Thijs Reuten
Political group: S-D
Country: France
Language: EN

Mr President, Commission Vice-President,  I thought the UK Prime Minister ‘got Brexit done’, but today we are not even sure how long he will be in office, while the UK Government is threatening to unilaterally rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mr President, to the people in Britain I want to say, we here in Europe are committed to our friendship with you. This is not about rehashing debates of the past, this is about making Brexit work for all UK citizens. Is the Prime Minister of Britain really willing to break up international law, jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement and axe trust between the UK and its most important trading partner?  I urge the UK Government to step back from the abyss. Flexible solutions for the people in Northern Ireland exist within the Protocol, and Commission Vice-President Šefčovič has those solutions. All it takes for the UK Government is to act in good faith.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Barry Andrews
Political group: Renew
Country: Ireland
Language: EN

Mr President, Vice-President Šefčovič, in the UK, the stigma against breaking international law, domestic law and constitutional norms has been significantly eroded since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. The events of the last 24 hours demonstrate that for many, enough is enough.  Freedom House reported last year that it has been sixteen consecutive years of decline in global freedom. This matters because the pattern of decline has been gradual in most countries, and that’s why it is so important to call out the erosion of democratic norms at the earliest possible time.  The charge sheet against the UK is long. It was proroguing Parliament with the Internal Market Bill and now we have the Protocol Bill. Jonathan Jones described this as even more brazen than the Internal Market Bill and noted that the UK has shown the world that it is prepared to walk away from important treaty obligations on the flimsiest of pretexts.  In addition to that, despite what Minister Vicky Ford said yesterday, assuming she is still a minister, the European Convention on Human Rights is something the UK Government is proposing to walk away from, even though it is so firmly part of the Good Friday Agreement.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Ciarán Cuffe
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Ireland
Language: GA

A Uachtaráin, léiríonn na himeachtaí ó Londain go bhfuil muinín caillte ag muintir na Breataine ina rialtas, beirt airí sa rialtas sin ina measc. Tá níos fearr ná sin tuillte ag muintir an Tuaiscirt. Sáraíonn bille an Phrótacail dlí idirnáisiúnta, Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste, agus cuireann sé síocháin i dTuaisceart na hÉireann i mbaol. Sa tréimhse éiginnte seo, caithfimid éisteacht agus oibriú le daoine i dTuaisceart na hÉireann. Caithfidh muintir Thuaisceart na hÉireann a todhchaí féin a shocrú agus caithfidh an Pharlaimint tacú leis sin.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Anna Fotyga
Political group: ECR
Country: Denmark
Language: EN

Mr President, Commissioner, it is for the first time in history that we try to implement the Withdrawal Agreement. With pain, and not all circumstances we were able to foresee while negotiating and signing it. Surely, we did not foresee the vicious war so close to our borders, and necessity to focus on the security. I think there is room for compromise. Surely, the unilateral solutions are not the best ones. And I call on both sides to sit at the table and find this solution for the sake of future cooperation.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Pernando Barrena Arza
Political group: The Left
Language: EN

Mr President, with the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921, the British engineered a segregated statelet that denied the most basic rights to Irish nationals for decades. A system of social and political discrimination that sought to prevent their ever gaining proper representation and access to power.  The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 put an end to that situation and ushered in a new era of democratic transformation and shared government between Unionist and nationalist. Legislation announced by Boris Johnson could put the Protocol at risk and, furthermore, he said that the UK would proceed unilaterally.  There is no question that this would endanger the Good Friday agreement. It would endanger governance on the island of Ireland and it would endanger the progress made over the last 24 years in the peace process.  As we know, Sinn Féin won the last elections, but the DUP, led by Jeffrey Donaldson, is refusing to share power. They are playing a bad loser’s role. It’s time for them to abide by, and implement, the full rule of democracy and for the European Commission to increase pressure on the British Government so the peace legacy remains intact.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Danuta Maria Hübner
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Mr President, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is not a trivial set of adjustments, as Prime Minister Johnson described it; it is a near-complete unilateral rewrite through domestic law of a binding international treaty voluntarily entered into by the UK Government. This is a clear breach of international law.  The bill would grant UK ministers extraordinarily wide discretionary powers to implement their alternative to the protocol without negotiating with the European Union. Some of the so-called fixes would actively undermine the unique status of Northern Ireland, depriving it of the best of both worlds. We must remember that the protocol provides access to the EU internal market for the goods coming from Northern Ireland. The bill brings major risk to this access.  The UK Government needs to accept responsibility for the protocol and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. It is not too late to avoid new local elections in Northern Ireland and increased legal uncertainty.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Pedro Silva Pereira
Political group: S-D
Country: Bulgaria
Language: EN

Mr President, speaking as the European Parliament rapporteur for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, my message to the British Government is clear: there is no such thing as a unilateral change to a bilateral international agreement. The bill announced in the House of Commons they say to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol is no more than a confession of political will to breach the international law commitments recently negotiated and agreed by Boris Johnson himself. Instead, the British Government should engage constructively in discussing the concrete proposals made by Vice—President Šefčovič and the European Commission to introduce additional flexibility in the implementation of the protocol, as is the wish of the majority of the elected representatives in Northern Ireland. But make no mistake: this line of action will have serious consequences, forcing the European Commission to launch legal actions against the UK and possibly activate trade sanctions that would harm the smooth implementation also of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Debate: The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Frances Fitzgerald
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Mr President, I thank our colleagues for their unwavering support during the last number of years, and Vice-President, thank you for your work.  It is heartbreaking to see so much peace and progress built over such a long period – over decades, it is nothing less than heartbreaking to see that being put at risk at present. So much peace, so much developed relationships all really up for question at the moment.  Thirty years ago, if you travelled from south to north or north to south, you would have been met with checkpoints and police, barbed wire and guns. Today, there is an open border. There is a community and business doing well and the border barely exists. That is because of the Good Friday Agreement. It’s because of the EU’s Customs Union and is protected in the Withdrawal Agreement.  The EU exists to bring down borders. The UK Government’s action risks putting borders up again. Dialogue is crucial, but all sides must be willing to engage in good faith, and we are not seeing that at present. The UK cannot speak about abiding by international commitments if it is not willing to respect the values of international law. The European Union has shown that it is willing to engage. It is time for the British Government to step back from the brink and do the same.