unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Terry Reintke
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Italy
Language: EN

Madam President, this is probably going to be the most difficult speech that I’m going to give as a Member of this Parliament. I ran to be an MEP to fight for more rights for citizens in the European Union. And now millions of European citizens are going to lose rights, and there is absolutely no way for me to talk this positive in any way. But I would like to end – and we are approaching the Brexit date – with two positive messages. The first one is that all EU citizens in the UK have to be absolutely sure about the fact that there are dozens and hundreds of MEPs working here in this Parliament to keep this your Parliament as well. We will work tirelessly to defend your rights here in this Parliament. And the second one, and this goes out to all the people in the UK who are heartbroken right now. And I know that even with this movement that is unique in European history, it has not been possible to put this decision back to the people. But these demonstrations and all the signs and all the tweets and all your votes there were not in vain. You built something absolutely beautiful over the past years and this is the largest pro-European citizens’ movement that we have seen, and we will build on that. And trust me, one day I will see British MEPs being re-elected to this Chamber.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Carlo Fidanza
Political group: ECR
Country: Greece
Language: IT

Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, con buona pace di politici e commentatori  Ora siamo tutti chiamati a costruire una nuova e positiva cooperazione tra l'Unione europea e il Regno Unito: la tutela dei diritti dei cittadini dell'UE residenti nel Regno Unito è certamente uno degli aspetti più sensibili, ma dobbiamo riconoscere che si stanno facendo passi avanti positivi, anche se certamente bisogna migliorare le procedure burocratiche per consentire, a chi ne ha diritto, di fare per tempo la richiesta di residenza permanente. Nel Regno Unito vivono circa 700 000 italiani, moltissimi dei quali sono giovani di recente emigrazione; a loro non dobbiamo soltanto garantire la tutela dei diritti di permanenza ma dobbiamo restituire la speranza di poter tornare a casa in Italia e costruirsi lì una nuova vita: anche questo è un loro diritto fondamentale.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Jeroen Lenaers
Political group: PPE
Country: France
Language: EN

Madam President, more than three million European citizens in the UK were told by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove that nothing would change: they would get the automatic right to remain and they would be treated no less favourably than before Brexit. They heard our colleague Daniel Hannan, who is not here today, say that it was irresponsible to scare EU nationals in the UK by hinting that their status might change after Brexit. And we even heard from Nigel Farage, saying that they could stay and enjoy the same rights as UK citizens because, he said, to row back on that would class you as a banana republic. Yet here we are today. Automatic rights and favourable treatment have quickly transformed into talk of deportations and a hostile environment. The British Government seems to have learned absolutely nothing from the Windrush scandal. And a system is put in place that will probably never reach all the citizens that need it and, by its design, puts many vulnerable citizens at risk of losing rights. The consequence is uncertainty and anxiety for EU citizens in the UK. Because, regardless of Mr Van Orden’s semantic point before, many people have already experienced loss of their rights. If the UK wants to become a banana republic, of course that is its choice after Brexit. But those three million citizens in the UK are our responsibility now. And we need to stand up for them and make sure that they will not be the biggest victims of this Brexit. This has been the Parliament’s consistent position ever since the referendum and it is now the time to make crystal clear how serious we are about that.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Agnes Jongerius
Political group: S-D
Country: Poland
Language: NL

Voorzitter, 31 januari nadert met rasse schreden. Dan gaan de Britten ons verlaten en in januari 2021 moet de scheiding rond zijn. Hopelijk zijn er dan afspraken over de toekomstige relatie, maar mijn zorgen bij deze scheiding gaan over mensen, over de werknemers die een grote prijs betalen bij deze scheiding.  Zowel de scheiding als de toekomstige relatie moeten sociaal zijn. Sociale standaarden moeten we overeind houden. Wij willen geen Singapore aan de Theems voor onze deur. Het Verenigd Koninkrijk moet ook zijn sociale verplichtingen blijven nakomen, zoals de uitkering van pensioenen, ook aan EU-burgers die daaraan hebben bijgedragen. Onze toekomstige relatie mag niet ten koste gaan van de arbeidsomstandigheden van Britse en Europese burgers. De brexit is geen excuus voor een race naar beneden, maar ik moet zeggen: ik houd mijn hart vast.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Billy Kelleher
Political group: Renew
Country: Denmark
Language: EN

