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What I would also call for , however , is to look beyond immediate concerns in Biarritz .
We , as elected representatives , are at least as responsible for encouraging it to make progress in the face of adversity as we are for relaying the messages that we receive from public opinion in each of our countries .
With an eye to recent events , the issue of petrol prices also seems to me to be particularly noteworthy .
At present , the Council is talking about incorporating such mechanisms in Article 7 .
Secondly , it lies in its transparency for the public , who now know what rights they have in respect of those who create and apply European law , and in its transparency for those who do precisely that , draft or apply European law .
I agree with him that the Commission must continue to play a pivotal role as guardian of the common interests of the Community .
That is why I believe it is very important for the Chairman of the Eurogroup - which we chose to set up - to continue to play a full role in this area .
I for my part believe that it is precisely for this reason that the Convention method is a good one and that ample use should again be made of it in the future .
Mr President , Mr President-in-Office of the Council , ladies and gentlemen , thank you for your kind accolade and thank you also to those who have gently reproached me for not making this speech earlier .
We must work on closer cooperation and make it simpler and more effective in order to bring this about : closer cooperation is the immediate , simplest way forward if we are to take that additional step towards integration , the need for which has been confirmed by the many powerful speeches which I have heard today .
The debate is closed .
Amendments Nos 10 , 11 and 15 are acceptable in principle .
However , this reduction of Parliament 's influence is acceptable given the highly technical nature of the issues concerned and the Commission 's endeavours to inform the EP in good time of plans to draw up new regulations via its competent Standing committees .
It is known that in France , for instance , the figure for tax receipts varies according to whether you use the statistics of the Direction générale de la comptabilité publique or those of the Comptabilité nationale .
A policy which worked towards the rational , efficient and safe organisation of transport ought to prioritise investment in the European public rail service rather than confining itself to standardising the conditions of competition between road transporters , that are principally concerned with maximising their private profits .
These buses may have access to that country , but in practice , they will be unable to reach many places .
The report supports the Council 's and Commission 's approach and emphasises that a number of regulatory measures need to be introduced , namely on pensions , cross-border prospectuses and a Community patent .
The most difficult problem facing this new charter is not its actual content but whether it has legal status .
Mr President , I voted in favour of this Charter , not least because of the influence which our colleague , Ingo Friedrich , and Professor Herzog have exerted on its content .
We believe that , as a political document , the Charter is a good point of departure for this wholly necessary dialogue , which is now about to begin .
That would be an interim solution which would make it possible to work towards a binding Charter in the long term .
This Charter lags some way behind the European Convention on Human Rights , and behind national conventions or treaties .
. ( FR ) I voted against incorporating the version of the Charter of Fundamental Rights we have before us into the Treaties .
( A5 - 0244 / 2000 ) by Mr Wiersma on the Slovak Republic ( COM ( 1999 ) 511 - C5 - 0034 / 2000 - 1997 / 2173 ( COS ) ) ;
For this reason , it must be clear that full satisfaction of the Copenhagen criteria is the only essential point .
In this respect , I wish to congratulate the European Parliament on the work accomplished in the reform of a report devoted to each of the twelve candidate countries which have entered into negotiations , and an overall report by Mr Brok , which I shall have the opportunity to comment on in further detail in my speech .
I am , of course , thinking of the common agricultural policy and the regional development policies .
It is not , of course , impossible that the candidate countries will seize this opportunity to once again bring up , as you said , Mr President - the subject of the dates for enlargement .
Enlargement is a historic undertaking .
But success does not depend on the time factor alone , however important it may be .
And if they do not apply throughout Europe , then they are in jeopardy throughout Europe .
Chapters are opened and closed depending on the current state of preparations and actual progress in negotiations .
As far as the internal market is concerned , we must ensure that transitional periods are kept to a minimum in terms of both time and content .
We need political answers to political questions and we need to get them across properly .
Imagine how we would struggle to resolve the issue of Kosovo , Bosnia Herzegovina or our relations with Serbia in a state of cold war .
We should start with a debate involving our own people .
We will be able to support all of this and we also want to support it .
Much of our debate about fears about enlargement is based on exaggeration , but in order to confront the populists who exaggerate , we must connect with popular politics through reflection .
Our group requires target dates to be set at the Nice summit or immediately afterwards , by which negotiations on membership should be concluded .
Mr President , our Group , the European United Left / Nordic Green Left , shares many of the considerations and opinions on enlargement contained in Mr Brok ' s report and we appreciate the enormous effort he has put into his courageous report .
Sixthly , we believe it has been a mistake to link enlargement in practice with the prior integration of these countries into NATO .
In company with a large number of other Members , I greatly appreciated President Prodi ' s declarations and I took note of Mr Moscovici ' s words when , with diplomatic caution , he too warned us not to expect much in the way of results over the next two or three months .
I would therefore ask the Minister and the Commissioner to take account of this and adjust their speaking times accordingly .
My own conclusion is that we should discuss it more , but also discuss it properly and better .
That being said , I think it was not a bad idea to ask the question .
I do not want to allow any backlogs to build up here , as has happened in other areas of foreign aid over a number of years .
But the fact remains that , as things stand today , 3 October 2000 , I cannot tell you when any single country in the accession process will be ready for accession .
And I can tell you why ; because these people wanted to be on the right side once and for all , i . e . securely anchored in the family of democratic nations .
Thank you very much for that clarification , Commissioner .
In that case , it will , in my view , have failed in its mission and purpose .
It is now that we are in a position to secure common values and benefits .
Imagine if such radical economic and social change had taken place in your own country in such a short space of time .
It is still hot air , Mr Verheugen ; the actual agencies responsible for the project have not even noticed it exists .
The macro-economic situation is now stabilising .
This issue requires a special effort and , in my view , cannot be dealt with purely as a problem on the fringe of the issue of the accession of Lithuania and Poland .
If , for example , we place a question mark over whether it will be possible for the citizens and workers of candidate countries to move freely across the European Union right from the word go , if we want to continue to deny the citizens of Eastern Europe recognition of that right which is one of the fundamental principles of the Union , then we are further diminishing support for the difficult reforms which must take place before they can join the Union .
I was delighted that my report was adopted unanimously in committee on 14 September .
What is important to me - and my colleagues in the Committee on Foreign Affairs , Human Rights , Common Security and Defence Policy supported me here - is that the Copenhagen criteria , which the Czechs have also acknowledged , should continue to apply and I should like the Czechs themselves to review their own legal system , if necessary page by page , in order to ascertain if there are any laws which are discriminatory .
Now for the good news , because this actually eclipses the bad news .
I think I can say that this report , which has been duly discussed and improved upon in the Committee on Foreign Affairs , Security and Defence Policy where it received unanimous approval , describes and analyses extremely thoroughly the current stage of Hungary ' s path towards accession , in its dual approach to the issue .
This issue needs to be addressed seriously but within a broader framework that covers not just Hungary but also the other candidate countries that still operate this antiquated and relatively unsafe technology .
The suspicion of corruption is a most destructive force and it must be tackled as a matter of urgency .
In Romania the government , with the active support of Commissioner Verheugen , the World Bank and the United Nations , have given us an opportunity to establish good doctrines and best practice in the region .
This is a candidate country where a third of the territory has since 1974 been occupied by the Turkish army and where , because of a particularly impervious line of demarcation , the fundamental principles of the European Union cannot be applied across all of the territory .
Europe must become a responsible player in finding a solution to the Cyprus question .
Financial support under the pre-accession strategy is fundamental for Malta , as is the knowledge that financial aid for Malta should comply with the rules which apply to the other candidate countries .
Once the conditions have been fulfilled , there is no reason why either candidate countries or the countries currently members of the euro should object to candidate countries entering the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union .
You might say that I represent a region which , ten years ago , represented a good part of enlargement to the east - I too lived on the other side of the Iron Curtain .
If we are to have a common information area , we must make huge joint efforts in this sector .
Technologically too , there are still discrepancies between East and West : there are four internet connections per one thousand inhabitants over there , as opposed to sixteen over here .
In that situation , West Germany backed the former GDR financially on a massive scale , by no less than DM 150 billion annually .
The next few years in Eastern Europe might well see the depopulation of rural villages and the large-scale purchase of agricultural land for mechanised production-intensive farms .
We are building a compendium of directives and regulations on matters wholly germane to health , such as pollution , emissions of radioactive and other dangerous substances , waste disposal , water , air , soil quality , food safety and novel foods and product liability .
My report on the committee ' s opinion therefore talks not only of what the candidate countries have to do but also of what the European Union has to do .
But now to the right signals .
We must ensure that the present rail infrastructure in central and eastern Europe is not replaced by road transport , resulting in a great deal of effort at a later date in an attempt to put things right .
This ' no ' will now be analysed carefully in the days to come .
This is how we came to go through the text , and attempted to cut down on certain items in the process .
It makes little sense to start to doubt in public the value , including the direct value at a material level , of this enlargement .
If there is a need for long transitional arrangements on certain points , then let us have long transitional arrangements .
First , the democratic wish of the countries and people in question must be respected after their accession to the EU .
They are wrong because prosperity is not generated by the European Union and its 80 000 pages of directives and regulations .
The increasingly strong reservations expressed by our peoples and Denmark ' s recent rejection of the euro serve to remind us of that .
In the opinion on the Brok report , for which I was responsible and which has been backed by the Committee on Budgets , the conclusion is the same .
This is not the most opportune moment for it to focus on foreign policy and the interchanges between the different parties could become heated and exploitative .
In splitting the body of EU law in two , the level of integration achieved by the present Member States could be guaranteed and cooperation could be further enhanced .
I visited Romania at the end of July to see at first hand the workings of one of the largest orphanages which is in northern Romania .
We therefore call upon the rapporteur , the Commission and the Council to supplement the agricultural policy section with the fisheries policy section , for example by changing the title ' Agricultural Aspects of Enlargement ' to ' Agricultural and Fisheries Aspects of Enlargement ' .
It is better to have a sound accession at a slightly later date than a premature one which proves inadequate .
Cyprus has close links with the people of the eastern Mediterranean and integrating the island will heighten the Union ' s profile in this vital area .
I support the view of the rapporteur that Malta should be admitted to membership in the first tranche of enlargement and that negotiations should be completed by the end of 2001 .
It is for us to determine a communication strategy for enlargement , through words and deeds .
In this context , it is a question of rousing public opinion in favour of enlargement .
Commissioner Verheugen ' s idea of a referendum on enlargement was heavily criticised , and the reason is obvious : those who have to pay cannot be let to decide on the matter .
In the face of the twofold challenge of both the enlargement , which must enable Europe to come to terms with itself , and the institutional reform , which must increase democracy and efficiency within the institutions , the European Union now , as it often does , stands at an important turning point in its history .
Above all though , I would like to bring various expectations and reservations that I have , to the attention of the Council , which , I am sorry to say , is largely absent .
This dialogue would also contribute to the creation of the necessary administrative capacity for the effective management of the country , creating structures which do not currently exist and reducing cases of corruption .
Malta should be represented by a minimum of six MEPs , like the other smaller Member States .
Neither can we base enlargement on the idea that a given applicant naturally has priority over another as if , without it , the whole process could not start at all .
We only hope that the tremendous efforts made by the government of late will be reflected in the next Commission report .
We can use Romania to lend weight to our argument when seeking to impress on our citizens that it is in our interests to stabilise Europe .
Mr President , I come from a country , Sweden , in which there is still quite a lot of scepticism about the EU project .
The points raised by the Committee on the Environment , Public Health and Consumer Policy in the Brok report are the steps we need to take to this end , and it is essential that we take them if we are to counteract any slowing of the pace on the European environmental policy front .
The SAPARD programme provides an excellent opportunity to this end , and I welcome with open arms the fact that the Commission has already approved six programmes .
My Group announced its desire to see the first negotiations concluded by 2003 , making accession possible by June 2004 .
I will now use my second minute to talk about Slovenia .
Mr President , there was relatively little comment regarding Elmar Brok ' s idea expressed today of an arrangement similar to the EEA Agreement as an alternative for those applicant countries that do not meet the Copenhagen criteria .
The candidate countries should also be encouraged to participate in the Community programmes for equal opportunities , and particularly those concerned with violence against women .
If , however , the universally-acknowledged constructive stand of the Cypriot Government notwithstanding , this proves to be impossible due to unwavering refusal on the Turkish side , then I believe that the European Union should not allow the integration of Cyprus to be held hostage to Turkish intransigence and that , on the contrary , it should immediately accept the Republic of Cyprus as a member of the Union pending integration of the island as a whole at a later date , as happened with one of the founder members , the anniversary of the unification of which we are celebrating here today .
Approval of the Minutes of the previous sitting
If we are to preserve the balance between the institutions , I believe we must take steps to ensure that this defect is rectified .
We are discussing a serious matter .
No one does .
My report supports this .
Many of these instances of poisoning or cases in which heavy metals were dispersed occurred before there was sufficient environmental awareness and before it was known what the effects would be .
Let me make a suggestion to the Commission as to how this problem could be tackled .
The crises of recent years have made everyone , including ourselves , more keenly aware of the situation .
That is why the PPE-DE Group advocates effective controls , and we echo the rapporteur ' s call for the food safety auditors in the Commission to be able to conduct unannounced on-the-spot inspections in close and constructive cooperation with the inspectorates of the Member States .
We all want the same thing and we have to say this very clearly here in Parliament .
Where heavy metals are concerned , there are many inconsistencies .
But remember , ladies and gentlemen , that the legitimacy of our Community institutions and our own legitimacy depend entirely on the will of the peoples whom it is our duty to represent .
The Commission has now proposed deleting the derogation for compound foodstuffs and having the option of fixing action thresholds below the maximum permitted limits in cases of real emergency .
Residual poison , pollution , poor animal husbandry and poor hygiene will result sooner or later in sick animals and , consequently , also in an increase in illnesses among human beings .
These directives are part of the most radical shake-up of the Community 's food safety hygiene rules for at least 25 years .
I should like to conclude by dealing briefly with two problems relating to the declaration .
Moreover , in my eyes a crime is a crime !
The farmer must obviously be compensated for the destruction of a batch of feed that is so contaminated that it is unfit for use , just as in the case , for example , of the destruction of animals with TSE .
However , let me first address the amendments with which the Commission cannot agree .
This has already been done for dioxins and PCBs and it can be expected that this scientific risk assessment will become available , as I said , in October .
This proposal is the follow-up to one of my first commitments to improve food safety and provides for a system to exchange information in the field of animal nutrition , with particular reference to a rapid alert system and a legal basis to enable the adoption of safeguards measures for products produced within the Community and also the obligation for the Member States to have in place contingency plans to deal with feed emergencies .
The basic Directive 95 / 53 already stipulates in Article 19 that penalties for non-compliance shall be commensurate and have a deterrent effect and when a responsibility is proven in the court civil and / or criminal liability apply .
The compound-feed industry , however , has been trying yet again to exert influence through the Council and to overturn the principle of open declarations .
We need a white list of the additives and ingredients that are authorised for use in feed mixes .
I believe , too , that transparency will ultimately strengthen competition ; it stands to reason that transparent competition creates a greater incentive to manufacture the best possible mixes .
We believe that complete transparency for farmers is essential .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , after the issue of the composition of feedingstuffs for animals , if we are to eliminate mercury , lead , arsenic , DDT , etc . , we must address the question of the way in which these products are marketed .
We must create a realistic statutory framework .
Mr President , the proposal before us and the rapporteur ' s reaction to this proposal are a step in the right direction but , at the same time , they expose the weak structure of European enforcement .
I believe that reversal of the burden of proof , as proposed in Amendment No 4 , is absolutely essential if these aims are to be achieved .
Finally , in relation to Amendment No 6 , this amendment is not acceptable as it falls outside the scope of this directive .
When we vote on these paragraphs , I shall ask if there are any objections to inserting them after paragraph 1 .
( Parliament gave its assent to considering the oral amendment ) ( Parliament adopted the resolution )
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
Secondly , that the candidate countries continue to make the good progress that they are making towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria and towards the full and complete enforcement of the acquis communautaire in advance of accession .
Paragraph 65 is another example of Brussels ' s desire to dominate and unify , stating that the non-discrimination clause provided for in Article 13 of the EC Treaty is part of the ' acquis communautaire ' and insisting that " legislation derived from this article be fully implemented in the CEECs " .
To return to the budgetary aspect , I think it is crucial that we study the budgetary consequences of such a large number of new Member States joining before the end of the current financial cycle in 2006 .
