unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Damian Boeselager
Country: Slovenia
Language: EN

But our democracy has left some space for improvement. Over the last 40 years, we didn’t really update the foundations of how we vote, and over the last 15 years, we didn’t update the functioning of the European Union as such. Why? Because our national leaders don’t seem to care too much.  If you look at it last year, we triggered the treaty changes and there was no real effect yet until now. No national leader really reacted. We triggered electoral law reforms and, again, nothing. When we look at the right of initiative, there’s also no improvement from the Council side and the same for the right of inquiry.  But we should really safeguard our democracy and so I’m happy that at least on this side, when we now look at the rights of mobile citizens, of those citizens that move from one Member State to the next, we do see some improvement. And I do want to thank the shadows for the good cooperation in trying to strengthen their rights.  What have we achieved in this report? We propose to the Council to allow for immediate registration so that whenever you come to a new country, you don’t leave your rights as a citizen of the European Union at the borders, but you can actually take them with you and exercise them easily.  We want to make it more accessible to vote. So that means that we want to make information available in all languages. We want to make it easier for vulnerable and marginalised groups to vote. We want to make it easier for even people with disabilities, older persons, homeless people to cast their vote.  It’s also important that we take note of what works well in different Member States. And so we also recommend to update electoral laws when it comes to postal voting, advance physical voting, proxy voting, mobile polling stations, and also electronic and online voting to make use of modern technologies.  We do believe that it should be possible for everyone without derogation to stand as a candidate, as an EU citizen in the different Member States. And it’s now, I think, imperative that we stand together and try to put pressure on the national leaders to actually implement these rights. Because if you look at it, from the 11 million EU citizens who live in different countries right now, only a very marginal part actually stands as candidates. There’s a low voters turnout as well but it’s really striking that in the 2019 elections only over 1 % of the candidates were actually coming from a different Member State.  We can do so much more. We can be a real transnational, pan-European democracy. But for that, dear colleagues, we really need to make sure that our strong results that we got in our negotiations are also implemented by the Council and that we do get a treaty change and that we do get an update of our electoral law in general.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Joachim Stanisław Brudziński
Country: Germany
Language: PL

W tym miejscu chciałbym podziękować wszystkim współpracującym kontrsprawozdawcom za wiele istotnych poprawek i za konstruktywną pracę nad sprawozdaniem. W pierwszej kolejności chciałbym tu wspomnieć o ułatwieniach dla osób z niepełnosprawnościami. Mam na myśli wdrożenie oraz wykorzystywanie technologii wspomagających, takich jak alfabet Braille'a, duży druk, informacje dźwiękowe czy komunikacja w języku migowym. Szczególnie istotną kwestią jest również zobowiązanie państw członkowskich do wyznaczenia właściwych organów, które będą proaktywnie informowały obywateli Unii o warunkach i szczegółach, zasadach rejestracji jako wyborca lub kandydat. Ważne jest według mnie ponadto zapewnienie jasnych, konkretnych i porównywalnych danych. Dzięki zobowiązaniu Komisji do ustanowienia wspólnych wskaźników kolejne oceny stosowania dyrektywy będą mogły lepiej odpowiedzieć na pytanie co do sprawności i jakości funkcjonowania jej przepisów.  Podczas prac nad sprawozdaniem kluczowe były dla mnie zapewnienia, aby nowe przepisy w sposób maksymalny zapewniały równość wszystkich obywateli Unii zgodnie z traktatową podstawą prawną. Jednocześnie dbałem, aby zmiany te nie wywoływały konieczności ponoszenia dodatkowych wydatków z budżetów państw członkowskich. Liczyłem również na pozostanie w ramach zaproponowanego przez Komisję zakresu przekształcenia dyrektywy. Wprowadzono jednak kilka zmian idących w przeciwnym kierunku, które nie pozwalają mi na poparcie finalnego tekstu sprawozdania. Jednym z nich jest obowiązek tłumaczenia większości informacji dotyczących wyborów. Z przygotowanych przez Komisję sprawozdań ze stosowania dyrektywy nie wynikało, by był to element powodujący utrudnienia w wykonywaniu swoich praw przez obywateli. Te zmiany stanowić będą znaczne obciążenia administracyjne i finansowe dla gmin.  Nie mogę być również zadowolony z chęci usunięcia obecnie obowiązującego na mocy dyrektywy odstępstwa, z którego od lat korzysta kilkanaście państw członkowskich. Chodzi mi o możliwość zastrzeżenia przez państwa członkowskie, że tylko ich obywatele mogą być wybierani na niektóre stanowiska. Takie państwa jak Austria, Belgia, Czechy, Estonia, Francja, Grecja, Włochy, Holandia, Polska czy Słowenia musiałyby wprowadzić istotne zmiany w przepisach, aby umożliwić wszystkim możliwość piastowania na ich terytorium niektórych tradycyjnych urzędów, np. burmistrza.  Sprawozdanie końcowe z jednej strony zawiera wiele ważnych elementów, które jednoznacznie wpływają na poprawę warunków wykonywania prawa obywateli, ale z drugiej strony zostały obarczone kilkoma nieakceptowalnymi z mojego punktu widzenia elementami. Z tego względu nie będę mógł go poprzeć.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

