unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Julie Lechanteux
Political group: ID
Language: FR

Monsieur le Président, l’Europe de Bruxelles tente à nouveau de faire croire qu’elle prendrait des mesures indispensables pour faciliter la libre circulation et  sauver les économies nationales. Elle essuie pourtant encore ses échecs répétés dans la gestion de la crise de la COVID-19. L’Union européenne s’attaque ainsi à la souveraineté des États membres, dernier rempart à sa dérive fédéraliste, et cela, sans apporter aucune valeur ajoutée. La Commission veut établir aujourd’hui une durée standard d’acceptation de deux cent soixante-dix jours pour les certificats COVID numériques de l’UE attestant l’achèvement du schéma de vaccination. Cette opération, dans son esprit, viserait à faciliter la libre circulation de son détenteur. Il s’agit d’une nouvelle atteinte à la souveraineté des États membres, privés encore une fois de la possibilité d’introduire des restrictions de déplacement supplémentaires et empêchés ainsi d’effectuer toutes les vérifications nécessaires concernant la sécurité et la sûreté des personnes entrant sur leur territoire. L’Union européenne fait aujourd’hui de la suppression des contrôles aux frontières intérieures et de la mainmise des contrôles à ses frontières extérieures l’un des ressorts centraux de sa légitimité politique. Rappelons que la responsabilité première de la protection de la santé, et en particulier des systèmes de soins de santé, incombe toujours aux États membres. Pendant cette crise, l’Union européenne a démontré son incapacité concernant l’atténuation des sources de danger pour la santé humaine et l’harmonisation des stratégies des États membres en matière de santé publique. Un autre sujet controversé de ce certificat COVID numérique de l’UE concerne la protection des données personnelles, en plus de leur possible usage abusif. Pour toutes ces raisons, les députés du Rassemblement national se sont opposés à Bruxelles et à ce projet de certificat européen COVID-19 destiné aux ressortissants des États membres. L’Union n’a pas été capable d’interdire les avions provenant de Wuhan, elle a été incapable de surveiller l’arrivée de migrants, mais elle est capable depuis deux ans de priver de liberté les citoyens avec le passe sanitaire, qui, pourtant, ne sert à rien. Notre groupe ID ainsi que mon parti, le Rassemblement national, se sont toujours opposés et continueront à s’opposer au principe même de ce certificat COVID européen, qui n’est rien d’autre qu’une contrainte démesurée, une mesure vexatoire et un véritable instrument de privation de liberté. Il faut supprimer aussi le passe vaccinal immédiatement: c’est une restriction de liberté disproportionnée, qui n’a strictement aucune utilité sanitaire.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Cristian Terheş
Political group: ECR
Country: Poland
Language: EN

Mr President, ‘we do not yet have full scientific evidence about the effects of vaccination, but we cannot wait for all these questions to be answered’. This is what Commissioner Didier Reynders said in this plenary on 28 April 2021. We received guarantees from him in front of us that this Green Certificate is not going to be used to violate people’s rights, but it will be used to facilitate the freedom of movement. And look what is happening right now all across Europe. We heard just today that the Commission is acknowledging that Member States are abusively using this certificate to violate people’s rights. And the Commission says implicitly that that is OK. What we saw happening this year is that this certificate was used to coerce people, to mandate people, to force people to be vaccinated against their will. So the question to the Commission is, why would someone accept that EU citizens be vaccinated with medical products based on these contracts that weren’t released to the public? So I’m asking publicly here the Commission, before we even talk about prolonging the Green Certificate, to fully publish the contracts that the Commission signed with the companies concerned.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Andrey Novakov
Political group: PPE
Country: France
Language: BG