It is unfortunate that the report has taken no account at all of the position and conditions of women in the adjustment process .
The opposite approach would drive a wedge through the farming community and endanger the social development of rural areas throughout Europe .
What this report is actually proposing is to enlarge an economic market .
There is a risk of the European Union being watered down politically and of social dumping , and , lastly , that the project of European integration will be reduced to the creation of one large marketplace , an area of free competition .
On paper , a great deal has been achieved in the area of equality of treatment and equal opportunities for men and women , but how do things stand in practice ?
The enlargement of the European Union to include the ten countries of Eastern Europe plus Malta and Cyprus is a great project .
Secondly , enlargement inevitably involves revision of the European Union 's financial perspectives , which were conceived and established before the prospect of enlargement was even on the horizon .
Mr President , I am very pleased to be able to announce that I voted for the measure on Estonia 's application for membership of the European Union .
I note that Latvia is making progress to meeting both the Copenhagen criteria and meeting the obligations of the acquis communautaire .
I note that Lithuania is making good progress to meeting both the Copenhagen criteria and meeting the obligations of the acquis communautaire .
Moreover , Poland fully respects human rights and fundamental freedoms .
Regarded for far too long as the prime battleground for neighbouring aggressors , who always saw the annexation of Poland as the first stop on their expansionist itinerary , the unwilling arena for one of the most abhorrent tragedies in history , and subsequently left for decades to oppression by a totalitarian regime which , encouraged by our culpable silence , thought that it could finally quash Poland ' s legendary spirit of resistance , Poland has never ceased to demonstrate forcefully the values of freedom , courage and independence , all those shared values that form the foundation stone on which our construction of a political Europe is supposed to stand .
If the Czech Republic continues to make progress and the European Union adjusts its institutional structure and policies in order to cope with enlargement I can see no reason why the Czech Republic should not be admitted to the Union .
Well done to the Hungarian Republic !
If Bulgaria continues to make progress and the European Union adjusts its institutional structure and policies in order to cope with enlargement I can see no reason why Bulgaria should not be admitted to the Union .
I hope Slovenia will be in the first group of new members .
it raises the issue of the return of the refugees and the repatriation of the settlers .
This is , moreover , made clear by the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council , which affirm , in the final analysis , that solution of the ' Cyprus question ' is not a necessary precondition for accession .
We hope that the perspective of early membership of the EU and the easing of contacts by means of " bottom-up " communal projects that the EU promised to promote and finance can give a positive impetus to the solution of the " Cyprus question " .
Deliberate violations of health , criminal and even moral codes by doctoring the laws of nature and tampering with animal species and animal physiology are conducted without being subject to any surveillance or appropriate regulations or any justified penalties .
We must effectively be vigilant in this area as animal feedingstuffs are the first link in the food chain .
In view of the past , in view of the current economic relations between the developed major powers and the poor countries of Asia , speaking of ' equal partners ' for the future is , at best , a pious hope , and , more probably , a means of concealing exploitative relations behind pseudo-democratic and pseudo-humanitarian phrases .
I should point out to Members that the Council working group agreed unanimously to recommend to the Council that the type of committee in the action programme should be modified to a mixed committee , a combination of the management and advisory procedures , thereby increasing the power of the individual Member States .
I understand their concerns , but I have assurances from the Commission that NGOs will still be able to bid for funds on this and other programmes and initiatives managed by the Commission .
That is why it is quite essential for the groups listed in Article 13 to be effectively protected against discrimination .
Fourthly , the involvement of the two sides of industry .
It has been brought home very strongly to me how we much need one in the light of the Article 13 hearings .
Indeed , equal treatment is a fundamental constitutional right which forms one of the cornerstones of the European Union .
Ladies and gentlemen , we are all aware of the budgetary pressures that exist within category 3 expenditure , which includes this and other programmes .
The exception of a difference in treatment which may be made on ideological or religious grounds or for reasons of age must bring together the law which protects certain public and private organisations with scrupulous respect for the principle of equal treatment .
Regarding the specifics of the report , I would like to thank Mr Mann who took on board most of the comments from the Committee on Industry , particularly those concerning multiple discrimination - as in the case of women , who are the target of other discrimination .
We heard them years ago on equal pay for women , we heard them on all equal opportunities legislation , on improvements in maternity leave , we heard them in connection with the race directive before the summer , and so we should carry on regardless .
It touches upon the theme of pluralism , the importance of which to the proper functioning of our democracy is recognised by many .
I would , in fact , like to seize the opportunity also to congratulate Mr Cashman , because although directives are important , action programmes are , of course , essential too in terms of the support they lend to directives .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , both rapporteurs have done an excellent job , for which I want to thank them here on behalf of my group .
We are therefore extremely confused regarding this point , and we call upon the Commission to ensure , when monitoring the ways that the funding is used , that Turkey is not merely pretending to wipe out or combat more minor forms of discrimination without making any effort at all to fight that basic discrimination which , when all is said and done , is at the root of a great many of Europe 's misfortunes .
Managerial and executive staff will give corporate shape to this belief .
I think that would create greater uncertainty because we would no longer know who could actually be assisted in line with the Commission programme .
Mr President , Commissioner , our group has evaluated both reports with positive results and would , in particular , like to emphasise the fact that we have all focused on the need to expand the programme 's scope with a series of amendments - which , in actual fact , have led to another survey on discrimination - intended to guarantee equal treatment to all people , irrespective of their sex , race , ethnic origin , religion , personal convictions , age or sexual orientation .
The aim of this work , based on Article 13 , is to make equality of opportunity a reality by removing that smiling face that so often cloaks prejudice and bigotry , predominantly in the workplace .
Article 5 , as it currently stands , has been criticised for seeming to justify what it aims to combat .
On the other hand , however , for forty years there have been texts in existence which are actually based on discrimination .
In general terms , I agree with the emphasis placed on the development and growth of cultural tools to fight discrimination : in my opinion , we must combat discrimination with a culture of non-discrimination , making up-to-the-minute , accessible information available to all the citizens of all the Member States .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , as is well known , many forms of discrimination still remain in the European Union , specifically in employment and professional activities , even though they are prohibited under Article 13 of the EU Treaty .
I welcome this directive as the first-ever EU law introducing Europe-wide rights for our 37 million disabled citizens , an end to the back-door route to legislate for disability rights and a tribute to the disability movement which has campaigned for this day .
That is what differentiates some benches from others .
Otherwise , the initiatives will not succeed in the real world .
Lastly , the European Parliament must be kept informed , taking account of the reports and opinions produced by this House , and we must highlight the importance and necessity of truly making use of the opinion and participation of the NGOs and associations - and providing them with the necessary resources - since they are without doubt the key to the success of the measures adopted .
The provision according to which the notion of professional , essential and crucial requirement may justify exemptions on the grounds of religion is not , in my view , acceptable .
The civilisation we share asserts its greatness through respect for the rules of an open , tolerant and liberal society , with its inclusive and multicultural dynamics .
As you know , last November the Commission proposed a broad package based on Article 13 with two directives and a programme .
In short , therefore , I can accept either as drafted or in spirit Amendments Nos 1 , 2 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 18 , 21 , 41 to 45 , 47 , 50 , 58 , 59 , 62 , 64 , 65 , 66 and 67 .
In my view , with these two additions , the scope of the proposal becomes clear .
I would like to refer in detail to those amendments which I cannot accept because they present political or legal difficulties .
This directive must be part of the social acquis in the applicant countries .
Furthermore non-EU countries are queuing up to associate themselves with the code .
I wholeheartedly welcome these developments .
I urge all other governments to do the same .
That is also why it opposed those of the amendments tabled by our fellow Members in order to demand planet-wide general disarmament , with the European Union to set the example .
The proliferation of light weapons remains disconcerting , even close to home , in the Balkans , for example .
Sweden does not believe that activity within CFSP can be described as a defence policy because it does not involve any common defence obligation corresponding to NATO ' s paragraph 5 .
The EU code of conduct establishes a set of detailed principles governing conventional arms exports .
The European Union is committed to combating the destabilising accumulation of small arms in many parts of the world .
May I thank the rapporteur again for his excellent report , which provides a great deal of useful guidance on how to develop our policy in this extremely important area .
Such areas would be pinpointed by applying criteria for defining this added value in terms of creating rankings and exclusion .
But to date there had not necessarily been any form of ranking or factors dictating exclusion .
Mr President , I would like to thank the Commissioner for his introduction but I am still left with a few questions .
You , who have experience , will perhaps say that this has already been stated several times .
Lastly , I would like to reply to Mr Piétrasanta , who I thank for his intervention and constructive intent .
Commissioner , I would like to thank you for being here today and for your statement .
With regard to social and economic research , it is quite clear that there is a place for this .
I would also like to state my concern at the very low level of commitment of Cohesion Fund appropriations at the end of August - only 16 % , Mrs Torres Marques - and , while things have changed for the better since the end of August , I would like to reiterate this concern , which I shared with Parliament ' s Committee on Regional Policy , Transport and Tourism on 11 September .
But I think , Mr Barnier - and I am sorry to say this - you are not very well informed .
Could you give us the figures for Spain and Greece ?
However , this proposal instead met with heavy protest from certain Member States .
If the fuel costs of a company like that are more than double those of multinational companies with other bases elsewhere in Scotland which can bid for the same contracts , obviously this severely distorts competition , to the disadvantage of outlying communities .
Given the Community 's commitment to meeting its Kyoto commitments , I wonder whether the Commissioner would accept that the best way of doing so is by higher fuel duties , as opposed to raising the other transport costs .
If the Commission has no instruments to influence levels of excise taxes in Member States , and if favouring certain industries is not allowed under the competition rules , surely where a region suffers special disadvantages because of peripherality and remoteness , it would only be a case of equalising matters , not of giving any special preference if there was some differential in excise taxes permitted in those special and particular circumstances ?
While no amount is specifically set aside for minority languages as part of these activities , this does not prevent these programmes being used for that purpose .
I will answer the questions from Mr Sacrédeus and Mrs Theorin on the same subject together .
I wonder if the matter has been shunted backwards and forwards between different EU Commissioners without anyone in the end taking real responsibility for the issue .
Every year , more than one million children are forced into prostitution .
As regards compensation , the Member States and the Commission take the view that the public authorities and the private economic operators will each bear the costs of the changeover in their respective fields .
Mr President , very briefly , 11 countries have accepted the euro .
The Professional Hunters ' Association would play an important role in ensuring that the hunters have the qualifications to make such a judgment .
Concerning France , the Commission is waiting to be informed about the actions taken by the competent authorities regarding some of the recommendations of the FVO mission report , especially of the action taken to ensure that route plans are properly used and signed .
I would like the Commissioners to say a little bit more about the specific issue of infringement proceedings against Italy .
The Commission services are currently preparing a draft Commission directive covering these issues and including cotton seed .
This is a matter which , strictly speaking , falls largely within the competence of my colleague , Mr Liikanen .
Mr President , I am grateful to the Commissioner for that information and for some signs of progress in the study of this issue .
The Spanish Prime Minister - Mr Aznar - is to make an official visit to that country in October .
I join with the honourable Member in expressing my admiration of Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow members of the NLD .
The living conditions of people in Burma , thanks to the appalling government under which they suffer , are bad enough as it is and I would not like to do anything that made those living conditions worse .
I hope that we will be able to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to them , but obviously what is most important - this would encourage them to return from Bangladesh and from other countries in the region - what is most important is that there should be a political settlement which recognises those rights as well as the rights of those who were democratically elected over ten years ago and whose election was swept aside by the generals .
When I was in Kosovo the other day I was very struck by those who told me that the initial stages of the election campaign had been conducted with considerable professionalism and style .
That concludes Question Time .
There should be in-depth multilateral consultations before one country can grant a licence that another has rejected .
The technology and expertise that is available should be used for something constructive in society , something that will benefit people rather than something that is going to annihilate and destroy people .
The supervisory mechanism must above all be extended to the light , small calibre arms used in a great many regional and ethnic conflicts throughout the world , which are often turned against the civil and military personnel of EU countries .
Mr President , I am pleased to see so many members of the public here today because , as everyone up there can see , there are very few people down here at this time of night .
While our committee welcomes the broad gist of the Commission 's proposal , my report presents a number of changes which must be made in order to make the proposed separation of powers work .
One of the problems Parliament has faced in recent years is a lack of standardised information on financial control from the institutions .
" The Commission 's challenge will be to convince Parliament that it can create those safeguards .
Result : the new director may come from the outside , but he immediately finds himself ensnared in a system that is already firmly established .
In our view , there is one note of discord in the report , although this is not the view of the entire group , and that is the question : should internal control only be set up in respect of the Commission , the Council and Parliament , or should it also extend to smaller institutions ?
We expect great gains from that .
Mr President , I should like to begin by congratulating Mr van Hulten on this very thorough report , which has deservedly received the unanimous support of the other members of the Committee on Budgetary Control .
If even the slightest impression could arise that the controller might no longer be independent , that is reason enough for us to split this function again .
So I can only underline again that we have developed a very accurate procedure for checking whether the individual Directorates-General that are to be responsible for this ex ante control in future are in a position to conduct it .
I would also like to point out that Article 22 , Paragraph 2 of the directive explicitly specifies that all the Member States must take appropriate measures to ensure that broadcasts by television broadcasters do not include any programmes which might impair the physical , mental or moral development of minors , in particular programmes that contain pornography or gratuitous violence .
We do not intend to replace anyone who is doing a good job at national level , but we do want to introduce common criteria and minimum requirements at Community level and propose rules that help people effectively to implement measures to protect minors in their country .
Technical measures to control television offerings cannot resolve these problems .
In his splendid major speech yesterday , President of the Commission Romano Prodi mentioned that , for the sake of the EU ' s political legitimacy in the future , it will be necessary to produce a list of those subjects the EU is to deal with and those which the Member States are to deal with .
Mr President , Commissioner , our children access and use televised , printed and new media on a daily basis and as a matter of course .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , one Sunday evening a fortnight ago in the South of France , Johan , aged 17 , and Robert , aged 16 , murdered their childhood friend , Romain , with a firearm and a baseball bat , for no reason or motive , just like on TV .
Children will very quickly learn to manipulate these filtering systems better than ourselves .
The Commission will respond to this invitation because , as you know , we are due to table the ' Television without frontiers ' directive again in 2002 , with a view to testing the water .
We have to ensure that the experiences of young people - students and others in the educational world - are positive .
I therefore hope that , this time , a solution will be found once and for all , so that mobility throughout the European Union - of students , young persons undergoing training , young volunteers , teachers and trainers - will become one of the crowning glories of the European Union , putting paid to that paradox whereby it is easier for goods , capital or services to move within the European Union than it is for the citizens themselves .
I lament the fact that , as a consequence , young people are prevented from gaining experience - study , work or other experience - in another Member State .
I hope that the main amendments adopted by the Committee on Culture , Youth , Education , the Media and Sport will be received positively by the Council , as they deserve to be , and that legislation is speedily brought into effect .
Freedom of movement for persons , goods , services and capital is enshrined in our treaties and yet young people , who are the future of the European Union and perhaps have fewer prejudices than some of us adults are denied opportunities because of the bureaucratic barriers put in their way .
Universities that do not comply , however , must forfeit their subsidies .
Precisely for that reason I am still very surprised to see how many obstacles remain to greater mobility and flexibility in Europe .
So , in spite of the persistent problems , of which I am aware , these programmes are of positive value and contribute something to the people of Europe .
Thank you very much , Commissioner Reding .
At Leipzig on 6 July , you issued a call for a vision for the future of Europe , based on a draft constitution .
I would like to congratulate the President of the Commission on his speech and I welcome his authoritative mention , in this Chamber yesterday , of the role , collegial nature and managerial capacity of the Commission .
Lastly , we must provide the countries and peoples of South-East Europe with the hope that they will be able to penetrate the institutional bounds of the Union .
Today , I am here to talk about balanced participation by men and women in all areas of society .
The Beijing Platform for Action and the final outcome document of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Beijing + 5 , last June , are along the same lines .
To give you a couple of examples : at the Education Council there is the issue of mobility of men and women students and teachers , because we have recognised that there is major inequality in mobility ; and at the Internal Market , Consumption and Tourism Council there is an item on the development of electronic commerce so as to make it accessible to all , both men and women , because we know there is gender inequality in electronic commerce too .
The first is devoted to the general principle of the equality of all persons under the law .