The rapporteurs have made impressive progress on these files. The Commission believes there is still a window of opportunity to have these new rules enacted before the next, 2024, European Parliament elections. But this window will close soon. Union—level measures are needed to enhance the participation of mobile EU citizens. This group of citizens has grown steadily in the last ten years, reaching 13.7 million citizens. Yet Union citizens still face obstacles in exercising their right to vote and stand as a candidate in other Member States, such as low information levels and burdensome registration formalities.  The Commission has proposed changes to make it easier for mobile EU citizens to vote and stand in local and European elections without changing the overall balance of rights and competences involved in this area. Our proposals draw upon extensive consultations and respond to input received in the framework of the European Cooperation Network on Elections and the expert group on electoral matters.  Information is key for the effective exercise of electoral rights. These proposals will introduce increased responsibilities for Member States to proactively inform mobile EU citizens about their electoral rights in clear and plain language, which is accessible also to persons with disabilities. Voter and candidate registration procedures will be streamlined by introducing standardised templates for the formal declarations that mobile Union citizens have to produce when registering. These declarations will include additional data allowing Member States to accurately identify mobile Union citizens and keep them apprised of their registration status and their rights and obligations.  The Commission’s proposals also ensure that mobile Union citizens are granted access to the same means of voting and remedies available to nationals. In the case of European elections, Member States will have to exchange a common data set to identify voters registered on electoral rolls of the Member States of residence and of nationality. This will reinforce the data exchange mechanism and contribute to the prevention of double voting by mobile Union citizens, an unfair activity that unfortunately happened in the past.  We will also collect relevant statistical data on the electoral participation of mobile Union citizens and a summary of the measures taken to support it. Thank you for your attention.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Domènec Ruiz Devesa
Country: Malta
Language: ES

Tenemos en este momento más de 13 millones de ciudadanos que viven en otro Estado miembro de la Unión Europea. Por eso, resulta imprescindible que estos ciudadanos puedan ejercer plenamente su derecho al voto y presentarse como candidatos en los procesos electorales, tanto al Parlamento Europeo como en las elecciones locales.  Desafortunadamente, estos ciudadanos se topan con demasiadas trabas administrativas y de información, especialmente las personas con discapacidad. Por tanto, es hora de eliminar estas barreras. Pedimos que se tenga en cuenta este informe para, al menos, incluir tres objetivos en particular: ofrecer más facilidades para inscribirse en el censo como residentes y votantes, facilitar más y mejor información sobre las elecciones en una lengua oficial comprensible para ellos, y, en tercer lugar, velar por las necesidades de los grupos más vulnerables, haciendo el voto accesible para las personas con discapacidad, las personas mayores y las personas sin hogar. También creo que sería muy importante garantizar en todos los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea el voto por correo.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Alin Mituța
Country: Germany
Language: RO

Din păcate însă, doar o treime dintre ei sunt la curent cu dreptul lor de a vota sau de a candida la alegerile locale sau la alegerile europene. Lucrul acesta trebuie să se schimbe. Trebuie să informăm mai bine cetățenii mobili în legătură cu drepturile lor, încă din momentul înregistrării reședinței și înainte de fiecare alegeri.  Trebuie să eliminăm toate barierele administrative și discriminările care încă există și trebuie să scădem vârsta de vot la 16 ani, pentru a da șansa tinerilor să participe și ei la viața democratică a Uniunii. Doar așa putem îmbunătăți democrația europeană și putem întări acel spirit comun de apartenență.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Paulo Rangel
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: PT

Esta reforma visa, precisamente, aumentar e facilitar o acesso das cidadãs e dos cidadãos a este direito de voto. Ela visa essencialmente que, hoje, em termos de registo e de recenseamento, em termos de acesso à informação numa língua que seja compreensível para os cidadãos, que são candidatos ou eleitores, e também os cidadãos com alguma deficiência possam ter muito maior facilidade no exercício do seu direito. Não está aqui em causa o sistema eleitoral, qualquer que ele seja, qualquer que seja a lei eleitoral europeia ou a lei eleitoral de cada Estado-Membro para os municípios, os cidadãos europeus devem ter pleno direito de acesso à capacidade eleitoral passiva e ativa.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Gabriele Bischoff
Political group: S-D
Country: France
Language: DE