Господин Председател, говорим си за зелен сертификат, за свободно пътуване в Европа. За кой път водим този разговор? Това означава, че проблемът си е все там. Аз съм ваксиниран три пъти и това не ми помага да се движа свободно из Европа. Не ме разбирайте погрешно, зеленият сертификат беше една добра идея, която в началото свърши много работа, за да въведе ред в хаоса на пандемията. Разбира се, откритието на ваксината също много помогна за това и аз, като европейски политик, съм съгласен да нося зелен сертификат, но не и розови очила. И нека да сме сериозни. Европа не намери единно решение. Тя намери ваксина, намери сертификат, намери система за обмен на данните, но не и единно решение. И знаете ли защо? Защото всяка държава си променяше правилата, когато си поиска, колкото пъти си поиска и както си поиска. Затова обещахме на хората, че зеленият сертификат ще им върне нормалния начин на живот. А сега преди всеки полет, освен зелен сертификат, ти трябва QR-код, PCR-тест, клетвена декларация или всички от тях, взети заедно.  Уважаеми колеги, за да не ни се смеят, а да ни вярват, ни трябва едно правило, което да се прилага в цяла Европа, във всяка една държава членка, и днес, и утре, без да се променя без предупреждение. Да направим така, скъпи колеги, че да няма значение дали летиш от Берлин, от Брюксел или от Бургас.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Josianne Cutajar
Political group: S-D
Country: Italy
Language: EN

Mr President, the new rules on coordinating travel were much needed. The tourism sector cannot sustain the halt of travel any longer. The ecosystem is suffering and, whilst we celebrate this positive step forward, we must keep in mind that coordinating travel will not necessarily translate into higher volumes on its own. In fact, we must continue working on other elements to the puzzle, for example, the aviation sector  anticipating higher costs for travellers, especially considering the sharp rise in fuel prices, and travel anxiety, which remains in case travellers test positive whilst abroad and are caught up in quarantine with the ancillary costs involved. We must continue addressing these issues at EU and national level. Jump-starting a sector that contributes 10% to EU GDP will require a continuous concentrated effort. The EU has been active through the introduction of the digital certificate, the Re-open EU app, the safe relaxation of state-aid rules, but we want a continuation of this effort, as well as greater effort by all Member States. A key word must be stated here: resilience. In the process of defining the EU’s strategy for tourism, we must gather lessons learnt and prepare contingency plans in the eventuality of future disruptions. Resilience, in my opinion, is not adequately mentioned and emphasised in the transition path to a conclusion, and must be at the heart of our recovery if we want to avoid new interruption of travel in the short and long term. Tourism cannot stop again.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Nicola Danti
Political group: Renew
Country: Italy
Language: IT

Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signor Commissario, il  Tornare alla normalità, quindi, non è solo l'aspirazione di tutti, ma un dovere della politica e questo passa, prima di tutto, dal ristabilire la piena libertà di movimento, uno dei principi cardine della nostra Unione.  Ma fatemelo dire chiaramente: ritornare alla normalità significa anche distinguere chi, con senso del dovere, si è vaccinato da chi, invece, ancora nega l'evidenza scientifica e sceglie di mettere a rischio la propria salute e quella della collettività.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Henna Virkkunen
Political group: PPE
Country: Italy
Language: FI

Arvoisa puhemies, hyvä komission jäsen, nyt, kun koronapandemiaa on kestänyt jo kaksi vuotta, on syytä arvioida, missä Euroopan unioni on onnistunut ja missä meidän on syytä parantaa tulevaisuutta varten, koska on valitettavasti aika selvää, että tämä pandemia ei tule olemaan varmasti viimeinen. Täällä on tänään otettu jo usein esiin rokotteet. Euroopan unioni lähti heti alkuun investoimaan isosti rokotteisiin ja lääketutkimukseen, mikä on ollut erittäin tärkeää vakavien sairastumisten ja kuolemien vähentämisessä. Lisäksi jäsenmaiden puolesta tehdyt isot yhteishankinnat auttoivat myös pienimpiä jäsenmaita saamaan rokotteet heti käyttöön. Toinen merkittävä onnistuminen on mielestäni ollut juuri yhtenäinen koronatodistus, josta saatiin teknisesti erittäin toimiva. Sitä osoittaa se, että jo yli 60 maata on ottanut tuon todistuksen käyttöön. Asia, jossa tässä on epäonnistuttu, tuli esiin jo aikaisemmissa puheenvuoroissa. Eri jäsenmaat ovat käyttäneet koronatodistusta todella eri tavalla ja muuttaneet jatkuvasti siihen liittyviä sääntöjä. Sinänsä todistus on sujuvoittanut matkustamista ja auttanut monia jäsenmaita pitämään palveluita auki ja järjestämään tapahtumia turvallisesti, mutta alati muuttuvat säännöt ovat tehneet tästä kansalaisille hyvin vaikeasti ennustettavaa, ja koska meillä on yhtenäinen sisämarkkina ja yhtenäinen Euroopan unioni, meidän on jatkossa varmistettava paremmin, että jäsenmaat koordinoivat yhdessä toimiaan ja yhteiset sääntömme toimivat koko sisämarkkina-alueella. Vain siten voimme toimia tehokkaasti ja turvallisesti tulevaisuudessa.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Birgit Sippel
Political group: S-D
Country: Croatia
Language: DE