I would therefore prevail upon the President-in-Office of the Council , both the current and the forthcoming ones , as well as upon the Commissioner , to be alert to this aspect , for I believe that it is absolutely fundamental to our work that we make a very big effort in this area .
If one examines women ' s equality policy now , it seems to me , as we are all gathered here - and , of course , most of the people attending and taking part in the discussion are women - that while we are all naturally trying our utmost , we are also aware that European women ' s equality policy is threatening to lose its momentum .
Some problem areas : women often have two jobs , unemployment is higher among women , childcare has deteriorated , there are too few women in decision-making positions , violence against women is on the increase in many candidate countries and several candidate countries are at the centre of the increasing trade in women .
Péry spoke of the importance of reconciling work with family life .
We need to be sure that what is decided in Strasbourg is real progress .
Instead of addressing everyone , we compartmentalise : minority after minority , ethnic group after ethnic group .
Other Members of this Parliament had to take up the pen to put things right , and Poland thanked them for it .
Bringing up children , especially transferring standards and values , is of vital importance to our society .
Firstly , improvements are called for in the existing directives , for example those covering equality of opportunity in the sphere of social security , with respect to public and company schemes .
I was the rapporteur in Peking and the co-rapporteur in New York .
I would support the request of the Committee on Women 's Rights in this report for a major study of women in the EU and in the candidate countries as a starting point for future work .
On other words , we need a breakdown of the indicators applied , detailed statistics comparing the situation in the Member States , an analysis of cultural differences in the various European societies and an indication of the factors which act as disincentives to the developments we are seeking and to the development of a European nationality for women which , as we can see on a daily basis , for example from the recent referendum in Denmark , is a sector which we need to address .
This is therefore an incredibly important issue for us to get to grips with .
Mr President , I would like to thank both Mrs Péry and Commissioner Diamantopoulou for being here today .
Mr President , I will not reply individually , except to Mrs Torres Marques , because her question is really direct and personal .
Fourth point : the issues of the future .
Secondly , because they allow us to make a comparative assessment of the Member States and a comparative assessment of the overall progress of the European Union over time .
I should like , once again , to thank Mrs Dybkjær for the excellent , in-depth work contained in her report , which will be most useful to us in our next report , and I should like especially to thank the French Presidency and Mrs Péry for being so pro-active on the issue of equality during their presidency .
Three of them - Amendments Nos 4 , 5 and 7 , referred to the commitology procedure .
The Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market , as the rapporteur pointed out , accepted that approach , and therefore decided not to re-introduce the amendments .
Therefore , while recognising , as the Council and the Commission have said , that this amendment was not appropriate in this case , I would like to , once again , take the opportunity to point out that the procedures for monitoring imports in the European Union are not working , that fraud is being committed and that this fraud is not only bad for Community taxpayers , but also for the functioning of the internal market , and even for loyalty to third countries .
This opens the door to a major reform of economic customs systems , on which , in fact , Parliament will be informed in detail in the next couple of months prior to approval .
Yesterday the whole position changed with the position the Commission has taken on the legal base .
Mr President , we are delighted to welcome you to the European Parliament and we hope you enjoy your visit .
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
European rights of citizenship do not seem to carry much weight in this situation .
This is more than a symbol ; it is a reason , a driving force , for belonging to the European culture and model we are proclaiming .
Mr President , I was prompted to vote for the Cashman report by the words of the Chairman of the Pensioners ' Association of the municipality where I live - Curno , in the district of Bergamo , Italy - who said to me , ' We have absolutely no way of safeguarding the interests of the elderly .
They have risen above party politics and shown that , when an amendment is right , they will support it , whoever the author .
The provision for derogation on religious grounds on the basis of the notion of essential and direct occupational requirements carries the risk of broad interpretation .
In parallel , the amendment extending the exception to the principle of non-discrimination to the wider ' social ' activities of religious organisations , where the discrimination is solely based on religious conviction and on no other grounds , is a reinforcement of the specific nature and original contribution of these structures as compared with public or private services .
One could not help but wonder if common sense had always prevailed in the drafting of certain , no doubt well-meaning , proposed amendments that were now before us .
The EPLP has voted for the Mann report on equal treatment in discrimination because it is firmly committed to the principle of combating unjustified discrimination and is broadly supportive of the overall objectives behind this proposal .
We are concerned about the inclusion of health , social security and assistance as there are considerable national differences in how these matters are handled and whether they form part of the employee / employer relationship .
" Thanks to the action taken by a " whistle blower " and the Committee of Wise Men , corruption has been brought out into the open .
We , in Europe , along with our colleagues across the globe , have to see that the mistakes and greed of the past are not repeated .
The report sees arms export controls primarily as a method of avoiding awkward situations for Europe ' s military industry and not as a way of achieving disarmament and peace .
- ( SV ) It is good that the European Union wishes to implement a code of conduct to restrict arms exports .
Report Angelilli ( A5 - 0258 / 2000 )
Under the provisions of Article 22b ( 2 ) of the ' Television without frontiers ' directive ( Directive 97 / 36 / EC of 30 June 1997 , amending Directive 89 / 552 / EC ) , the Commission was required to conduct an inquiry into the advantages and possible disadvantages of measures designed to facilitate control by parents and educationalists over the programmes minors can watch .
Any further analysis of specific technology such as filtering systems will have to take account of the advances in technology which are evident today .
Encouraging industry to move in this direction through international collaboration and increasing parents ' , teachers ' and children ' s awareness will act as a catalyst .
Finally , I invite the Member States to pursue the dual strategy advocated at Community level , involving mainstreaming and specific actions for women .
The next item is the debate on topical and urgent subjects of major importance .
Therefore , I think that if the European institutions and the European Parliament help the Peruvian people at this difficult time , we could contribute to the stability of the country and to the consolidation of democratic institutions across Latin America .
Mr President , Commissioner , I believe that the events in Peru are evidence of the world of difference that there can be between the formal meaning of words and their tangible weight .
In order to avert a disaster , it is absolutely crucial that Europe takes its politics to the American sub-continent as well .
B5 - 0789 / 2000 , by Mrs Schroedter and others , on behalf of the Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance , on the situation in Afghanistan ;
It appears as if it is simply a question of groups of men who find themselves in a world in which nothing else counts but their own solidarity and their own oppression of women .
In other words , the conflict is far more complex , there is no solution in the offing and yet , as we all agree , there is an urgent need for one .
So peace , stability and respect for rights can only be re-established through a political solution .
Other Members have already spoken of a million displaced people , a million people mutilated by landmines , thousands of women deprived of their most basic rights , such as the right to education , health , work , or to move around freely : it must be terrible for many of these women , who are accustomed to education , to a secular way of life , to be confined to that area with no freedom .
As long as the Taliban leadership continues to be as ambiguous in its statements on opium cultivation as it has been hitherto , the Commission refuses to support any anti-drugs projects in Afghanistan .
But as Mr Linkohr was saying , the problem with Latin America is that we only concern ourselves with these countries when there are problems .
Since then the situation has got even worse for the community there .
B5 - 0779 / 2000 , by Mr Dupuis and others , on behalf of the Technical Group of Independent Members , on Macedonia ;
Unfortunately , it was , of course , the case that the problem was not resolved under the last government , in the run-up to 1998 .
That is a real step forward for Macedonia .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , my group proposes to support the present motion , which we have also signed , because I believe it is right for the European Union to support the solution that has been found in Macedonia and which accommodates the Albanian population .
That is why the Commission has repeatedly urged the Macedonian Government to resolve the outstanding problem of higher education in the Albanian language .
B5 - 0791 / 2000 , by Mr Korakas and others , on behalf of the Confederal Group of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left , on the sinking of the vessel ' Express Samina ' .
In deference to the House ' s decision the other day , we sat round the table and thrashed out a joint text which , I admit , was only made possible by the cooperation and good faith of all the groups .
I should like to say , as far as the resolution is concerned , because there are a number of amendments , that my amendment on shipping registers is covered in the text , it is already there .
In the cut-throat world of tendering , all too often companies can be pushed into cost-cutting measures and I would not like to see safety measures being sacrificed .
It is particularly tragic since this tragedy can also be put down to the lifting of EU legislation .
It is the Commission ' s job to monitor the practical application of this legal framework within its remit as set out in the Treaty .
It seems to me that a curious discrepancy is starting to take shape .
I will not hide from you the fact that the situation is not easy , and that we are going to experience a certain degree of tension in the next few days , but everyone needs to keep calm so that the situation does not develop into a serious conflict .
The victory has been won , although the regime has made and continues to make huge efforts to forestall it .
We cannot be harsh enough in condemning the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force .
At the moment , we have the Belgrade Parliament in flames - we know what setting a Parliament on fire means in the context of European history , and we know the responsibility held by leaders that lead their people to disaster .
In another incident which I witnessed with my own eyes , an ambulance driver was shot in the foot from a ten centimetre range as he was trying to come to the rescue of some people . The most shocking of all is the fact that the Israeli police and the army used fragmentation bullets .
But the rights of the Palestinian State are no less important .
The events of the last few days demonstrate exactly how fragile the peace process is .
Such a situation requires tact .
Once again , there is confusion between , on the one hand , a democratic State doing its best to deal with an extremely difficult situation and , on the other , the institution at the heart of Palestine which , under provocation certainly , immediately takes up arms to shoot at the Israeli forces of order .
The Commission and the Council will do their part and that is what is currently at the top of the agenda in Yugoslavia and that is what we have been interested in all along .
I would also like to say - and this is more of an appeal to the Council , but I am sharing it with the Commission and Parliament for now - let us not just make fine declarations with regard to the aid which we will soon be willing to grant to Serbia , but let us also make room for this cause in our own budget , the European Union ' s budget , so that we do not end up concluding that we can only help Serbia by taking funding away from other projects in the Balkans which need our support .
That was the latest at 17.53 hours .
Especially with regard to the committee of inquiry , I would like to stress the fact that it should be an internationally constituted committee of enquiry and that its competences must be clearly delineated .
Secondly , the euro is an artificial currency and it would be a disaster to make a complete changeover to the euro in the present circumstances .
Parliament must today decide a very simple matter : whether Croatia should join that group of countries to which the European Investment Bank may grant loans with an EU guarantee .
In the budgetary procedure for 2001 , our political group has maintained a strategy of pursuing a marked improvement in the quality of expenditure and an improvement in the mechanisms for monitoring its performance .
Hopefully , the signs of hope in Croatia and now also in Yugoslavia will encourage us to find a solution to the problems of the budget and its financial perspectives .
Having spoken fine words yesterday and having granted this guarantee today , the European Union cannot afford to arrive in Belgrade empty-handed tomorrow .
Croatia started building a democracy as long as ten years ago .
To this end , we must at last conclude an Association Agreement with Croatia , which will spell out that this is a European country that has a definite future as a member of the European Union .
This is why it would be useful to make the necessary arrangements at this stage .
In the feasibility report on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia , compiled in May 2000 , the Commission reaches the conclusion that the conditions for taking up negotiations with Croatia have been fulfilled .
After many years of difficulties for this people - all kinds of difficulties - we are at last , extremely democratically , beginning to welcome Serbia back into the community of the peoples of the European Union .
Are there any further comments on the Minutes ?
I should like the European Parliament to take note of these violations and , of course , to call for repeat elections in Himara .
Madam President , there are more victims of ETA , but there are also more victims of the Spanish repression : more arrests , more people tortured , new dispersals of political prisoners jailed in the Basque country .
I think applying the minute rule is the least damaging solution , in the final analysis , as we have , in fact , seen .
As for Mr Le Pen , what an affront to the dignity of the European Parliament and for any true democrat to hear Mr Le Pen using the word ' dignity ' !
We would , however , like to request that it be deferred for a third time for political reasons .
We are doing exactly the same as we have already done in the case of forest and plant material , i . e . we are making reference to the horizontal directive .
And I am quoting word for word from the letter dated 17 May that you yourself , Madam President , read in plenary .
Personally , I was not able to intervene to condemn these actions in that it concerned members of my own party who have always been political targets , and my involvement would therefore have appeared exploitative .
We must be able to see where progress is being made ; this progress must be measurable and the social agenda must be afforded centre stage in the political discussion at European level .
I am convinced that Europe will only be social when a social dimension is added to economic policy , competition policy , external policy and the entire enlargement discussion .
Before going any further , I should like to congratulate Mrs Van Lancker , and also the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs , and its chairman , on the report before us today , which testifies to the dynamism and great commitment of the European Parliament to the social agenda .
We are particularly committed to the objective of full employment .
Let me just mention the mobility of workers .
We have also managed to bring about a few things in the social sphere , but not everything , and this was because the Treaty of Amsterdam had not taken effect at the time ; so , in this light , the social action programme or this social agenda is of particular significance .
In its communication , the Commission has found a framework for the social agenda which I think admirably reflects the spirit of the Lisbon Summit .
The urgency of the social situation and the need to defend the European social model call for initiatives that aim to establish rights : the right to an income , the right to a wage , the right to decent pensions for all within the European Union .
I believe that the impetus must come from below and that it is a question of providing aid at a problem level .
The priority was given to setting up a common market , with the principle of the free movement of property , goods and capital , the establishment of rules governing competition between firms and state aid .
However , the report says something slightly different : whereas Lisbon calls for a reform of the social model , it calls for reinforcement ; whereas Lisbon calls for liberation of enterprise and more flexibility , the report proposes four new or amended directives and a number of legislative initiatives .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , there are two people here today who deserve special congratulations , one being Anna Lancker , for her outstanding report , and the other being Anna Diamantopoulou , for her outstanding submission .
I think that there is also a great advantage , if we succeed in getting the directive applied , modified and updated , with regard to maternity leave : for women to receive help during maternity and for maternity to be protected when women have to continue working during that period .
Social quality cannot be achieved free and gratis .
These two political approaches underpin the entire content .
The problem is that , because of the legal basis which it has in the Treaty , the social agenda does not constitute a set of laws , a set of directives with specific steps for the Member States .
This work has gone quite quickly despite the fact that it took a little time at the beginning .
I am saying this so that no mysterious or technical procedures cause this to be misunderstood , for no less than seven different amendments in the same spirit have been tabled .
Problems to do with access to social security must be looked at on a case-by-case basis to this end .
It encompasses all those areas where action is needed and , if successfully coordinated , could make a real difference to women in all aspects of their everyday lives .
In this area , as in many others , it is essential for public authorities to exercise true pluralism in selecting their associates .
Equal access and full enjoyment of social rights for women and men , which would mean ensuring that the legislation is applied in the social sphere in terms of maternity leave , maternity protection , working time , employment contracts , etc .
That would be the logical way to implement the gender mainstreaming concept .
Mr President , I think it would be a great shame if Nicole Péry were not also to seize the opportunity to state her opinion now that she is here , so that we might hear her points of view , too .
The vote will take place tomorrow at 12.30 p . m .
That is not good enough .
The single market is essential in terms of promoting the interests of consumers .
I will cite one of several examples , and it is one that is currently the subject of intense debate in other regions besides my own .
Certainly , a good deal has happened in the last 200 years or so , but we have the same aspirations today .
And , naturally , these are clearly statements to which the ears of the various Ministers for the Treasury in Europe are extremely sensitive .
On a final note , we need a more precise definition of the relevant market because , increasingly , the market is not the national market .
In future we must remember that there are national aid schemes , in respect of internal competition , for example , which are especially important and valuable in countries with low population densities and where distances are long .
Against this background , you have reworked a communication on services of general interest and set out the legal situation once again .
Mr heartfelt thanks to Mrs Riis-Jørgensen for her valuable contribution as rapporteur of the XXIXth report on competition policy .
Particular attention was paid to the concerns expressed by Parliament regarding renationalisation and legal certainty .
What we have to work together for is to gradually establish in the marketplace the reality of a single market going beyond the national market .
And so I only spoke on behalf of my Group , and not for Parliament as a whole .
The aim of this Commission report is to provide a basis for examining the single facility providing medium-term financial support and for revising it , should this prove necessary .
The next item is the report ( A5 - 0195 / 2000 ) by Mrs Klass , on behalf of the Committee on Development and Cooperation , on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 68 / 193 / EEC on the marketing of material for the vegetative propagation of the vine [ COM ( 2000 ) 59 - C5 - 0090 / 2000 - 200 / 0036 ( CNS ) ] .
This is a clear indication that the European Parliament would , indirectly , give the green light to GMO experiments in the field of vine propagation or improvement .