Und ja, theoretisch können sie es. Es ist ein wichtiger Fortschritt gewesen, aber wir haben immer noch so viele Hürden, seien es sprachliche Hürden, die hier angewandt wurden, oder seien es bürokratische Verfahren manchmal, die es eben schwer machen für jemanden, der da arbeitet, aber sich nicht in den Bürokratien auskennt, tatsächlich auch sein Recht wahrzunehmen. Und deshalb ist es richtig, dass wir jetzt noch mal einen Push machen, um die Demokratie für EU-Bürgerinnen und -Bürger zu stärken, weil das Grundrecht, an Wahlen teilzunehmen, eben auch praktisch bedeutet, dass es signalisiert: Hier bin ich zu Hause, hier möchte ich mitbestimmen, wer meine Interessen in Europa, im Europäischen Parlament vertritt. Und deswegen gibt es hier noch starken Handlungsbedarf.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Yana Toom
Political group: Renew
Country: Hungary
Language: EN

But I also have to remind you of hundreds of thousands of Europeans who are left behind. Hundreds of thousands of stateless people in the Baltics do not have the right to vote in national and European elections. The non-citizens in Latvia do not have the right to vote, even in local elections, and I’m speaking about the people who were born and raised in that country.  In this House, we pride ourselves on the democratic mandate we get from Europeans. We say again and again how much we believe in democratic participation, yet our ambition with these voting rights paint a different picture. I hope that the next time we review these rules, we ensure that everyone permanently residing in Europe, everywhere in Europe, is entitled to vote. And I very much hope that we will not wait another 28 years for that.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: François Alfonsi
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: France
Language: FR

Le rapport propose de faciliter leur participation directe à la démocratie locale, aux élections municipales, que ce soit comme électeur ou comme candidat, en étant mieux informé et mieux incité à s’y impliquer. Chaque État d’accueil devra améliorer l’information des citoyens concernés dans leur langue – y compris s’il s’agit une langue régionale –, faciliter la mise en œuvre de leurs droits et permettre leur implication dans les débats politiques qui sont aussi les leurs. Toutes les restrictions actuelles devront être levées. Ce rapport fait donc progresser la démocratie européenne. Il apportera à chaque citoyen concerné un sentiment renforcé d’appartenance à l’Union et une meilleure implication dans la vie politique locale là où il vit. Notre groupe votera pour et demande au Conseil de le soutenir également.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Patricia Chagnon
Political group: ID
Country: Italy
Language: FR

La citoyenneté est liée à une nation. L’Europe n’est pas une nation et par conséquent, la citoyenneté européenne ne peut pas exister et n’existera donc jamais. C’est une construction purement idéologique: l’Union européenne est composée des citoyens des différentes nations qui la composent. Au lieu de tirer les leçons des contestations de plus en plus nombreuses des peuples d’Europe, qui se lèvent contre l’empire que vous avez créé, vous avancez avec arrogance et mépris dans votre projet d’intégration. Votre projet finira par se fracasser sur la réalité des peuples, car notre soif de liberté finira par triompher. Les peuples ne sont pas interchangeables, ni intégrables à votre empire par une artificielle «citoyenneté européenne». Les empires ne sont que des parenthèses dans l’histoire des peuples et notre Alliance européenne des nations est bien l’avenir.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Leila Chaibi
Political group: The Left
Country: Cyprus
Language: FR

Ces Européens ont le droit de travailler, de vivre et d’étudier dans un autre État membre et ça, ils le savent. Ces citoyens mobiles ont également le droit de voter aux élections européennes dans leur pays d’accueil mais souvent, cela, ils ne le savent pas. Et donc, en pratique, ils ne votent pas du tout: ni dans leur pays de base, car ils n’y vivent pas, ni dans leur pays d’accueil, car ils ne savent pas qu’ils en ont le droit. Ce rapport vise justement à rendre ce droit effectif, d’abord et avant tout en favorisant l’accès à l’information, qui sera donnée aux citoyens mobiles dès qu’ils s’enregistrent dans leur nouveau pays de résidence. Ainsi, ils pourront choisir en toute connaissance de cause, dès leur arrivée, de voter dans leur État membre d’origine ou depuis leur État membre de résidence. Dans un contexte où l’abstention est massive à chaque élection européenne – je ne dis pas que la révision de cette directive est une solution magique –, nous ne pouvons pas rechigner à ce que davantage de citoyens puissent se rendre aux urnes lors des élections européennes et ce rapport y contribue.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Ivan Vilibor Sinčić
Political group: NI
Country: Czechia
Language: HR