Herr Präsident! Der Flickenteppich aus Grenzkontrollen und Grenzschließungen in der Pandemie jährt sich jetzt bald zum zweiten Mal. Suchen die Mitgliedstaaten immer noch nach einer koordinierten Herangehensweise? Einheitliche Regeln wären gerade jetzt besonders leicht, denn die EU-Corona-Karte zeigt derzeit nur eine einzige Farbe: dunkelrot. Und eben diese Karte soll seit Oktober 2020 Grundlage sein für koordinierte Maßnahmen. Sie ist es aber bis heute – trotz einheitlicher Färbung –nicht. Grundsätzlich willkommen sind deshalb erste Versuche im Schengener Grenzkodex, verbindliche Regeln für das Reisen in pandemischen Zeiten festzulegen. Leider werden zu viele Gedanken daran verschwendet, wie man Grenzschließungen ausweiten könnte, um deren Auswirkungen auf den Warenverkehr dann mit Ausnahmen abzuschwächen. Vergessen wir nicht: Die Freizügigkeit im Schengen-Raum war zuallererst für Bürgerinnen und Bürger gedacht, für tägliche Begegnungen, insbesondere im kleinen Grenzverkehr. Statt also nur über Ausnahmen für bestimmte Sektoren nachzudenken, müssen wir uns auf das Prinzip der Freizügigkeit besinnen, auf den ursprünglichen Gedanken, der der Öffnung der Binnengrenzen zugrunde lag. Ein täglich grenzenloses, ein europäisches Miteinander von Menschen – das muss auch weiter unsere Ambition sein.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Dita Charanzová
Political group: Renew
Country: France
Language: EN

Mr President, well, every time you travel nowadays in Europe, be it for skiing in Austria or carnival in Germany, you need to read numerous websites. Do I need two vaccine shots or three? Do I need a test for my children?  Currently, we have a patchwork of different national measures, which change all the time. It is impossible for anyone travelling in Europe to follow what the rules are. Therefore, my suggestion today is very simple. Please create a simple and user—friendly application. Learn from the weakness of the Reopen Europe site, which is not up to date and honestly, people do not know it even exists. Since we will not have harmonised COVID rules in the foreseeable future, we can at least have an information app that works for our citizens, and I ask the Commission to act.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Tomasz Frankowski
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: PL

Panie Przewodniczący! Panie Komisarzu! Od ponad dwóch lat siejąca spustoszenie zdrowotne oraz gospodarcze pandemia Covid niewątpliwie pokazała, jak istotna jest walka z nierównościami socjo-ekonomicznymi i terytorialnym oraz jak ważne są zharmonizowane i skoordynowane na szczeblu unijnym działania, które przynoszą realną ulgę dla gospodarki. Choć strefa Schengen jest powszechnie postrzegana jako jedno z głównych osiągnięć Unii Europejskiej, to pandemia skłoniła większość państw członkowskich do odejścia od założeń związanych ze swobodnym przepływem osób. Kontrole na granicach wewnętrznych, zamknięcie granic i wprowadzenie tymczasowych ograniczeń związanych z kwarantanną dla osób podróżujących drastycznie odbiły się na liczbie podróżnych. To właśnie swoboda przemieszczania się i pobytu w Unii Europejskiej stanowi jedną z najważniejszych podstaw obywatelskich, a głównym jej beneficjentem jest ekosystem turystyczno-transportowy oraz stanowiące jego rdzeń małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa, które w szczególności zostały dotknięte restrykcjami związanymi z pandemią Covid. Cieszy, że nowo zaprezentowane zalecenie w sprawie skoordynowanego podejścia ułatwiającego bezpieczne przemieszczanie się podczas pandemii stosuje podejście oparte na statusie osoby w ogólnoeuropejskim zaświadczeniu cyfrowym Covid. Niewątpliwie uprości to obowiązujące przepisy we wszystkich krajach oraz zapewni podróżnym dodatkową przejrzystość i spójność dotyczącą obostrzeń sanitarnych, szczególnie ważną dla sektora lotnictwa, bo to właśnie odbudowanie zaufania wśród podróżujących jest niezbędne do wznowienia popytu na usługi lotnicze oraz turystyczne, a strategiczne podejście zachęcające do podróżowania oraz dające pasażerom poczucie bezpieczeństwa ma w tym wypadku kluczowe znaczenie.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Vera Tax
Political group: S-D
Country: Sweden
Language: EN