We have reason to believe that the new or updated terms of the proposed directive offer a satisfactory response to the expectations of workers in the vine nursery and wine-growing sector and that they should contribute towards improving the quality of the proposed material and make it easier for the competent authorities to supervise the movement of vine cuttings and plants carried out by the institutions responsible for this .
While the Commission appears to be overcome with combined GMO and cloning fever , Mrs Klass goes further and goes into convulsions , compounding the GMO issue with all the genotypes she sees all around her .
Lastly , we can accept Amendment No 27 , tabled by both Mr Lavarra and Mr Garot .
Madam President , I see from Item 13 of the Minutes , entitled ' Communication of the announcement of the removal of Mr Le Pen from office ' , that you presumed to speak on behalf of Parliament , and that the chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs presumed to speak on behalf of that committee .
You can check it in the verbatim report of proceedings .
As to the IGC , I believe that work at ministerial level had already progressed as far as it could before Biarritz , and this Informal Council thus came at the just the right time to consolidate certain advances and to lay down guidelines for the final phase of the work , on which we have now embarked .
Both options remain on the table , and must be assessed in the light of their potential for ensuring that the common interests of the Community are safeguarded .
The European Union has honoured its commitments and responded to this political turnaround at the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 9 October , at which it decided to lift the sanctions , including the oil and air embargoes , imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1998 , with the exception of course of sanctions directly aimed at Mr Milosevic and his entourage .
Ladies and gentlemen , we must find a solution to these two issues , which will in fact only be resolved when negotiations are complete , and on which we must reach total agreement if that agreement is to mean anything at all .
This was a positive signal .
The President-in-Office of the Council has spoken of the spirit of Nice .
This is an important topic for current and future Member States .
Madam President , firstly I praise the European Council for accepting the draft Charter as definitive .
I would also express the wish of my Group and of a good many NGOs to see the Charter evolve and continue to improve , in order to guarantee , amongst other things , more effective protection and rights for the citizens of the European Union , for employees , for the citizens of third countries and for the socially marginalised .
This is the only way to restore a true balance between the various institutions of the European Union .
One might have expected somewhat better weather conditions , but I feel that the climate inside the European Council , at which I was present from start to finish , was a little better than the Commissioner has said .
The objective is truly one of strengthening the Community framework .
It is the first European Union document that the citizens can consult without feeling completely alienated from its content .
In any event , Madam President , I believe that Biarritz has contributed something very positive , and that is the unanimous approval of the Charter .
That is the reason why we hear so much talk of smaller and larger states .
There is a pressing need to equip the Union with a point of reference based on the content of this Charter .
As a result , we negotiated on an a minima basis and we have a minimal Charter , particularly as regards social rights .
We all know that enlargement of the Union cannot take place until decision-making procedures within the key institutions are reformed ; however , such a reform process must be fair and balanced .
Our debate today also has the same ring to it .
Progress has also been made with Article 7 on combating violations of the basic values of the European Union .
A further point is the Commission reforms .
If they were to be complied with , the large countries ' demands for increased power in the Council and Parliament would upset the whole balance within the EU and mean that the small countries would have to pay for the whole cost of enlargement .
The dramatic developments in the Middle East have of course caused a huge backlash and emotions among the European public and here in Parliament have inevitably run high in the wake of the violence of the past few days and the large number of victims - and rightly so .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , I regret that Mr Barón Crespo has not remained in the Chamber after pointing the finger at the political force which I represent .
We should also take a look at our own situation , however .
We must recognise that the smaller States are on an equal footing with the larger ones in this Union of States , and that we must find other ways to redress the balance for the larger States .
I gather that the document was well-received at Biarritz and that it can be adopted following a number of legal clarifications and subject to an official declaration at the Summit in Nice , to be incorporated at a later stage in the Treaties .
The question we must answer is whether all the countries will have a Commissioner at the same time , and thus whether we are to have a big - and one day a very big - Commission that will inevitably have been restructured , or if they are all to have one Commissioner but not necessarily at the same time .
I have specifically mentioned some of the factors that will enable us to ascertain immediately whether the reform is sufficient or not .
Oral Question to the Commission ( B5 - 0543 / 2000 ) pursuant to Rule 42 of the Rules of Procedure , by Mr Napolitano , on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs , on Article 158 of the EC Treaty concerning island status .
With peace guaranteed , Western Europe has started to attend to business in search of prosperity .
We want a proper constitution .
Finally , we need reinforced cooperation that is open , not closed , and which includes rather than excludes those current or future members that do not sign up immediately - a form of reinforced cooperation that acts as an impetus instead of creating further obstacles .
We are not asking for anything specific or tangible ; we are not asking for funding : we are simply calling for this principle of island status to be universally accepted , so that the citizens of the European Union can all start the race on an equal footing , with equal chances of reaching the finish line .
Hence , it will not be easy to say that everything is going ahead just as if the fifteen Member States were involved , if you will forgive me belabouring such an obvious point .
I feel we cannot talk properly about a constitution and plan ways to draw it up until we know what we want to put in it .
Several Members of this House , but also representatives of Member States have already pointed out that the traditional method of the Intergovernmental Conference was certainly not the best method .
As for the idea you suggested of introducing this debate into the IGC , frankly , Mr Segni , it seems to me that , taking account of the scope and difficulty of the other subjects on the agenda of this Intergovernmental Conference , it would be more appropriate to rectify the text according to the procedures laid down by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties , as in previous cases of clerical errors in the articles of treaties , in order to standardise the different language versions of this article quite precisely .
Then there would no longer be any preliminary work at all on our part .
On the other hand , it must not constitute a barrier to trade or precipitate splits in the common market , breaks in the links of solidarity and cohesion between the Member States or , as Commissioner Barnier has said , an unravelling of the Community acquis .
Following the Nice Summit , which we all hope will be successful , it is important to take this next step in order to create a more democratic Union .
I shall now do what I can to convince my fellow countrymen to run with the ball during Sweden ' s Presidency .
After all , it is unacceptable for the fifteen Member States alone to discuss and decide on a constitution , when we all know full well that by the end of this decade the European Union will have 27 members .
But if this future is shared , then obviously they are together .
The arguments against and the warnings about a multi-speed Europe , are still ringing in my ears .
Firstly , with regard to the method , which is a tired , lifeless procedure according to public opinion , which in fact marginalises the other institutions of the European Union and in which governments are victims of their own labyrinth .
Mr President , we have heard that progress was made at Biarritz on closer cooperation .
The danger , however , is that reinforced cooperation will break up the unity of Europe through the back door , resulting in a patchwork of intergovernmental cooperation .
I concede , however , that the political situation has not been conducive to going that far and I therefore give my unreserved support to the Duhamel report currently before us .
Mr President , as the last speaker , I too should like to congratulate Mr Duhamel on his excellent work and Mr Gil-Robles on his work .
We therefore want the matter re-referred to ourselves .
I will not take this into consideration .
What is the meaning of the expression " the deadline within which Member States are required to guarantee unemployed individuals a chance to access an active employment measure should not exceed two years " , if not a threat to unemployment benefits ?
Mr President , I voted for the Souchet report which is intended to further facilitate the process of turning agricultural products into packaged agricultural products .
This is because it confirms the possibility of turning traditional vines into GMO vines and therefore the possibility that , in the future , we will be drinking genetically modified wine .
It is proposed to allow material for the vegetative propagation of the vine which meets reduced specifications to be marketed when temporary difficulties arise without , however , specifying what these difficulties might be .
The reason is that Mr Smith ' s pension contributions are low whereas the amount paid by Mr Rossi is very high .
In principle , the decentralised application of Community law can only be a success if there are strong commitments given that this will be uniformly applied across all the territories of the European Union .
State aids have been traditionally used by Member States as instruments of industrial and social policy .
I am less pleased with the idea expressed in paragraph 2 that state aid should not go up .
We find the constant pressures and concomitant institutional measures , such as the proposed state aid register and scoreboard , unacceptable .
Section V , Court of Auditors ;
Even the Commission ' s estimate of payments for the preliminary draft budget has been very cautious , too cautious as far as we are concerned .
Countermeasures must be taken against this at every political level ; i . e . at local , regional , national , and I hardly need mention , at European level .
Following the happy outcome of the elections in Serbia , we are , however , now obliged to support Serbia with financial aid and not just with fine words and grand proclamations .
Thirdly , at the end of the day , the taxpayers must get added value for their money .
In fact we are directly linked to the interest rate set by the European Central Bank , which is why we have proposed that we should pursue the buildings policy already adopted , because this will help to release us from this burden of interest as soon as possible .
The Economic and Social Committee is still a real problem child .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , the ECSC Treaty will expire in June 2002 .
This seems odd to us because there will still be an operational budget in the second part of 2002 , and so we are calling for a review of the relationship between redeployment aid and social aid .
The proposal I am asking you to support by voting in favour of the report is the result of a long process and fulfils an aspiration that has been held by Parliament almost since its inception .
We believe that this declaration should be included in the Interinstitutional Agreement , but in any case , I would like to say to you that it only makes sense within the context of an Interinstitutional Agreement with a financial perspective .
I hope that the budget discussions can continue in the same vein so that we can come up with a budget for the financial year 2001 that equips us with the resources to meet the priorities and challenges that await the European Union .
Concerning the cutback of EUR 225 million in the field of rural development , the Council ' s position is a response to the cumulative lags in national rural development plans .
This to me is also taking an extreme view .
We must practise what we preach to the Member States , and it is bringing all these strands together that makes budgetary policy so exciting , as all those who are involved would testify .
One of the conditions imposed was that the comitology procedure must be changed .
The question as to whether the necessary measures can be carved from the previous package for the Mediterranean programme , is a political and not a technical issue .
We shall support his and Chris Patten ' s attempt to strengthen the Commission ' s effectiveness by means of parliamentary scrutiny and the necessary parliamentary control to which the Council and Mr Solana are not of course subject .
The first of these is for the implementation of a pilot project intended to fund an information campaign within the fifteen Member States against the criminal scourge of paedophilia .
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has requested expert reports on this , with a view to receiving appropriate advice from the European Central Bank on the financial aspect .
The proposals put forward by our committee and supported by the Committee on Budgets are much better .
Anyone who maintains that part of its job would be to block mergers or halt globalisation , does so for purely polemical reasons .
It is the duty of the House to give those points their support in the vote this week , to demonstrate its continued commitment to protecting the environment and improving public health .
The Committee on Fisheries , which shares with the Commission the principle of budgetary stringency , has accepted the limits set by the latter in its preliminary draft and has indicated its concerns in certain budget headings .
All parties must assume their responsibilities and fulfil their obligations .
The European Commission struggled to come to terms with the extension of priorities , and this has led to unacceptable gaps in the implementation of commitments which were made under pressure of ever larger budgets for support to foreign aid and cooperation operations .
We must also bear in mind that all this is related to the fight against domestic violence , which is taking place under the DAPHNE programme .
There are no better guardians of the Treaties than the European citizens .
The context of our debate today is that we must use whatever opportunity we have in our budget to make sure that our European institutions are ready for the next stage of enlargement , both in terms of the institutions ' structures as well as improved policy management .
Before coming to that , a word on the position of the British Conservatives .
We understand that there is a need for more personnel , but what is of most concern to us is that we do not grant this request until the reform process of the institutions is well under way .
However , of course this also means coming clean with the tax payer and those who listen to us , on a whole range of points , so as to give them a realistic picture of the conditions we work under .
But we have made promises in the past , or rather made announcements and formulated common policies that will in fact need to be converted into payments at some stage .
Let there be no mistake , I think it is criminal to give people who have been affected by natural disasters the impression that we have the means to solve all the problems they face as a result .
Even though we endorse many of the points of criticism directed at the Council , it is clear that a strategy of this kind would lead to a politically untenable confrontation and undermine the credibility of the European institutions .
We fear that the majority of the committee members have used the wrong tactics .
Mrs Haug , the general rapporteur also attempted , last night , to amend her report in this respect in order to reflect the concerns expressed by my Group , and I must thank her for that .
It is possible to make substantial savings , either by saving the monies arising from the under implementation of certain programmes , or by the European Union ' s at last taking a decision to stop using budget lines for the purposes of pro-Europe propaganda .
We must give the Commission the opportunity to eliminate the backlog by increasing its staffing levels .
The tax burden must therefore be reduced in percentage terms , and only an economic upturn and accompanying economic growth will secure increased state revenue .
The needs are self-evident , we have many commitments , the importance of external cooperation in asserting the European Union ' s presence on the world stage is obvious , and there is a very low implementation rate for various programmes .
We are trying to safeguard Parliament ' s priorities in category 4 .
We reckon we have more scientific evidence than your guess at a figure .
( Laughter and applause )
The ' small countries ' , for example , to use a quite inappropriate term , should not feel themselves excluded from reinforced cooperation or that reinforced cooperation means some sort of exclusive vanguard , centre of gravity or pioneer group .
I therefore think it was quite appropriate , in this context , to ask an external authority , that was not morally implicated , to undertake this task .
It is up to the Colombian authorities to define the practical means by which the Colombian Government might undertake to dismantle the paramilitary groups .
Many of us believe that the problems in Colombia , as in other Latin American countries , stem from the issue of whether or not peasant-farmers own land .
I think I have already answered this question .
I should not like you to think that the Council does not answer the questions asked of it .
With reference to any discussions it may have held with the Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs of the EU Member States and of third countries , will the Council Presidency say who is opposed to this measure and what the main political and technical obstacles are to the introduction of a tax of this kind ?
The creation of a Tobin tax is an attractive option , one championed by many Members on both the left and right wing , by a variety of political and non-political organisations , non-governmental organisations , university groups .
Mr President , I do not refute your own personal convictions .
I am sorry .
Therefore , they sometimes cannot distinguish the President-in-Office of the Council from a militant .
The basic question I would like an answer to , and I am speaking as an all-round figure which includes my militant persona , is what are the conditions necessary for it to work .
The Council is actively involved in examining the Commission proposal and these amendments with a view to managing in the near future to issue a position on this .
Mrs Isler Béguin will pardon me if I do not wish to go into great detail in response to a debate on BSE which has a justifiable place in this House after entering into a debate on the Tobin tax .
Thank you for your answer , Mr President , but the question went rather further .
Mr President , Commissioner , I would like to start by congratulating the rapporteur .
Then it was not known that the Council and the Commission would be promising aid for the reconstruction of Serbia and Kosovo , to come out of this money .
There are poor people in Europe too , even if only retired farm workers .
External needs reveal the shortages in category 4 .
We are now at first reading and you have enough time to seek full agreement with Parliament .
We can only be transparent and accountable if all the decision-makers are clear about the budget and what lies behind the budget .
As elected representatives , we are of course delighted with any move to make the Budget more easily understandable .
There is , however , a popular demand that we solve the problem of how best to provide aid to Serbia .
I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this important debate and to dwell on the importance of the agricultural budget and its relevance not just to farmers but to society in general .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , first of all , I would , of course , like to thank all rapporteurs .
Mr President , the Council really has surpassed itself in its proposed draft budget 2001 .
Political stability depends upon the improvement of living conditions .
Having said this , and also taking into account that the Commission itself has admitted that for 2001 applications from Member States for payments for the Structural Funds exceed the predictions of the PDB by EUR 8 000 million , I think that it is now time for the Council to start considering very seriously that we should do something about payments and not increase the backlog of payments .
Until this point has been clarified and discussed in detail , I flatly refuse to speak about any revision of the Financial Perspective .
The finance ministers did , of course , receive significantly larger sums of money back from last year ' s Budget .
For Sweden , this would involve approximately EUR 65 million .
Our group relates the strategy for the general budget to the quality of spending and efficient management , and this also extends to the ECSC budget .
But my main point is about the ACP .
Instead , these subsidies must be removed step by step , though on condition that the farmers concerned are given structural aid for the purpose of switching production to other goods .
I say without apology that I am going to address the effects that the European Union has had in my region .
The European model considers the protection of personal data to be a fundamental right guaranteed by legally binding rules , based on the principle of peoples ' self-determination of data , that is the principle whereby everyone must be able to decide whether and how personal data concerning him can be collected and used .
I am confident that our untiring work will win the full approval of the European Parliament and the Council .
I really do hope it is ensured that the regulations will not be applied in that way .
In my opinion , it is clear that we would be closing our eyes to the problem if we set up an authority of this type to cover just the Community area , while the main problems arise and will , in future , arise due to third pillar bodies too .
In my opinion , the rapporteur has done everything feasible to extend the possibility , at least of cooperating and probably of exerting influence on this matter , and so we fully support her report .