Madam President, just to say at the outset, I’m speaking primarily in the context of the island of Ireland and Irish citizens living on the island of Ireland and also UK citizens living on the island of Ireland. In that context, I think we have to accept that we can’t negotiate or compromise on citizens’ rights. We can compromise on financial services, on agricultural products, on trade and commerce, but the very essence of the European Union and the very essence of the Irish Republic is citizens’ rights, and we have to ensure they are upheld and maintained. We have a common travel area between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic. But, Mr Barnier, what I need to ensure is that when the UK becomes a third country, that citizens’ rights are protected and maintained. Very simple examples: the mutual recognition of qualifications, for example, could have profound implications on the island of Ireland, people unable to work in one jurisdiction on the island. So, for all these reasons, we have to ensure that citizens’ rights are an integral part of this Withdrawal Agreement and the future relationship. There can be no compromises on people’s rights and entitlements.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Scott Ainslie
Political group: Verts/ALE
Language: EN

Madam President, as a councillor in south London I’ve seen first hand the UK Government’s cruel treatment of the Windrush generation, who came to our shores to help keep Britain great. I have seen these people denied citizenship. People who have lived in the UK for their entire lives suddenly find themselves denied work, homes and access to health care. Instead of scrapping the policies which have driven these gross injustices, this UK Government is working to expose those of the three million EU citizens in the UK who fall through the cracks to exactly the same broken, heartless system. One million of these EU citizens live in my constituency of London. I am their MEP and I refuse to sit back while their rights are torn up and they are plunged into imminent danger. We can’t trust this British Government to protect citizens’ rights, so I plead with all MEPs who are lucky enough to remain in this Chamber for another four years – please, do not stop fighting for the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in your countries. Help us hold our own reckless government to account.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Bogusław Liberadzki
Political group: S-D
Country: Spain
Language: PL

Pani Przewodnicząca! Ostatnie słowa premiera Plenkovicia zabrzmiały następująco: „zostańmy zjednoczeni – remain united”. Potem wystąpienia Rady, Komisji, grup politycznych pokazały, że jesteśmy zjednoczeni, czyli pierwszą troską byli ludzie, mieszkańcy, obywatele Unii Europejskiej mieszkający w Wielkiej Brytanii i Brytyjczycy mieszkający na terenie Unii Europejskiej. To jest również 1 milion Polaków. Mówiła też o tym pani przewodnicząca Ursula von der Leyen, wspominając o sprawie polskiego kucharza. Pozostaje nam zjednoczonych 440 milionów obywateli Unii Europejskiej. Ja bym chciał bardzo prosić o to, żebyśmy niezależnie od tej walki o interesy pamiętali o tych 440 milionach obywateli Unii Europejskiej. Ja chcę też pamiętać o 38 milionach obywateli mieszkających w Polsce. Zatem w tym procesie rozwodowym to my, jako Unia Europejska, jesteśmy jednak silniejszą stroną. Wykorzystajmy tę przewagę.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Sophia in 't Veld
Political group: Renew
Country: Poland
Language: EN

Madam President, one question of course is if the arrangements are going to be adequate, but another question is how it will be implemented and do we trust the Johnson government to do that properly? I have to say that the signs so far are no reason for confidence. And if I hear the sounds coming out of the Brexit corner of this House, I am really incredibly worried because it’s not warm and welcoming, as they say.  I’ve been asking myself who benefits if we strip five million people of their rights? What is the purpose of leaving five million citizens in limbo? Why do they have to be penalised? What is their crime? And the point is: there is no purpose, there is no reason, nobody benefits. It’s a stupid vindictive campaign against people who have done nothing wrong, who didn’t even have a vote.  Now, no democracy should treat its citizens this way. No government has the right to just remove citizens’ rights or to retroactively impose new requirements, because citizenship is a right. It is not a privilege that can be removed at a whim, at the simple stroke of a pen. So we’ll stand up for all five million EU citizens.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Mairead McGuinness
Language: EN

I am sorry, Mr Rowland, you have been refused. Ms Widdecombe is waving her blue card, but Madam, you have already had the floor so I will move immediately to the next speaker on my list which is Ms Dowding for one minute.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Gina Dowding
Political group: Verts/ALE
Language: EN