Mr Vice-President Zīle, this is a special moment for you. Voorzitter, vrij reizen is een grondrecht van alle Europeanen. Dit recht staat vanwege de pandemie echter al twee jaar onder druk. Dit merken niet alleen vakantiegangers, maar ook mensen die wonen en werken in een grensregio. We hebben daarom hard gewerkt aan de totstandbrenging van het reiscertificaat, dat bedoeld was om het recht van Europeanen om tijdens de pandemie vrij te reizen, te garanderen. De lidstaten zijn er echter mee aan de haal gegaan en hebben in de evenementensector en in de horeca allerlei verschillende beperkingen en passagierlokalisatieformulieren ingevoerd. Het is een wirwar van reismaatregelen geworden, waardoor het beoogde doel van het reiscertificaat niet kon worden verwezenlijkt. Ik wil de Commissie er daarom toe oproepen daadwerkelijk voor geharmoniseerde afspraken te zorgen als het reiscertificaat wordt verlengd.
Debate: Harmonised EU approach to travel measures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Fabienne Keller
Political group: Renew
Country: Poland
Language: FR

Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Commissaire, cher Didier Reynders, près de deux ans après la pandémie et la fermeture désordonnée des frontières intérieures de l’espace Schengen, l’Europe a appris et grandi. D’abord, parce que le certificat COVID européen est une réussite incontestable, symbole d’une Europe concrète et utile. C’est notre outil principal pour assurer la libre circulation dans l’Union. Je veux en témoigner ici, à Strasbourg, au bord de l’Allemagne, comme dans toutes les régions frontalières. Ensuite, parce que la Commission s’engage et s’attache à encadrer les mesures nationales vers une approche plus harmonisée. Je voudrais mettre l’accent sur deux priorités qui me semblent fondamentales pour faciliter encore la vie des Européens, comme l’a dit ma collègue Dita Charanzová. D’abord, la mise à niveau du certificat pour la troisième dose. C’est important, et je regrette que certains États continuent à imposer des conditions supplémentaires à l’entrée. Ensuite, la question de la communication vers les citoyens: l’application Re-open EU n’est pas mal, elle fournit des informations; mais nous pourrions, par exemple, la relier au certificat COVID européen pour simplifier l’accès aux informations sur une seule plateforme. Je suis heureuse de cette réussite européenne, mais il faut la faire progresser encore, Monsieur le Commissaire.
Debate: Charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Roberts Zīle
Language: LV

Nākamais darba kārtības jautājums ir debates par Transporta un tūrisma komitejas ieteikumu otrajam lasījumam par ziņojumu “Dažu infrastruktūru lietošanas maksas noteikšana smagajiem kravas transportlīdzekļiem” (10542/1/2021 ‒ C9-0423/2021 ‒  Vēlos atgādināt deputātiem, ka nevienās šīs sesijas debatēs nebūs brīvā mikrofona procedūras un netiks pieņemtas zilās kartītes. Turklāt tāpat kā nesenajās sesijās, ir paredzēts organizēt attālinātas uzstāšanās no Parlamenta vietējiem birojiem dalībvalstīs. Vēlos arī atgādināt, ka šeit, zālē, arī turpmāk būs jāuzstājas no centrālās tribīnes. Tāpēc aicinu jūs sekot līdzi runātāju sarakstam un doties pie centrālās tribīnes kad tuvojas jūsu uzstāšanās laiks.
Debate: Charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