More specifically , the Commission ' s position on the amendments contained in the Paciotti report is as follows .
The European Data Protection Supervisor will in fact play a leading role in Community institutions ' respecting the provisions protecting citizens ' personal data .
The Azores , the Canaries , Guadeloupe , French Guiana , Madeira , Martinique and Réunion form a separate category whose uniqueness has now been recognised by the Treaty of Amsterdam on the basis of an innovative concept : they are defined as ' outermost regions ' .
The success of the new Community policy to assist the outermost regions calls for action geared to the strategic areas of the world economy : transport , energy , the environment , the information society , research and technological development .
We hope that the Commission will carry out this timetable or programme and , above all , we hope that the great institution that the Commission currently has , the interdepartmental group , will remain in contact with the outermost regions , informing the central authorities of our needs and our specific problems .
In fact , what we say here today and how we vote tomorrow will be front-page news in the seven outermost regions , and the news reports on the regional television channels will report extensively on what we say and decide here .
This is why we have so many problems generating wealth and creating employment .
I am therefore pleased that the Committee on Regional Policy , Transport and Tourism has adopted a bold and ambitious stance on state aid , tax schemes and the implications of enlargement .
Owing to permanent unfavourable factors the special status accorded remote regions and the special assistance they should receive are justified , although differences should not be evened out by means of permanently defined versions of Internal Market rules and permanent entitlement to structural funding .
Mr President , Parliament , and in particular its Committee on Regional Policy , Transport and Tourism , has been the driving force for approving specific policies and programmes for the outermost regions .
For this they need specific treatment , which is expressed through a will for durability in the series of measures .
Consequently , on the occasion of the preparations for the previous Intergovernmental Conference , they backed the negotiations which - I remember this clearly as I was the French negotiator for the Treaty of Amsterdam at the time - led to Article 299 ( 2 ) being adopted .
Indeed , when the time comes , it will be necessary , moreover , to offer the Council the same support and the same message .
Earlier , Mr Pohjamo , you yourself mentioned this anxiety , echoing the work and the commitment of Mr Sanchez , and let me at this point ask you to convey our wishes for a speedy recovery to him , given his current health problems .
A partnership day was held on 23 November 1999 , in which many of us participated .
I do not want to reopen that issue .
Mr President , Mr Evans has just referred to yesterday morning ' s vote , specifically to the vote at which certain amendments were adopted by a majority of one .
We are what we eat - and sadly that is true in my case .
Such was the case with the company that manufactured polio vaccines in the United Kingdom using bovine foetal serum , prohibited since 1999 , and with the distribution via a French agri-foodstuffs distribution chain of one thousand kilos of meat from herds contaminated with BSE .
Decision-making must be clear and transparent .
Mr President , let me begin by warmly congratulating the rapporteur , Mr Bowis , and let me also inform the Commissioner , David Byrne , that we appreciate the proposals he has put before us in this White Paper and the relations he has established with Parliament with a view to preparing the best possible legislation in the field of food safety for the future .
It will not be a day when we look with any particular pride at the procedures we then had .
These things are inextricably linked with what the food authority will be doing .
The report is right to draw a distinction between risk analysis on the one hand and risk management on the other .
However , Mr President , I should like to highlight two points here .
Finally , who better than the Member States to inform the public of the risks linked to this or that product ?
Not only does the WHO cover Europe it also has a wider remit across the whole planet and this is important .
This makes sense if the European Food Safety Agency is also to be able to operate independently of the Commission and if , whenever necessary , it is to take prompt crisis management action .
I have tabled an amendment on this subject , and I hope you will support it .
And the ones who need to do something about this are not so much the Commission and ourselves , but rather the Member States , who so far have not done their homework .
My group supports most of the amendments .
A reliable legislative framework , the definition of acceptable risk and the practical safeguarding of local food and production diversities are aspects which still require attention , together with those of small and medium-sized businesses and the training of their employees .
Could a European Food Safety Agency have prevented a dioxin crisis and a BSE crisis ?
There is an indissoluble relationship between eating healthily and eating well , a relationship of which consumers must be made more aware in order to promote quality and support the typical local products which are one of the great assets of the peoples of Europe .
Therefore , as Mihail Papayannakis said , we too are going to approve and support the report .
Moreover , no food products which are genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients should be allowed into the food chain until they are fully tested , and only then with clear labelling specifications .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , the White Paper on food safety has laid a firm basis for better food in future and I am also hopeful of more environmentally-friendly and people-friendly production of food .
For us to be able to restore consumer confidence in the safety of food and maintain it , the Food Safety Agency must start its work with adequate public resources .
Mr President , I congratulate John Bowis on his excellent work .
I myself do not think this way and trust in the strength and basic principles of European integration throughout the EU .
In addition , part of the body ' s efficiency will consist of transparent decision-making and the swift publication on the Internet of its studies and recommendations , as happens with , for example , the Food and Veterinary Office in Dublin , which is running extremely smoothly .
I welcome the fact that there is broad agreement on the main principles : that a new scientific body responsible for food safety risk assessment should be established , that it should be independent , accountable , transparent and subject to the needs of objective research and of commercial confidentiality and that it should provide the public with accessible and comprehensible information .
Other people 's experience and findings can be pooled with our own , and findings can be assessed at pan-European level .
We have scientific committees advising the Commission .
There have even been widely conflicting views about the main point of the White Paper , the creation of a Food Safety Agency .
The priority of absolute concern for humans is based on these principles .
Upon careful examination of the White Paper in the Member States and here in Parliament , it will then be given legislative status in the form of a new draft directive .
Several proposals are already before the Council and Parliament : for example , the package of proposals recasting and updating the hygiene legislation .
I am encouraged to note the high degree of agreement between Parliament 's views as expressed in the draft report that you have debated , and the White Paper itself .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , this is not the first time that Parliament has tackled the issue of anti-personnel landmines .
The final point concerns the amendments .
In this respect we can only regret the fact that one Member State , Finland , has not yet signed and another , Greece , has not yet proceeded to ratification , as Mrs Morgantini has just pointed out .
The challenge is enormous , but the extent of this tragedy demands that we make an enormous effort and commitment to put an end to this situation .
After all , the European Parliament took the lead in the Union in the fight against landmines .
The European Union has a clear position , set out in the 1997 joint action on extending signature and ratification of the Ottawa Convention to as many countries as possible .
We have adopted a flexible , coordinating approach rather than a rigid , centralising one .
Similarly , we do not want to create another committee , be it management or advisory .
Governments have expressed their commitment and pledged large sums of money .
The Commissioner for external relations has previously recognised that the Commission 's external aid programmes have been an embarrassment .
Commissioner , you said that you were against a number of amendments .
Mrs Bonino and Mr Patten are right in saying that it makes obvious sense to destroy the stockpiles , because the cost of destroying a stockpiled mine is only a hundredth of that of destroying one which has been transported to a place where it is difficult to find .
All the institutions of the EU must work on their own initiative and in a way that the poor countries that suffer worst from the mines problem are effectively included in the programme .
Eliminating them is no longer a military problem but a humanitarian issue .
At this point I wish to specifically stress that we need to call upon further States to sign or promptly ratify the Ottawa Convention , so as to assist international coordination and rehabilitation of mine victims .
I therefore ask that the importance of increasing this amount be conveyed to the Council , which is not represented here , and to the Commission , given that unfortunately , for each mine that is cleared , between 20 and 50 others are laid .
However , nor should we ignore the fact that the European Union , and in particular the European Parliament , is increasingly in a position to check more effectively where the money we intend for this purpose is actually going .
Many victims are small children , who suffer terrible trauma and appalling mutilation , and whose lives are destroyed before they have even started properly .
For my part , I want to highlight the need to adopt the convention universally so that it may become a total success , firstly by ensuring the compliance of the laws of the various states , so as not to have yet another example of an international agreement that fails to be applied .
The criticisms , however , are sanctimonious and based on ignorance .
This effort must also be made more effective through coordination and monitoring of the processes , giving NGOs a more extensive role to play .
The reports give less emphasis to the fact that the majority of those mines were manufactured outside the countries in which they are buried .
I shall be quite appalled if the Commission really intends to support these totally unrealistic , almost absurd demands , which have just been approved .
The Commission will use its right of initiative and support the Member States in bringing necessary changes about .
Many of the demands made in the Van Lancker report are not acceptable .
Over and above the legal quibbling on all sides , the Biarritz Summit has confirmed that the process of European enlargement is a matter of laborious haggling .
We in the Austrian Freedom Party have from the outset declared ourselves in favour of a legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights .
The EPLP has consistently not supported incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as rights are covered by national legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights .
In our view , however , the interpretations of 15 judges , which go beyond the Treaties as ratified , are clearly improper and we are still waiting for them to be submitted for the approval of the peoples of the Member States .
We should not accept this , whoever uses such language , whether it comes from the extreme right or the extreme left .
The Portuguese socialist MEPs voted for the Duhamel report on the constitutionalisation of the Treaties essentially because they agree with the need for the European Union to simplify and organise the fundamental texts that govern it , which today have become virtually unreadable on account of the complexity introduced by the successive accumulation of Treaties .
While desirable in itself , a constitution of this kind could only be adopted as the crowning touch to far-reaching institutional reform .
As Jacques Delors rightly pointed out at a meeting of our Committee on Constitutional Affairs scarcely a month ago , the term ' constitution ' is extremely ambiguous .
I would even have voted against it , but this would have been an over-radical way of judging a text as important as this .
The UK Labour Members of the PSE Group welcome this report without endorsing all of its detail .
Everyone here knows that Europe , its currency , its diplomacy , its security , its civilisation , its culture and its social model can only truly survive the splendid history of its peoples , but also the fruitless dissension between them , by becoming a federation of nation states with strong , coherent and respected institutions , enshrined in a European Constitution , towards which Mr Duhamel has paved the way .
Removing the conditions which state that closer cooperation must remain within the framework of the Treaty and removing the right of veto and the opportunity for bringing the issue up in the European Council would constitute a breach of the quite fundamental principles according to which European cooperation in the EU operates .
In fact , although this report tends to introduce a little more flexibility into the highly inflexible system laid down by Title VII of the Treaty of Amsterdam , which is welcome , the final result is still far from adequate .
In fact , Europe is finding it more and more difficult to move forward at the same pace .
That is why the large allocation of EU Structural Funds was made .
If reinforced cooperation proves necessary I am convinced that only the Community system offers the necessary guarantees in terms of democratic control , legal controls and solidarity .
We also regret the lack of any reference to , or even mention of , the need to protect biodiversity , which is one of the most important assets of the outermost regions .
The Europe of Brussels , with its mania for levelling out and standardising , has acted unfairly and even stupidly towards our compatriots who live according to European values thousands of kilometres away from Paris , Madrid or Lisbon .
Similarly , the Netherlands and Denmark each have two regions in , or on the other side of , the Atlantic , but those areas are expressly not included in the European Union .
The most important points include the creation of the European Food Safety Agency , which we welcome and of which we expect a great deal .
It was essential for us to give an opinion on an issue that is so important to our fellow citizens .
That is not at all the direction taken by the White Paper , which wants to make the European agency into a " scientific point of reference for the whole Union " ( page 5 ) .
But we need to go further than this .
For my part , in France , I do not need an authority in order to restore my confidence ; I trust the French Food Safety Agency and its opinions , especially in relation to mad cow disease .
Whilst I respect people 's democratic right to table amendments , can I just warn Members of this House that if some of the amendments which are not in the general framework agreement between the groups are voted , then we will begin to exceed ceilings and we will have to stop the vote .
The same applies to line B3 - 306 for the PRINCE information campaign .
The vote concerns an amendment tabled by the Group of the European Liberal , Democrat and Reform Party to increase the tobacco subsidy by EUR 5 million .
Madam President , in that case the amendment will unfortunately have to be put to the vote in the form proposed by the Committee on Budgets .
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
Report ( A5 - 0270 / 2000 ) by Mr Moreira Da Silva , on behalf of the Committee on Environment , Public Health and Consumer Policy , on the Commission communication on EU policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions : Towards a European Climate Change Programme ( ECCP ) [ COM ( 2000 ) 0088 - C5 - 0192 / 2000 - 2000 / 2103 ( COS ) ]
Instead of controlling the erratic movements of capital , the priority is ' structural reforms ' actually aimed at privatising and deregulating anything still left to be privatised and deregulated .
We believe that funds for the Balkans can instead be taken from the programmes in category 4 that are sadly not fully utilised at present .
Haug Report ( A5 - 0300 / 2000 )
We would also like to welcome the fact that Parliament has shown itself open to an initiative which , in our opinion , warrants the attention of this House .
It is interesting to note that the EU parties are clearly incapable of inducing either their member parties or the individual members of the member parties to pay a fee for membership of the EU party . Instead , we are forced to finance the EU parties with public funds .
What ' unbundled access to the local loop ' actually does is force public operators to put the leasing of public telephone lines out to commercial tender as soon as possible .
But , precisely because we are dealing with the local loop , customers ' interests need to be taken into particular account .
The quotas and the thresholds are like Scylla and Charybdis and to change them is to jump out of the frying pan into the fire .
Since it appears from Appendix III that glasshouse horticulture does not benefit from the proposed subsidy scheme for vegetables and fruit , I am putting my objections on hold for the time being .
It is for this reason that despite having approved this document , I wanted to emphasise in the explanations of vote that next time it would be a good idea to survey and take into consideration the situation in which pensioners in Hong Kong find themselves compared with pensioners in the Peoples ' Republic of China , in order to see whether this reunification has been advantageous or detrimental to them .
It is only three years since the Kyoto Conference and the European Environmental Agency estimates that , if emissions in the EU continue at present rates , instead of an 8 % reduction in emissions of CO2 between 1990 - 2010 , there will be a 6 % increase , while in the USA the outlook is even worse .
The rapporteur is right to point out that the European Commission ' s original proposal is inadequate .
That is why our resolution is important , and I have voted for it .
As everyone knows , life is full of risks and uncertainties .
We also need to define a more specific framework for research , standardising tests and cooperation between various scientific teams so that reliable results can be achieved .
We need to go further .
They need the help of the Member States .
As a consequence , these companies could have their base anywhere in the European Union , even though they are not banks .
That is what they are doing to this day , as we can see from the many complaints made by small and medium-sized businesses and the complaints made by the public about the high charges for transferring small amounts , which are quite simply very much in evidence .
Samples are actually sufficient .
The acceptance of the euro also depends greatly on whether consumers and companies are able to use the euro area as an internal payment zone .
Maybe , in fact most probably , the time has come for an Internet bank to be set up which does not charge any costs .
Madam President , there is a second reason for the European Parliament ' s perseverance .
This morning the euro sank to an all-time low .
Today the average fee for transferring EUR 100 to another country in the internal market is EUR 17.10 , many times more than the fees for domestic transfers .
In fact , in time , there should not be a discrepancy at all between cross-border and domestic payments .
That report - and I am turning to Mrs Peijs in particular - will contain legislative proposals amending the 1997 Directive which entered into effect last year .
Parliament , in its wisdom , completely shares your view .
The SME is not a multinational in miniature , any more than it suffices to extrapolate the difficulties of a small business quantitatively to get a proper grasp of the problems of large units .
Until recently , after completing their studies and training , many young people made a choice between going into the civil service or simply into larger companies which are similar to the state .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , after eleven years in this House , I can bear witness to the fact that debates on small and medium-sized businesses in our Parliament are neither new nor rare .
Today , I would particularly like to make a case for systematically eliminating as many as possible , if not all , barriers which stand in the way of establishing the internal market , and for optimising the competitiveness of SMEs , allowing them to develop in a dynamic and sustained manner .
Our greatest potential for adaptation resides in them .
In parallel , we propose to introduce a European innovation area , and I am grateful to Mrs Montfort for having agreed to include that proposal in her report .
We endorse the attention which the rapporteur , Mrs Montfort , is paying - rightly so - to small and medium-sized businesses , and micro-enterprises , as well as to granting priority support to young fledgling entrepreneurs .
My contact there is Magister Leitner , and if I come across a problem related to support programmes or a problem with the European institutions , then I can tell my employers that there is someone there who is competent and in the know , someone who can give information in the shortest possible time about public calls for tender , support programmes or research on infrastructure .
That is why we should make it our business to bring down tax rates as far as possible by introducing less hefty laws , slimmed-down benchmarking and best practices so as to create a simple and well-ordered environment for our businesses .