Madam President, to put this debate in context today, the latest poll in the UK says that the majority of UK voters would prefer to remain in the European Union by 52% to 48% – the very same margin that won the Brexit referendum three years ago but is now reversed. With over 3 million EU citizens in the UK, thousands of Europeans who made my constituency in the north-west of England their home, who are valued by their employers and neighbours and friends, we absolutely need to ensure that citizens’ rights are properly protected and people are treated fairly and lawfully. Right now, critical issues are arising for citizens who are currently applying for settled status. Reports by lawyers indicate that, despite the UK government claiming that the process should take one to four days, some people are waiting months, leaving them without essential status documentation and rendering them unable to get jobs or rent a home. This is not a demonstration of a system offering kindness and consideration. We call upon everyone here in the European Parliament to ensure that the UK Government upholds its commitments to protect EU citizens’ rights. Because that is also what will surely determine the reciprocal arrangement by the UK for UK citizens in the EU.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Richard Corbett
Political group: S-D
Language: EN

Madam President, this Parliament is right to debate this today ahead of its vote in two weeks’ time on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. It’s right to do so because from the very start of this process, the Conservative Government has made things difficult for citizens of other EU countries in Britain. First it used them as bargaining chips in the negotiations, and now it is unwilling to provide a system that gives them full guarantees. Let me take just one example: the refusal to give a physical document. That seems designed to make it difficult for citizens to prove their status to prospective employers or to landlords. It seems designed to make life difficult for them. And now, Boris Johnson has an increased majority, won, let us recall, on only 43% of the vote. Won despite 53% voting for parties offering a new referendum on Brexit. But he will use this majority to harden his Brexit. We have already seen him put in British law a refusal to extend the negotiating period beyond a year. The UK Government wants the shortest possible transition period, making it impossible, frankly, to solve the plethora of problems that Brexit will throw up, this included. Instead, the UK Government must listen to this Parliament and remember that the European Parliament also needs to approve the Withdrawal Agreement and, above all, it should use the transition period to reflect again on the question of freedom of movement and let another generation enjoy the rights that our generation had the privilege to have.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Lucy Nethsingha
Political group: Renew
Language: EN

Madam President, the UK joined the European Community before I was born. For 47 years, EU citizens have been confident of their rights in the UK. A friend of mine who moved to the UK 40 years ago thought she would never have to choose between her birth country and the UK. Her rights have been changed hugely by Brexit, and that is a very different situation from all those who moved to the UK from the rest of the world. My friend married, brought up her children, divorced, worked for decades as a chaplain supporting the most vulnerable in her community. Now in her late 70s she is razor sharp and fully aware of the impact Brexit has on her and her rights. But there are many like her, elderly women who moved to the UK with their husbands over 40 years ago, who are not so able. Many who have dementia or other health issues, which make it even harder to prove their right to remain – just as importantly their rights to access critical services such as health and social care. The current application process is not easy, particularly for those who are unaccustomed to filling in online forms. The information that only a tiny proportion are refused is yet another example of why so many do not trust the Conservatives. Millions have applied and not been granted settled status. They remain in legal limbo with status neither granted nor refused and their rights not guaranteed. We fear for another Windrush scandal, and the sick and the vulnerable will be most at risk.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Ellie Chowns
Political group: Verts/ALE
Language: EN

Madam President, I say to the House: this debate reminds us that Brexit will not be done on 31 January. It’s not a ready-meal as Mr Johnson would have us believe. It’s a complex dish that’s never been cooked before, has no recipe, two chefs in different kitchens, it’ll cost us a fortune and it risks giving us all indigestion for many years to come.  I jest, but citizens’ rights are no laughing matter. As we have heard in today’s debates there are real problems with the EU settlement scheme in the UK. Unreasonable demands for additional evidence, lack of support for vulnerable people, threats of deportation, the risk of another Windrush scandal on an even bigger scale and erosion of the independent monitoring authority. These must be addressed. It’s a bitter irony that Members of this European Parliament will have more of a say over the future UK-EU relationship than members of Parliament in the UK. Because Boris Johnson has removed any capacity for the UK parliament to have a say over negotiations or powers of scrutiny. Our UK political system is broken. The challenges of the next 11 months are enormous. There’s much to negotiate, little time, the risks of no deal remain high. In the UK, I and my colleagues will be doing everything we can to fix our failing democracy and scrutinise our government’s actions. Colleagues, please stand with us, together let us defend our shared European values, standards and citizens’ rights.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Luis Garicano
Political group: Renew
Language: EN