The Commission made its proposal to revise the EU rules on road pricing in 2017, almost 5 years ago. The objective of this third revision was to make further progress on the implementation of the polluter-pays principle in road transport through more efficient and fairer pricing for both commercial and private road users. This is exactly what the final agreement is about. Although the initial positions of the European Parliament and those of the Member States were very far apart, a carefully balanced political agreement was found last year in the space of just 6 months. The Parliament can be proud of the result achieved.  The Commission is in favour of the agreement for a number of reasons. First, it is an essential and very timely contribution to the European Green Deal. Trucks and buses will pay road tolls according to their CO2 emissions, well before an emission-trading system for roads is put in place. Their tolls will also reflect the costs of air and noise pollution. These will help the deployment of low- and zero—emission heavy-duty vehicles in a technology neutral manner.  For the first time, EU rules on road pricing will apply to cars and vans. Vignette prices will thus be more proportionate for the users of those vehicles and, thanks to this Parliament, travellers will benefit from the option of daily vignettes. The new directive will make sure that tolling schemes do not discriminate against foreign drivers. Furthermore, it will address specific shortcomings of the existing legislation, notably thanks to a simpler system of external cost charging and the new option of congestion charging. These will help Member States reduce the negative impact of transport and make it more efficient, notably in environmentally sensitive and congested areas. In sensitive mountainous areas, Member States can already apply higher tolls. Under the new rules, applying such mark-ups will also be possible outside mountain zones, and the Council added the option to go back to the 50% if directly concerned neighbours agree.  This brings me to the amendments that have been tabled and that you will be voting on tomorrow, and to the controversy around this revision. While the Commission would also have preferred somewhat higher ambition on certain aspects, no one can expect the Council to accept such amendments, especially at this stage. Despite the intention to improve the agreement reached, approving any of the amendments would not only further delay, but most likely stall, the adoption of this key piece of legislation, which is so important for our climate ambitions. This would not be in anyone’s interest, especially not in the interest of sensitive mountain regions that could make best use of the new provisions which I mentioned earlier.
Debate: Charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Barbara Thaler
Political group: PPE
Country: Romania
Language: EN

With the text on the table, we even assist Member States to go for double and triple taxation. Literally everything in this text can be changed by the Member States whenever they want and this does not provide stability, long-term predictability and resilience. This is not a European approach. Liebe Kollegen, selbst das Prinzip der Subsidiarität wird nicht mehr beachtet. In meiner Heimat wird der längste Eisenbahntunnel der Welt gebaut. Doch selbst der Parlamentsvorschlag von diesem Haus eines zweckgebundenen Mautaufschlags zur Finanzierung genau solch notwendiger Infrastrukturprojekte auf unserem Kontinent hat ein Vetorecht anderer Mitgliedstaaten. Die Euro-Vignette, so leid es mir tut, hat den Namen „Europäisches Gesetz“ nicht verdient. Die Abstimmung morgen ist auch eine Abstimmung darüber, wie ernst wir es mit der Erreichung unserer Ziele nehmen, sei es die Verlagerung auf die Schiene oder das Prinzip der Technologieneutralität. Ich bitte daher um die Unterstützung der Änderungsanträge der EVP und der Grünen.
Debate: Charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Petar Vitanov
Political group: S-D
Country: Spain
Language: EN

Varying road charges based on the CO2 emissions and the environmental performance of the vehicle, together with mandatory external cost-charging for trucks, will be a major incentive for the take-up of low- and zero-emission trucks and the renewal in the fleet. It shows that the provisional agreement will make the user-pays and polluter-pays principle applicable to road charging, which is one of the main principles of our European Green Deal. And the other very important element for the European Parliament, which was very, very difficult to achieve, is the mandatory earmarking of the revenues of the congestion charges to be spent on sustainable transport.  And with all I’ve said I want to encourage all of you not to support any amendments and support the provisional agreement because today we do not need to be part of the problem, but we need to be part of the solution and a solution is towards more sustainable, fairer road transport.