I am reminded of what the Commissioner said to us a year ago about the experience in the United States , where they are not afraid of failure and they believe in the old Scottish proverb of " if at first you don 't succeed , try , try again " .
In many of the 15 Member States , persons working on their own account have lower pensions , lower levels of mutual assistance and less industrial injury insurance .
That is why we should ' think small first ' .
We also need to give careful thought to the level of European governance best adapted to the various initiatives .
Mr President , the conclusions of the European Council in Tampere stress the need to cooperate with countries of origin and transit of migrants and refugees and , within this framework on the Council 's instructions , the High-Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration has drawn up six action plans , one of which is the plan for Albania and the neighbouring region .
So bearing all these problems in mind , the proposals set out in my report include : gradual application of the measures proposed in the action plan , a study of the real needs , such as that contained in the first part , which indicates where the most urgent problems lie ; for example , first the economy and democratic institutions need to be developed and infrastructures need to be created in Albania and then the Union can think about signing refugee and migrant repatriation agreements .
Mr President , the action plan states in its analysis that the status quo in Albania is worrying .
( Applause )
The tighter the borders we attempt to create , the more insane forms of refugee smuggling we shall see .
The people are , of course , hopeful of better political representation but at present , many people still live in fear ; fear of all kinds of things , fear of the outbursts of violence which flare up now and again .
There are jobs in Greece , for example , which , if the Albanian immigrants leave , will remain undone , mainly in the agricultural sector .
At present , there is a heavy stream of refugees returning which the lack of security , law and order is actually impeding .
The action programme for Albania and its neighbouring regions will enable us to increase stability in the area .
All this and the unacceptable events in Himara give us cause , I think , to make a very careful assessment of just how able and willing Albania is to take on the accepted European criteria in the areas of human rights and democratic freedoms and , by extension , to modulate and adjust our general approach , our action plans and the various benefits which we provide this country accordingly until such time it revises its policy .
I should like to make a second point .
The General Affairs Council adopted the first five action plans last October , and they concern Somalia , Sri Lanka , Afghanistan , Morocco , and Iraq .
Indeed , we had a very earnest and also very self-critical debate about the quality of European lawmaking and the application of the principle of subsidiarity .
We ask the Commission here quite specifically to observe the clear demarcation of responsibilities both between the EU and the Member States and within the institutions .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , I would first and foremost like to thank the rapporteur , Mr Wuermeling for the work he has invested in his report .
We can accept this point and this report reflects that spirit , in demanding clarity of law , simplicity of law and proportionality of the legal means to the public end sought .
We would actually like the Commission to give us more details on the proper application of this principle for each proposal , so that a real balance sheet can be drawn up at the time of the annual report .
Mr MacCormick stated - it is , in fact , true - that I had said that the principle of subsidiarity was not a legal principle but rather a political principle .
If it is a guarantor and not a master , it immediately follows that in the structure created by Mr Wuermeling , under which powers would be devolved to the Member States in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity , what should subsequently be guaranteed is that an identical process must also be followed by these same Member States .
Several accomplished speakers from the European People ' s Party have already taken the floor to express the views of the group .
That was not a procedural motion but I think you are entitled , as rapporteur , to make that point clear .
This directive could be 64 pages long , extremely detailed , mathematical , and involve a lot of engineering expertise .
Better Lawmaking - A Shared Responsibility ( 1998 ) [ COM ( 1998 ) 715 - C5 - 0266 / 2000 - 1999 / 2197 ( COS ) ]
The old exchange rate difference between buying and selling has been replaced by a fixed levy per money withdrawal .
The next item is the oral question to the Commission ( B5 - 0546 / 00 ) by Mr Varela Suanzes-Carpegna on behalf of the Committee on Fisheries on the state of negotiations for a new fisheries agreement with Morocco .
On the other hand , having said this , we also maintain that not just any agreement will suffice .
From our standpoint , it is of vital importance that Community fishermen resume their activities at a level compatible with the obligation to guarantee sustainable resources .
As a Member of the European Parliament from the German coast I can comprehend what the fishermen and their families , who have literally been high and dry for months , are going through .
We all knew from the start that it was a difficult negotiation .
The agreements with third countries have very great significance for the European Union and especially for those regions with large fishing harbours .
Fundamental changes are needed so that there is a reduction in global fishing and so that a smaller proportion of the fisheries budget is used for agreements with third countries .
And on the European side , we have the Euro-Mediterranean partnership , which is being put to the test .
This House has been quite rightly criticised along with the Commission regarding the agreement with Morocco , which from the outset has been addressed with tremendous hesitation and naivety .
Mr President , the absence of Mr Fischler , which is justified , as the chair of the Committee on Fisheries made clear earlier , prevents me from going into too much detail .
This means the end of shore-based activities , boat repairs , the provisioning of vessels , canning factories and oil factories , which is to say that a whole economic sector is currently paralysed as a result of this .
Under this agreement , around 500 boats from the European Union , 50 of which are Portuguese , have had access to Moroccan waters at an annual cost of around EUR 125 million .
The little information that is available is unclear , despite the fact that negotiations have continued - or so we are told - with various complicated ups and downs .
We must protect the world ' s fish stocks .
In doing so , however , we must not lose sight of the fact that relations between the European Union and the transit countries around our borders , and I am thinking in particular here of North Africa , Turkey and Russia , which act as bridges on the borders of the European Union to other parts of the world and to other countries - that these countries deserve our particular support .
He had gained a favourable impression from his meeting , which augurs well for the negotiations , due to start on 30 October , being conducted in a constructive spirit .
Nonetheless , thank you for your most interesting contribution .
The text would then read : " Whereas the persons affected , who are Union citizens , have been involved in protracted and repetitive litigation and have seen their legitimate expectations dashed .
We exchanged a great deal of correspondence with the players concerned and went to a great deal of trouble to select from among piles of irrelevant documents the elements that proved conclusively that the former lettori had in fact been the victims of discrimination by certain Italian universities in respect of their financial acquired rights such as salaries and contributions to pension schemes .
Under Italian law , you do not become a university lecturer automatically by virtue of experience , you have to pass a public examination .
If the Commission were truly serious about resolving this issue it would have been resolved years ago .
We are a small House because it is a Friday morning but it needs to be noticed and recognised that this is an all-party issue and an all-Union issue .
In a Kafkaesque style the universities even went as far as to remove their names from the internal telephone books , the doors and the university websites .
I think that the saying " If you don 't take yourself seriously , no-one else will " is most apt here .
There are thus two things , which I would not describe as being different , but which are linked together slightly differently over time .
The root of the issue is that it is impossible to grant a language assistant , a person who is well versed in English and comes to an Italian medical university to explain to the students what the Italian terms are for heart disease , operation , liver disease , and so forth , to have the same rights , on the basis of their having the same status , as someone who teaches medicine .
I declare the session of the European Parliament adjourned and wish you a pleasant weekend .
We are united in shock and grief for the 150 people who died and we share in the pain of their relatives .
With regard to the report by Mr Ceyhun , on behalf of the Committee on Citizens ' Freedoms and Rights , Justice and Home Affairs , I have received two requests : one request from the Group of the Party of European Socialists for referral of this report to committee , and one request from the Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance for deferral of this report to a later part-session .
( Parliament gave its assent ) Relating to Tuesday :
Madam President , my group has listened carefully to this proposal .
b ) Sittings of 29 and 30 November 2000 :
I had indicated that I wanted to speak before you closed the discussion on the agenda .
This is an extremely serious initiative towards reintroducing censorship in Italy , limited to text books for the moment but which will soon be extended to other areas .
We also support the result of the binding nature of the framework decision , which forces Member States to harmonise their laws for the common good whilst being subject to judicial supervision by the Court of Justice .
Moreover , Parliament should be represented on the management board of Europol and should have a say in the choice of the director of the agency .
In the more specific area of combating money laundering , we could cite the Council Directive of 10 June 1991 , as recently amended , for which our fellow MEP , Mr Lehne , acted as rapporteur .
I can only say that , as a result , the Council did admittedly make a big show of cooperating , but the bulk of the amendments tabled by us and adopted here in this House by a very large majority were not accepted .
In dealing with these matters , our rapporteurs have centred their considerations both on the Protocol amending the Europol Convention and on improving mutual assistance .
And , of course , we must do so on the basis of a common definition of what crime is and of what methods it uses , so that it cannot flee from one country to another , at least not for purely procedural reasons .
I want to speak about the Karamanou report on Europol .
We have far too many police forces already and we are going to have even more once we have completed enlargement , our ability to deal with organised crime is going to be very much less than it should be .
We must ensure that those who are the innocent victims - the collateral damage I suppose we should call it - of the war upon crime are not left languishing in jails , incommunicado from their families .
Well , here we have another good example : in combating money laundering we may put at stake something that , far from being a lawyer ' s privilege , is an essential element in this right to a fair trial , which in turn is an essential element in all our European development , culture and identity .
We are the only ones here who want to see measures that truly prevent money laundering , which is to say the immediate abolition of banking secrecy , the trade secret , the business secret , access to the accounting ledgers of all banking and manufacturing companies and the right of all the employees of these companies , of all consumers , to bring to the public ' s attention any transfer of funds that is against the interests of society at large .
According to the United Nations , the annual volume of money recycled through money-laundering operations is approaching USD 1 billion .
With regard to a compromise situation on this issue , there are two options : either the article in question refers to people who concentrate on certain activities and does not need to mention lawyers or any other professional category , or it refers to lawyers , creating a situation which in itself threatens professional confidentiality , however much the article specifies or defines the activities to which it refers .
As I understand it , ' immediately ' makes the requirement more pressing than setting a deadline of two months for a refusal to cooperate .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , part of the price of freedom is that the democratic state under the rule of law frequently chases wrongdoers from quite some distance when it wishes to prosecute them .
The committee responsible has gone along with me on this and I am pleased to say that the signals coming from the Council are also positive .
This is the aim of our amendments .
We could not get any action from Europol or from Interpol operators in that country and there was a lack of understanding of the necessity for somebody to be brought to trial as quickly as possible .
Systems of criminal law are , of course , among the clearest cultural expressions of a society .
What Parliament has to adopt a position on today is vigorous judicial cooperation for the purpose of combating serious organised crime .
Mr President , I would very quickly like to begin by thanking Mrs Gebhardt for her excellent report and by saying that the Commission endorses almost all of the points that have fuelled her reflections .
But as concerns Eurojust , this is a network for coordinating the actions of national judges and public prosecutors with the objective of enhancing capabilities for combating types of serious crime at European level .
While , with this annual report , the new Commission will quite clearly be held accountable and will need to be reminded of its duty , the FAIR Programme is , as it were , unfinished business from a bygone era .
My question to the Commission in this regard highlighted some possibilities , but unfortunately no usable result has yet emerged .
Mr President , I welcome this report by Mrs Langenhagen , the contents of which I am very happy to endorse .
In that connection , I should like to make it clear that , in view of the very great degree of expertise possessed by the Commission , we cannot accept that so many of the things we adopted in the decisions have not been implemented .
I would particularly like to thank Mrs Langenhagen for her very constructive report , along with the members of the Committee on Budgetary Control , and of the Committee on Fisheries and notably the rapporteur , Mr Busk .
However , as soon as I took up office , I also took an initiative to set up an informal working party which looked into the issue of simplifying and improving procedures , and I have already had an opportunity to talk about this before the Committee on Industry , External Trade , Research and Energy .
It is perfectly clear that these dialogues are necessary and there is clearly a joint responsibility here ; it is also up to the Court to enter into these dialogues , but I can , in any case , assure you that both the Court and the Commission ' s services , along with Parliament , share the same commitment to progress in terms of resolving these problems .
The Commission shares this commitment , and I would like to hope that we can work in the best possible atmosphere to carry through this research programme , which is essential at European level , but which must be implemented in conformity with the most stringent of rules on efficiency and on financial control .
Mr Bethell , your point has nothing to do with the approval of the Minutes but I can , however , readily inform you that the Conference of Presidents voted to give this year ' s Sakharov Prize to the ' Basta Ya ' association .
This Charter is also the expression of a common set of basic values for all the candidate countries , for all the countries wishing to join the European Union , and it is precisely in the area of social rights that it sends candidate countries a clear message that they must comply with these social standards .
Madam President , ladies and gentlemen , first of all I should like to join the European Parliament in expressing the Presidency ' s sympathies on the occasion of the accident which occurred near Salzburg in Austria , and say that we fully share in the sorrow of the families of the victims of this most serious accident .
Members of the European Parliament , particularly in our previous debate , have already expressed the wish to repeat the experiment .
Overall , I should say that this text unquestionably marks the greatest collective advance in terms of affirming social rights , both because of the importance of the rights enshrined and also because these rights are included for the first time in the same text as civic and political rights , thereby officially signposting the indivisible nature of all fundamental rights .
I should , moreover , also like to point out some grounds for satisfaction for the Presidency , and I believe for other institutions too , in the overall position adopted by the European Trade Union Confederation , which stresses the connection between the Charter and the social agenda and which concludes that the Convention ' s proposed Charter , adopted by the Heads of State and Government , " represents an important step towards the construction of a social and a citizens ' Europe " .
That is why it was so important and why Parliament was right not only to invest so much hope in a new Charter of Fundamental Rights for the European Union but also to help so intensively and constructively to bring it about .
It clearly sets out our citizens ' rights for them and clearly sets out the legal positions which the institutions , bodies and agencies of the European Union must comply with and respect when acting on behalf of the people of Europe .
Our governments need to obtain tangible results in Nice that they can offer to our citizens - institutional matters are important but , as the President-in-Office of the Council and the Commissioner are well aware , they are difficult to sell to public opinion .
Some think it a success and others now think it a thwarted ambition .
The Charter cannot serve as a smokescreen for the French Presidency in order to conceal an IGC that is on its last legs .
Well then , let us endeavour to ensure that this situation is not repeated in the case of the Charter of Fundamental Rights .
We are currently conspiring to kill off the Commission , a murder with a willing victim , since the Commission fell in with the Council ' s proposals last week .
Madam President , first my heartfelt thanks to my friend and delegation leader Méndez de Vigo , who swapped places with me because I was due to head a conciliation for parliament .
How can we fail to recognise that in the twenty-first century , once the concept of dignity has been set forth , the key thing is the indivisibility of the whole package of rights ?
Mrs President , the Charter includes a number of welcome points .
It is a sad thing that the party of Churchill and Maxwell Fyfe should have come to this point that , when we at last try to ensure that the institutions of the Union are not the tyrants of Brussels but persons subject under Article 51 to the obligations binding on all institutions of the Union , the British Conservatives say " no " .
We should not be drawing up lists of advantages and disadvantages , Madam President .
The second fascinating aspect is that we are today discussing human rights and citizens ' rights , a subject over which the European Union has no form of jurisdiction .
I could not agree with him more .
It is true , as one of the speakers said , that we have to make an effort to inform people about the Charter , an effort that can begin in this Parliament .
It is also , the Commission points out , contemporary because it deals with issues such as bioethics , genetic engineering and data protection as well as access to information .
Those who are more backward and more reactionary have , once again , triumphed over those who are fighting to see fundamental rights applied to all people and for an effective , legally binding response to new issues such as the risks of science , the rights of the new citizens , the right to a healthy environment etc . Consequently , we are once again left disappointed and dissatisfied .
But this Charter is clearly aimed at furthering the ever-closer union of the peoples of Europe .
The Charter constitutes a balanced and solid basis for enlargement .
We must take our rights seriously if we want governments to respect them and legal systems to guarantee them .
Mr President , the Charter that is now on the table for our approval is a project we can be proud of .
Sixty thousand people are expected from the ETUC organisations alone .
In the short term , it is far more important for the European Union to give its commitment to the already existing European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe .
We must move in this direction .
I think some very skilful work has been done .
There are , however , other effects , particularly on our internal legal system .
Most worrying is the Orwellian possibility under Article 52 of the suspension of fundamental rights when the interests of the European Union are at stake .
In this respect I should like to point out that here , for the first time , a European Union document is making it perfectly clear that the rights listed in the Charter are , for the most part , applicable to all individuals regardless of nationality or even right of residence .
The Commissioner has just mentioned the spirit in which the Charter was drawn up , with a view to its being made , one day , a binding text .
Here too , in specifying a right to good administration , the Charter means to be ambitious .
Turkish citizens are realising that Turkey ' s accession to the EU will require not only the ' painless ' revision of their institutions but also a partial renunciation of sovereignty , to which they remain jealously attached , and a radical change in habits and outlook .