Poštovana predsjedavajuća, moja Hrvatska je zemlja birača duhova. Birački popisi su neuređeni, često glasaju mrtvi ili oni koji su iselili, a birača ima mnogo više nego što ima stanovnika.  Kada sam se prvi puta kandidirao, bilo je desetak birača registrirano na mojoj adresi, od kojih većinu nikada nisam poznavao niti imaju ikakve veze s tom adresom. U Hrvatskoj se birač nigdje ne potpisuje pa niti nema dokaza je li ikada glasao ili nije glasao.  Izborne jedinice su toliko nakaradne da je napokon i Ustavni sud prije nekoliko dana, nakon tužbe, srušio i Zakon o izbornim jedinicama. Neki zastupnici birani su s desetak tisuća glasova, dok iza nekih stoji svega nekoliko stotina glasova u 12. izbornoj jedinici. Taj neustavan sustav dojadio je i Bogu i narodu, i stručnoj i političkoj javnosti. Narušena je jednakost biračkog prava odnosno svačiji glas ne vrijedi jednako niti svatko u jednakoj mjeri ne utječe na ishod izbora.  Sve navedeno i još mnogo toga ide na ruku onima koji su takav sustav i gradili da ostanu na vlasti. Sav taj nered i nepravdu Europa je prepoznala pa nam je dala Dubravku Šuicu, komesara za demokraciju.  Međutim, ovdje danas imamo prijedlog o uvođenju elektroničkog i
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Loránt Vincze
Political group: PPE
Country: Greece
Language: EN

Madam President, dear Commissioner Jourová, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Damian Boeselager, for the very good cooperation in preparing Parliament’s position.  Available data makes it evident that the participation rate in elections among the mobile European citizens is much lower than that of the nationals in a Member State. There are many factors influencing the decision to vote or not, and certainly the registration process is the most significant.  We need to close this representation gap in which the views of citizens making use of the freedom of movement are less reflected than those of other EU citizens. Mobile European citizens need to know about their right to vote and the steps they need to take for the registration in the electoral roll.  I am glad that the report of the Parliament has improved the language on the possibility of immediate registration as a voter or candidate at a time of requesting a residence permit, has made it clear for voters that they have the choice of expressing their political preference in either the home state or the country of residence, and it has strengthened the references to information provision on the prohibition of double voting.  And, in this regard, it is regretful that not all Member States have ratified the Council’s decision of 2018 amending the 76 electoral rule, which requires effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in Member States in the event of double voting. In its absence, strengthening the information provision through this Directive is most useful.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Pedro Silva Pereira
Political group: S-D
Country: Bulgaria
Language: PT

Senhora Presidente, Senhora Comissária, Caros Colegas, a liberdade de circulação das pessoas é das mais importantes vantagens concretas da cidadania europeia, e os cidadãos conhecem e reconhecem-na bem. Mas, a mobilidade não pode pôr em causa o exercício dos direitos de voto e de participação política dos cidadãos europeus que fazem uso da sua liberdade de residir em países diferentes do seu país de origem. Por isso, o Parlamento Europeu faz hoje uma chamada de atenção à Comissão e ao Conselho para que tomem medidas que eliminem barreiras e facilitem o direito de voto dos imigrantes nas eleições europeias. Mecanismos de recenseamento automático, mecanismos de voto antecipado, de voto por correspondência podem fazer toda a diferença para muitos imigrantes e outros cidadãos em mobilidade. São também muito necessárias e urgentes medidas de informação sobre os direitos de participação política no próprio momento do registo, sempre que possível em língua acessível, e campanhas de sensibilização. Ainda vamos a tempo de ter mais cidadãos imigrantes a votar nas próximas eleições europeias, mas para isso é preciso fazer, e fazer agora o que ainda não foi feito.
Debate: Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections
Date: MONDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2023
Speaker: Sandro Gozi
Political group: Renew
Country: France
Language: FR

Madame la Présidente, Madame la Vice-Présidente de la Commission, chère Věra, chers collègues, en 2019, s’est déroulé un événement démocratique très inquiétant – lors des élections européennes – dont personne n’a parlé. Que s’est-il passé? Les abstentionnistes chez les expatriés étaient 9 millions de personnes, soit l’équivalent de 70 % de la population d’un État de taille moyenne en Europe (13 millions). Il s’agit d’Européens résidant dans un État membre autre que leur pays d’origine. Leur droit fondamental de participation démocratique a été lourdement limité par des incohérences bureaucratiques et par le manque d’informations. En tant que citoyen italien, résident et élu en France, je suis convaincu que nous passons ainsi à côté de la plus belle opportunité offerte par notre Union: être citoyen à plein titre, partout dans notre Union. Notre rapport va exactement dans ce sens: nous devons éliminer, et ce très rapidement, les obstacles inacceptables à la participation démocratique en vue des élections européennes de 2024.