Madam President, I, like some of my colleagues previously, want to draw the attention of Mr Barnier to the settled status issue and the physical proof. I’ve interacted several times with Spanish citizens in the UK. I’ve gone to London, to Oxford, to several places to see them. They tell me that the system is unnecessarily cruel and that it leads to a lot of uncertainty. The basic issue is that they get a PDF by email, which they can print as a PDF, which anybody could fake, which says that they have been granted settled status. That is all. They don’t get any card they can use when they travel. They don’t get any card that they can use when they go to work. They don’t know if the next time they come to the UK, somebody might not find their status. There is a very easy solution to that, which is a card with your photo which they could get, like you get in the US when you’re a permanent resident. Our citizens are being subjected to an unnecessarily cruel system and I think that it should be a priority in negotiating with the UK authorities that, as our resolution says in point 10, this physical proof should exist and be given via a certain and simple process.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Sheila Ritchie
Political group: Renew
Language: EN

Madam President, the big issue today breaks into two parts: the rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom and the rights of British citizens in the EU 27 countries. But the underlying problem is the same: right—wing, dictatorial, nationalistic populism. Notwithstanding Mr Van Orden’s fine words, we fear a bonfire of our human rights. We Europeans in Britain will fight tooth and nail to protect those whose status our Home Office threatens.  My postbag is crammed with pleas from Brits desperate not to lose their European rights. You have the power to protect them, to protect us. Please do not require a quid pro quo but be generous to us. I – to paraphrase Socrates – am not only a citizen of Scotland and Britain, but of Europe and the world. And I don’t want to lose any of those identities.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Irina Von Wiese
Political group: Renew
Language: EN

Madam President, I am one of three million EU citizens who were denied the vote in the 2016 referendum. I now have a British passport, but it cost me nearly GBP 1 500. Many simply cannot pay this fee, even if they qualify. This deliberate tax on voting is part of the UK Government’s hostile environment for unwanted residents. I have long called on our government to lower the fee for becoming British. But cost is only one hurdle. Losing EU citizenship is another. EU members should allow UK residents to retain their original citizenship, whether they become British during the transition period or after. It is crucial for them to know that they will not lose their rights as EU citizens. Finally, I call on the EU to create an associate EU citizenship for those UK nationals who, like many of my constituents, wish to remain close to our European neighbours and continue to enjoy the freedoms under the EU Treaty. This is good for the UK, for UK citizens, it is good for the EU, who will benefit from inward investment, and it is good for the continuation of a friendly relationship we so urgently need.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Seán Kelly
Political group: PPE
Country: Greece
Language: EN

Madam President, whether we like the first-past-the-post system or not, that is the system in the United Kingdom, and with the motto ‘get Brexit done’, Boris Johnson won an overwhelming majority. Brexit will be done in 17 days’ time. No country will regret it more than my country, Ireland. We have a shared history, we are very close neighbours, we get on better now than ever before, and we have very close economic ties. So I would like to thank all the MEPs from the United Kingdom who’ve been great friends of ours for many, many years in the European Parliament. Reality, though, must be accepted by everybody, so we must move on now to the next stage and it should be about ‘get the free trade agreement (FTA) done’. That means goodwill on all sides, and as Guy Verhofstadt said, unless citizens’ rights are properly addressed, it is hard to see how Parliament could accept an FTA. So that means that we sit down in a mature way, forget about the sound bites and get the FTA done properly. That will bring results.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Julie Ward
Political group: S-D
Language: EN

Madam President, I and millions of British and European citizens are about to have many of our rights ripped away from us as a result of a highly flawed poor—quality democratic process subject to foreign interference, misinformation and even illegality that saw a shameful narrowing of the franchise worthy of a tin-pot dictatorship rather than a mature Western democracy. This means that the three groups of people who are most impacted by Brexit had no say in their future. I’m speaking of all the young people whose lives will be limited in opportunity, not to mention the child refugees that the Conservatives refused to consider. Then there’s millions of EU27 citizens who live, study, work and pay into the tax economy in the UK, and British citizens in the EU, including the elderly, who may find themselves isolated, without healthcare and social protection. We can never legislate for the changing complexities of individual family life. This is a future Windrush waiting to happen. And finally, a word about freedom of movement. As things stand, it looks as if a tin of meat will have more rights than a human being as it crosses the border between the EU and the UK, so shame on the Brexiteers for reducing us to dead meat.
Debate: Implementing and monitoring the provisions on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement
Date: TUESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Julie Ward
Political group: S-D
Language: EN

Madam President, I see no purpose in giving these people any right to speak here when they don’t turn up to the committees to do their actual job of work. Let’s see them in the committees first. Let’s see them actually earning their money, rather than being in here spreading hate and division.