Mr President , Minister , Commissioner , of the two reports before us today , the one by Mr Morillon is more political in nature , whereas mine is more technical .
In this respect , I have no doubt but that the determination of each and every one of us to help Turkey progress along the path of democratisation will in the end prevail .
For its part , the Presidency would like to see this special action programme of EIB loans adopted by the Council very soon , probably as early as the forthcoming meeting of the Council of Ministers of Economic and Financial Affairs on 27 November .
And finally , negotiations on Cyprus have been resumed under the aegis of the United Nations .
And I must say that I am convinced that the Turkish Government is firmly resolved to take a decisive approach to the reform projects needed .
I also welcome the proposals in this report on stepping up parliamentary cooperation and strengthening civil society .
Nothing has been done about abolishing the death penalty , and very little has been done to set minority and human rights on a solid legal basis , even if a few UN conventions have been signed .
Mr President , the European Liberal Group strongly welcomes the Morillon report which we find skilful , frank and forceful .
There is no one here , least of all myself , who would deny the fact that genocide was perpetrated against the Armenians during the last period of the Ottoman Empire .
Nonetheless , what we are looking for here is not just compliance with the Copenhagen criteria but compulsory democratic standards .
I fully agree with this statement , but I would say that the decision by the Helsinki European Council to grant Turkey applicant country status was not preceded by the essential debate - both public and parliamentary - that General Morillon ' s explanatory statement also calls for .
We cannot play about with the dignity of nations .
The Council should consider whether granting Turkey candidate status has done more harm than good here .
( Parliament adopted the legislative resolution )
We therefore abstained .
In countries whose legislation is more favourable to workers , however , the Charter may be cited to oppose the national legislation in courts of law .
If the Charter is adopted at the forthcoming summit in Nice , either by incorporating it into the Treaties or simply by proclamation , it will be a step backwards .
Articles trampling on State competences .
Even though the countries of Europe currently find themselves in an alarming demographic position , the Charter deals extremely lightly with the problems of the family .
The Charter will involve the European Court of Justice in a number of political decisions , in fields as diverse as employment law , extradition policy , immigration and the family .
Admittedly , I personally would have preferred a Charter with a much more sizeable social component !
. ( FR ) I consider that the Charter of Fundamental Rights represents a valuable step forward .
The consensus method adopted by the Convention members has produced , as is generally the case when unanimity is enforced , a minimal Charter characterised by significant omissions and ambiguities .
There is no right to work , just the " right to engage in work " ; there is no right to social protection or accommodation , just " the right to social assistance and housing assistance " ; there is no right to a retirement pension or a minimum income ; there is no ban on redundancies , just the " right to protection against unjustified dismissal " .
In the first place , there are discrepancies between the German and French versions which raise major questions about the references to " religious " or " spiritual " values .
It does not include the right to work or the right to housing .
We must , however , stand firmly against any campaign for a legally binding Charter that would only create legal uncertainty .
Recently our Taoiseach , Mr Ahern , clearly stated that the European Charter of Fundamental Human Rights should remain a political , not a legal document .
In the end , the haggling that this type of process inevitably leads to resulted in our weighing the notion of Europeans ' " religious heritage " against the promotion of " free enterprise " .
Next , these texts are all based on initiatives by Member States , coming under either the third pillar of Article 67 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community , where the Commission does not have the monopoly on the right of initiative .
The Marinho report now seeks to extend the principle of the mutual recognition of national measures for the identification , tracing , freezing , seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds from crime , established by the Joint Action 98 / 699 / JHA in 1998 , to decisions in the pre-court phase , especially those enabling the competent authorities to take rapid action to obtain evidence and seize easily transportable assets .
It was accepted that the principle of mutual recognition should also apply to pre-trial orders , in particular to those which would enable competent authorities quickly to secure evidence and seize assets , which are easily moveable .
We welcome the French Presidency 's initiative aimed at improving cooperation between national authorities responsible for tackling money laundering and laying down uniform penalties .
. While welcoming closer cooperation between the Member States ' police forces both amongst themselves and through Europol , I share the rapporteur ' s concerns about the lack of democratic accountability of Europol .
However , I would like to draw your attention to the possible reforms of criminal law that could take place in various Member States such as Spain , for example , with the Partido Popular in power - which is taking advantage of a certain situation - because these reforms are still a concern for the Europe of freedom and democracy .
Langenhagen Report ( A5 - 0310 / 2000 )
Mr President , if Turkey were a member of the EU , it would be the most populous Member State after Germany .
This is a consultation procedure , but it would be reasonable , of course , for it to be a codecision procedure because these decisions can in actual fact lead to the Budget 's having to be adjusted .
That is why the frankness which runs through the Morillon report deserves special mention , although fewer excuses at some points in the report would , I think , have reflected the factors used to evaluate Turkey 's progress towards accession more accurately .
And from this point of view , the report is right to condemn the bombing of Kendakor by the Turkish air force and to highlight and reiterate the Turkish Government 's obligation to support negotiations between Turkish and Greek Cypriots without preliminary conditions .
Almost 40 per cent of Cyprus is occupied by foreign troops in the form of Turkish soldiers .
And the answer is , as Mr Morillon 's report makes clear , not far enough .
We want to support it on this journey , not obstruct it and , above all , we want to keep our financial promises .
How much more desirable and acceptable would be the goal of a looser community of nation-states trading freely and acting in unison over a limited range of policy areas and how much easier it would then be to accommodate a country such as Turkey .
We can but share these concerns , which were duly expressed by the Commission in its last annual report .
What is new is the accession partnership , and the accession partnership contains a very important stipulation : that the candidate country must deal with all the issues addressed in the progress report .
The vote will take place tomorrow at 11.30 a . m .
The fact that the situation in the Middle East is difficult at present is not , therefore , a reason to lower our ambitions for the Marseilles conference .
Great prospects are opening up , too , for cooperation in the areas of combating trafficking of all sorts , migration and enhancing the rule of law .
Today , on the eve of Marseilles , the French Presidency naturally wishes to see the European Union ' s Mediterranean priority confirmed , including in financial terms .
In other words , this is not just a chance for more trade and commerce , it is security policy par excellence and this is the message which we need to get across to our citizens if this process is to gain acceptance .
It is also true that setbacks in the pre-peace process have slowed down the progress of Barcelona .
As far as human rights are concerned , we propose a structural approach looking at the performance of countries over time .
In June 2000 , the Feira Council adopted a common Mediterranean strategy and , after proposing and obtaining endorsement for reform of the Meda regulation , the Commission recently tabled a document on reinvigorating the Barcelona Process .
In fact , I will go further and say that , in the past , the peace process has served as an excuse for both Europe and for the Mediterranean partners not to be more courageous .
It is far from clear .
Moreover , the dream of peace on both sides of the Mediterranean should be listened to and the wish granted at the earliest possible opportunity .
Braudel 's ' Mediterranean of a thousand things ' , the ancient civilisations which , for years , have regarded each other with hostility across the Basin , now have the opportunity to start afresh , setting off along a common path which , through political will and the power of dialogue , will lay the foundations for genuine progress and economic and social development .
Moreover , by continuing it can make the best possible contribution , a secondary but significant contribution , to the resumption of dialogue in the Middle East .
It is true that this Conference is going to take place in a context of violence and of a peace crisis as a result of the conflict in the Middle East , but it is also true that holding the conference will enable us to keep the flame of the Euro-Mediterranean process burning and that it should not be contaminated by the tragic conflict .
The Commission and the Council claim to want this .
Secondly , I think that we are also forgetting another important subject , which is the environment .
There is now a regulation on the table which , as I see it , equips the European Union to deliver aid in an efficient manner and on time , and to put EU funds to good use in the countries of the western Balkans .
Hence my appeal for this regulation to strike a good balance between high profile activities , i . e . large projects , on the one hand , and continued attention to projects for democracy , on the other , i . e . projects to do with security , projects that are seldom as high profile , but which are all the more necessary to guarantee stability in the Balkans .
Mr President , Commissioner , I am aware that the Balkans are not the most promising area for optimism .
We have to give more effective and more coordinated aid , gathering together all the scattered bits and pieces .
I think we all realise that a slimmer , more efficient structure is needed if the good work which the Kosovo Agency has carried out in recent months is to be consolidated for future purposes .
I think it would be counterproductive and I am certain that Mr Lang will do his utmost and if Mr Moscovici were here , he would perhaps do so too .
However , as far as I am concerned , this week ' s star price goes to the leader of the Social Democrats in Bosnia , and , incidentally , to the people of Slovakia , for not falling into the referendum trap that the opposition set for the government , but that is another story .
We indeed hope that the year will end with the consolidation of democracy on 23 December during the parliamentary elections in Serbia .
Any rapprochement with the European Union is , in fact , closely linked , in the eyes of the Council , to the development of regional cooperation .
The French Presidency set itself ambitious targets as regards the Western Balkans which are close to being achieved : the development of the Stabilisation and Association Process , the adoption of the CARDS programme , the adoption of asymmetric commercial preferences , to mention but the more noteworthy Community measures .
Other objectives of the Zagreb summit must include an announcement of the Community assistance and reconstruction , democratisation and stabilisation programmes for the Western Balkans , a confirmation of the progressive establishment of a free trading zone between the European Union and the Western Balkans and a commitment by the countries in the region for regional cooperation and to putting in place a free trading regime between them .
This is essential .
For several months , Mr Baker ' s mission has been twofold ; he has sought both to resolve the difficulties inherent in implementing the Settlement Plan , which should lead to a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people , and to reach a political agreement .
Mr President , Mr President-in-Office , I think the EU would have far more influence in the Maghreb if there were stronger links with the reform process in Morocco .
What diplomatic initiatives will the Council take to further the rapprochement between Armenia and Azerbaijan , settle their bilateral differences , and promote cooperation between the two countries ?
I understand the concerns expressed by Mr Souladakis and Mr Alavanos , but I do not have anything to add regarding the action taken by the European Union as it has been carried out .
Mr President , I welcome the Council 's response to the original question .
The new legislation being drafted in Turkey , which prohibits reduced sentences , is necessary but it is even more important that Muslim leaders officially condemn ' crimes of honour ' , which are a direct violation of Islam .
It makes no great difference whether she has transgressed voluntarily or against her will , that is to say been raped .
The Austrian Government is the legitimate government of a country in the European Union and it is up to us whether we approve or disapprove of the way it is made up .
As regards the issue in question , I simply wanted to say that there was no discrimination being made against any particular country .
When you say that extreme right-wing parties are banned in Austria , that is all well and good , but one might also question what does or does not constitute the notion of the extreme right .
With regard to the political solution of the Cyprus question to which you referred , Mr Alavanos , it will of course continue to be an issue of debate with Turkey as we confirmed at Helsinki .
As the author is not present , Question No 11 lapses .
My reply was not really meant to be a show of optimism or hope , rather the expression of a desire , the desire of the French Presidency of the European Union , to reach an agreement , a sound agreement .
It also tried to set out a calendar for negotiations .
I have a letter from the sister of another constituent of mine who draws to my attention that he has been in prison since 28 March 2000 on similar suspicion .
Given that developments in the oil markets make it necessary for the EU to adopt a more dynamic policy in the energy sector , how does the Council think it might achieve a reduction in the European economy ' s dependence on oil ?
The measures to which the honourable Member is referring appear in the draft budget signed by President Clinton on 28 October 2000 .
I recognised that measures had been taken by the Cuban Government to better integrate their country economically into the region and reaffirmed Europe ' s willingness to be Cuba ' s partner in this process .
Secondly , the Council refers in its reply to NATO as Pontius Pilate , without taking a position on Turkey 's provocation in contesting Greek sovereign rights , on this occasion during NATO exercises .
It is true that the European Union is often accused of promising aid to countries struck by disaster or catastrophe and then taking so long to pay it , so long to keep its financial promises that either it creates the impression that it regrets having promised it in the first place or , when it finally does pay , it is already too late .
Fourthly , and most importantly for us , new borders are being erected but they are no obstacle to the activities of criminal organisations , which know no borders .
From this point of view , I think that resurrecting an issue which was resolved about a year ago with the Pack report as far as the headquarters of the Reconstruction Agency is concerned is a disservice .
We must bear in mind that there is still a long way to go along the road to peace in the Balkans and that potential friction points still exist which could well set the whole process back again .
I want to focus on the regulations .
Seventy percent of the funds committed had been contracted and 43 % of the contracted funds had been paid .
We think it makes more sense to do it there than to build it into the article on conditionality .
The language regime is a further sensitive issue .
That has been the background to these summits .
In the social and cultural field , leaders recognised the vital importance of better educational links with specific initiatives for promoting mutual awareness , including an enhancement of inter-university cooperation and electronic networking between schools .
If you take a long-term view of political and economic developments in our multi-polar world , then you will see that Asia 's relations with Europe , and vice versa , are of paramount importance .
What we dislike about ASEM II is not so much what we have managed to achieve , because projects to do with money-laundering , HIV and AIDS , food safety and suchlike , are of course to be welcomed .
It is therefore a matter of priority that the European Union should equip itself with the machinery needed to ensure the full participation it deserves .
Mr President , the regional fisheries organisations are today without doubt the best , if not the only , guarantee for the management of world fish stocks , and they are likely be even more significant in the future .
There is over-fishing , pollution of our seas , the climate is changing - we see that at the conference at the Hague at the moment - and the physical alteration of the environment puts increasing pressure on these finite resources .
The law of the survival of the fittest still applies on the high seas .
Could I first of all take the opportunity to welcome the report and say that the whole issue of the management , control and the conservation of fisheries stocks is a major problem no matter where you look .
I ask the Commission to take that on board .
As far as the time taken to implement the decisions of the regional fisheries organisations is concerned , I agree that the Commission 's record can and must be improved .
It is necessary , therefore , to come up with new instruments to guard against a serious crisis re-emerging despite a high level of internal consumption and good use of export opportunities .
Setting up a compensation fund will quicken the concentration of European slaughter pig production considerably because the risk of bigger capital investments will shift to the common fund .
It does not solve the cyclical instability of the sector , it breaches the principle that the CAP will provide financial support and it is clearly an example of renationalisation and distortion of competences .
If every common organisation of the market were as anti-cyclical as what Mr Garot has proposed , or if all organisations of the market were to work in favour of smaller holdings , as Mr Busk has just said , then holdings in Europe would be structured very differently .
The latest cases of BSE will result in reduced production and will eclipse everything put in place hitherto .
The participation of all Member States in this new system will be compulsory .
I am positive that this instrument will improve the stability of the market and allow farmers in Europe to manage cyclical crises more efficiently .
Pigs have always had - as has been said by Mrs Keppelhoff-Wiechert - tremendous highs and lows in price .
If , however , we opt for market organisation , and reinforcement of the associated policy , then we would do well , in my view , to see that the producer groupings are better equipped , so that they occupy a stronger position in the market ; a market which is becoming increasingly close-knit on the demand side , and which is gaining in influence .
Other countries are determined to have a compensation fund and I will tell you quite frankly that , if we were to propose a mandatory compensation fund , we might as well forget the whole idea , because it would never obtain a majority in the Council .
But the title reads " on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation ( EEC ) No 2759 / 75 on the common organisation of the market in pigmeat " .
The different chapters of the annual report address four main concerns .
In areas where the Community programmes are implemented directly by the Commission , such as internal policy and external actions , implementation rates are somewhat lower .
In its 2001 programme , the Court has therefore planned an overall audit covering all budgetary areas of the Commission 's recovery procedures .
But I find it really amazing that some Member States can refuse to accept financial responsibility , for example , in the area of customs duties , when their own authorities have made mistakes which mean that customs duties cannot be entered and they then refuse to make good this shortfall in revenue , so that instead all the Member States have to accept joint responsibility for this revenue shortfall .
The Commission has presented a paper on this to the Committee on Budgets .
When you assumed office , Mrs Schreyer , you assured us that you would strive to achieve this .
Madam President , I should first of all like to thank the Court of Auditors for its annual report .
I could have done with seeing a much more practical annual report from the Court of Auditors .
Reform of the Commission is largely about making the individual Directorates-General responsible , and I should like to ask the Court whether it has plans in future to restructure the annual report so that chapters for the individual Directorates-General are prepared .
I would therefore be grateful if you could respond to this question again .
I am pleased that the Commission has taken steps to improve its management control over Community finances , and systems are being put in place in the Member States .
Reforming the Commission is no guarantee that previously recorded irregularities will not arise in the future .
Madam President , I am grateful too that the Council have come back because I have got something to say to them as well .
Will you make a commitment to do this in future , Mr Karlsson , because a lack of clear information in the report makes it very difficult for us to put pressure in the right areas on the worst offenders .
In order to achieve this , I also wish you , Madam President , a great deal of staying power , and would like to thank you for the commitment you have already shown to date .
But you have not included that in your report , and I am sick and tired of hearing , year after year , that the Member States are responsible for 80 % and the Commission for only 20 % , while the report itself does not point the finger of blame !
We need to look at the way the Court works and how its independence from the institutions and the programmes it is meant to audit can be strengthened .
But it has to be recognised that we are faced with a complex system .
In both cases , this involves a limited number of countries and a limited number of economic agents , who are the direct beneficiaries of these policies .
But I should like to make it abundantly clear that a procedure of this kind has to develop very gradually so that we do not have a complete change in the method of data collation because then the value of this exercise would not meet the requirements we are set under the Treaty .
The Court entirely agrees with Parliament that it is not only a question of reform of the Commission or of Parliament reforming its way of working with financial control .
I was also thinking about Florida this morning , Mr van Hulten , and I am thankful that I was not responsible for auditing the election procedure in that specific state .
I shall give one example , one that I know the Council has some difficulties with , but which for Parliament is highly important and we wholly support it : the ban on exporting products deemed unsafe to third countries .
I am therefore deeply grateful to the PPE Group for having adopted these amendments here today and tabling them for further debate here in this Chamber .
In addition , there is the question of what the scope of current standards in Europe is and what the scope of European standards would be .
We are at first reading .
We have to look now at the links between products and services .
Incidentally , we support the Commission ' s proposals concerning the extension of the directive 's scope of application to include services , and also the incorporation of migrated products , even though there is certainly still a lot more that could be done in these areas , which will no doubt fall to us in the future .
In conclusion , I call upon the Commission to set in motion a coordination project within the framework of existing Community legislation and to make our legislation both more transparent and also genuinely beneficial owing to its certainty .
This is certainly positive .
The scope of the directive in relation to the wide variety of national and Community product legislation needs to be defined , as that legislation , too , covers the same safety ground .
A great deal of effort has been made to better define the interaction between vertical laws on certain categories of products and this new horizontal directive , so as to definitely achieve a satisfactory result .
However , it does not apply when specific sectoral legislation covering the same aspect applies .
I am very pleased that the report of Mrs González Álvarez endorses the main principles of the Commission proposal .
This motivation is needed in order to prevent excessive bureaucracy .
Amendment No 19 proposes harmonisation of Member States ' monitoring approaches on the basis of guidelines prepared by the Commission and the consultative committee .
Amendments Nos 30 , 32 , 42 and the main part of Amendment No 33 propose rewordings of the existing text of the directive which is not subject to revision .
If the checks confirm that the product is safe , the ban will automatically be lifted .
Before we proceed to the vote , I wish to inform you that Mr Claudio Martelli of the Technical Group of Independent Members has now joined the Mixed Group , that is he has switched from the Technical Group to the Mixed Group .
( Parliament adopted the legislative resolution )
( Parliament adopted the legislative resolution )
Unfortunately we are not in a position to welcome that yet .
The delays in implementing the agreements can only be partly justified .
- I welcome this report by Mr Averoff on a proposal to grant funds to Greece in order to relieve the interest burden on EIB loans for the reconstruction of the Attica region which was devastated by the earthquake of September 1999 .
But all the declarations concerning ' equal opportunities for men and women ' are cast in a rather garish light by the European directive authorising night work for women .
We would have liked to have scrutinised the fourth action programme just as we are now considering the fifth programme .
As this NGO plays an integral role in the formation and implementation of this programme , I believe the integrity of this Community framework strategy on gender equality is in question , and therefore unsupportable .
- Whilst I support this report on general product safety , it is important that we do not go too far .
We fully support this approach and the two proposals for Council regulations which would implement it . But we cannot support the amendments tabled by the European Parliament which aim to profoundly upset the balance of the system in favour of the Commission .
Mr President , I voted for the report although it does not distinguish clearly enough between Kosovo , Serbia and Montenegro .
- ( SV ) We are not in favour of new subsidies for pig feed and are therefore voting against the report .
The Garot report is an attempt to improve on some aspects of the Commission ' s proposal , by seeking to reach a compromise with the Council , specifically with regard to a financial contribution to the fund .
- ( NL ) The pigmeat market is cyclical .
This House is always talking about rights - the Charter was adopted yesterday - but when it comes to the application of these rights , not so much in practical terms but at least in terms of upholding them , Parliament takes alarming steps backwards which are certainly no credit to it .
It is extraordinary that the European Parliament should be expressing an opinion on Turkey ' s progress on the road to accession , especially when it comes to respect for human rights .
At a time when the last witnesses of exile , the last survivors of the carnage , are quietly passing away , the work and the duty of remembrance are even more necessary .
This once again raises the question of whether Turkey really wants to be a Member of the European Union , or whether it would prefer to organise an integrated ' whole ' with other Middle East countries , which would have very close links with the European Union at the commercial and economic level , at the security and stability level and also at the human rights and democratic rules level .
These countries came under Turkey ' s dominion in the past , and uprisings that took place there were repeatedly suppressed using violent means .
We cannot forget the deportation of the entire Armenian population to the deserts of Mesopotamia , the deportation of the Armenians of eastern Anatolia in 24 hours , the shooting of able-bodied men , the persecution of women , children and old people , who covered hundreds of kilometres on foot , without medical care and without food , divested of their belongings , raped , their throats slit on the open road , the deportation in 1915 of the Armenians of Cilicia and eastern Anatolia , the assassination of 600 Armenian prominent citizens in Constantinople , the extermination of more than a million Armenians in just over a year - in other words , almost half the Ottoman Armenians .
We opposed the amendments on the Armenian massacre for exactly this reason .
On the whole , our interests are undermined , they are not defended with the necessary force , and the role of the Commission is primarily that of a police officer vis-à-vis Member States to get them to apply the binding decisions that have been adopted , sometimes in spite of themselves , in the regional organisation in question .
- ( FR ) Without going back to the excellent argument put forward by Mr Gallagher regarding the text that has been submitted to the vote , I would like to extend the debate to cover all cases where our countries are represented by the executive Commission in international negotiations .
A small subject grew into an extensive piece of work owing to the fact that proposals on hazardous and non-hazardous waste were combined in a single directive .
Fortunately , there is talk of progress on the technological front , where the emphasis must be on sustainability .
Nonetheless , we are satisfied with this third reading , because it reinforces the operation authorisation conditions .
I believe this will prove to be a significant contribution to improving the environment .
It is essential that we do not replace one unhealthy and unsustainable form of waste disposal with another .
I am very happy about that , as the job I had as a new member having come directly to the second reading was not easy .
Public access to information has improved .
The operation of social systems is directly affected by certain general trends including the unemployment and social exclusion generated by 25 years of low economic growth , which has restricted the overall potential tax yield , the ageing of the population , the consequence of the emergence of new diseases and , finally , increased health care costs due to advances in medical research and treatment .
This will preferably be in the form of proposals for recommendations to include the following points : recognition by Member States of a common concept of a universal service to govern the basic service which will enable every European citizen to have access to the necessary care ; establishing , in agreement with the private insuring bodies , guaranteed respect for the principle of non-discrimination ; organising a system of pooling costs in order to cover the costs of persons and groups with serious existing diseases , and encouraging private insurers to develop preventative measures .
One of the main objectives of the current modernisation of social protection is guaranteed access to affordable health protection .
This is important if we want a social Europe that sets us apart from others .
However , the individual country must decide for itself what arrangements it prefers .
I turned to the health service and was told that I had to wait three weeks for an examination and then at least a further month for a crucial operation .
If more and more Europeans turn to supplementary health insurance in order to reimburse health care costs , the mutualist sector will remain the best guarantee for equal access to care .
In particular , these sentiments are to be found in recital J and Paragraphs 11 e ) and f ) and 14 of this report .
I also feel that the increase in labour mobility in Europe is necessary and lends weight to our argument in favour of producing the aforementioned Green Paper and measures on the cost of public health .
But above all he draws attention , for example in Paragraph 3 , to the significant problems regarding the long-term sustainability of public health care systems throughout the EU because of the increasing cost of advances in treatment possibilities , as well as the growing demand from an increasingly elderly population .
In this sense , I think that , basically , we should await the Commission study on current systems as well as a Commission study on the American system and the schemes in operation in other countries because then we shall have a clearer picture of all this .
I have to say , even , that I am rather taken over by the subject for , to my eyes , Mr President , you resemble a chief physician , with a white coat , stethoscope and hammer to test the patient 's reflexes .
In order to avoid any misunderstandings , I would once again like to stress that the present report concerns supplementary health insurance and not health care as such , although obviously the two cannot be separated .
It is a classic example of socialist interventionism .
However , these figures are somewhat misleading since both the concept and the coverage of the system differ significantly from country to country .
Whilst there are considerable differences between the various Member States , the most serious situation is definitely that of Portugal , with around 24 % of the population living below the poverty line due primarily to low salaries , insecure and badly paid jobs and pensions and benefits so low that they do not enable workers and their families or the elderly to live with a minimum of dignity .
Any complaints about this from the Commission are therefore unfounded as far as Parliament is concerned , if this technical support is to be included in the programme itself .
Updating the stability programmes in Germany , Finland and the Netherlands
More and more Member States are reaching balanced or even clearly positive budgetary positions .
In the case of the Netherlands , the Commission has other concerns , such as the suitability of the policy mix and the risks associated with the fiscal incentive effects of the tax cuts in a situation of strong economic growth , which might lead to the Netherlands economy overheating .
Mr President , Commissioner , we are grateful to you for your report on trends in net government borrowing in the European Union , Mr Solbes Mira .
Mr President , I too am heartened to see that public finances in the countries concerned are sound , but I have noticed that more and more people are becoming nervous about the situation regarding price stability in Europe .
I would like to know , Commissioner , whether the Commission can tell us anything about this .
The Council of the European Union is also playing an active role , in concert with the European Parliament and the European Commission , in updating and constantly reinforcing Europe ' s raft of measures to prevent and combat this disease .
The methods of control will be strengthened along the entire food chain .
The European Food Agency will also provide clear and accessible information on issues arising out of its mandate .
If these controls are respected and implemented , the risk to the public is reduced to a minimum .
The Commission view that targeted testing is essential in establishing a true picture of the real incidence of BSE in the Community has been fully vindicated by the test results in France .
Specified risk materials must be removed and destroyed .
Let me add a few comments on what I said earlier in this respect .
I welcome in this respect that Prime Minister Jospin yesterday also announced a substantial strengthening of controls on the food chain including a big increase in staff .
But implementation by the Member States has still been too slow .
I will tell you exactly what we need , ladies and gentlemen - we need two things .
In a situation such as that which has now arisen in France , and also earlier on in many other countries , it is important to be able to tell consumers where the products they buy come from and how their origins can be traced .
Today , Mr Böge , those who are claiming they have no incidence of mad cow disease on their territory are those who are not looking for it .
It is therefore urgent that measures are taken to reassure consumers and to restore their confidence in food safety .
I will not detail the horrors that have been committed on all sides .
The measures adopted by the French Government in this regard are , as I said , inadequate .
Well , the thing with poor agreements is that they should be challenged , especially when public health dictates this .
But , faced with the crisis , it is necessary to guarantee health and food protection for consumers and an income for livestock producers , butchers , tripe butchers and wholesalers alike , all of whom are victims of the negligence of the public authorities , at both national and Community level .
Madam President , Mr President-in-Office of the Council , Commissioner , this debate has one thing in its favour ; that at least it is highlighting the differences of opinion that exist among us , especially between the Council and the Commission .
A reform of the CAP is not just necessary , it is indispensable , because it is intolerable that a European country should adopt draconian measures and jeopardise its economy .
Had that happened , we would not now be complaining that we have been put in an undesirable category just because we asserted that we were BSE-free .
We call for financial subsidies to assist breeders so that they do not have to bear all the costs of the crisis .
I would remind you though , that no human being can go without food , not for a single day .
Mr Byrne did not say very much today , as he was widely trailed to have done , about testing .
Firstly , to respond to the justified and very demanding need of European consumers for food safety , we are going to place the bar of controls and precautions at an extremely high level .
If you would only implement what we agreed , then you would not need to worry about all this any more .
Therefore , consumers and producers must unite to obtain greater guarantees of the inviolable principle that food should be healthy .
Let me assure you that , if we had had the political will then , we would not be facing this problem now , because we all know what has caused it .
Secondly , there is the question as to whether it is acceptable to use bonemeal in cattle feed , which has been the subject of lively debate here in this Chamber .
There are increasing incidences , also in my own country , of dead sheep or calves simply being left behind because it costs too much to have them collected .
The British system of removing infected animals from the herds and paying good compensation for those animals encourages farmers to declare their cases of BSE .
Commissioner Byrne was very strong today in his opening statement when he said to the House that he was prepared to look at this matter of meat-and-bone meal and take it on .
To this end I listened most attentively to all your speeches , and it seems to me appropriate and crucial that the debate on the safety of our citizens is settled at the European level .
What we must bear in mind when considering this issue is the fact that there is already in existence a ban on the provision of meat-and-bone meal to cattle .
The tests that I am referring to now are somewhat different .
The recent spate of instances in which various Member States have failed to respect the most basic human rights when expelling immigrants is such as to warrant special attention for this issue from the Commission .
Mr President , I wish to state that I share Mrs Cerdeira Morterero ' s concerns and that I hope she is not only addressing her appeal to the Commission , but also to the Council , so that we may have the entire legal framework adopted by next June .
What measures does the Commission intend to take to put a stop to this intolerable situation of shameful exploitation , abuse and the white slave trade , and to eliminate all discrimination against women ?
Does the Commission intend to take any steps at least to put an end to the current diversity of opinion which is so prejudicial to the euro ?
Ladies and gentlemen , please begin with the question and not with the explanation .
The Commission has therefore sent a recent opinion to the Greek authorities .
If values are exceeded , the Member State , in this case Greece , will have to take action .
In its decision to approve the French scheme of supporting film production , the Commission set four specific compatibility criteria .
But I do not think we should be satisfied just with what has been achieved .
Firstly , by improving our understanding of exclusion by establishing an indicator and evaluation criteria directed at target groups in particular .
We are told that finding paid work is the best way of preventing social exclusion but I would agree with those who have said that we would have to take account of the fact that gainful employment alone is no guarantee of social participation .
It may be true of older people whose knowledge is no longer needed .
Where this has been achieved , even in Europe , unemployment has fallen convincingly .
Furthermore , according to the EU 's statistical service , 18 % of European citizens live below the poverty line , while one-third of those living in poverty are working .
Every year , my friends Mr Thomas Mann and Mr Mario Mantovani and I go to the Poor Sisters ' institute in Brussels to serve meals to the town 's poor tramps , and our hearts bleed and we feel guilty that we are only able to do this once a year : we would like to be able to do it every day but , in all honesty , it would be impossible .
This is an ambitious programme of Community action which , in line with the Commission ' s proposal , will be given budgetary appropriations of EUR 70 million and should remain in force for a period of five years .
Mr President , I will end by stressing once again that mutual support between States must be the reference point upon which we base a fresh fight against poverty and social exclusion , but we must take into account the fact that the economic progress of the Member States , and therefore an improvement in their welfare due to the implementation of a social economy of scale , will certainly facilitate the achievement of a greater , better system of social justice .
I also agree on the importance of improving understanding of social exclusion and poverty and of promoting comparable indicators and assessment criteria .
But I would like to make the following pragmatic suggestion in response to your concerns because I entirely agree that we must find a way to have close and continuous cooperation .
Promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources
But we do not have that much time !
And one more thing I want to make crystal clear : waste incineration is not a renewable energy source and cannot therefore be counted towards meeting the targets .
We consider that , if these guidelines are not modified , the environmental impact they will cause will be highly negative .
Colleagues , this directive makes sense .
Since the plea by the Advocate-General before the Court of Luxembourg , there is now less risk of seeing guaranteed prices foiled by state-aid regulations .
We are not trying to deceive others into believing that carbon dioxide is reduced by burning peat , but it is our own fuel , while oil and gas are imported goods .
Oil cannot be replaced by coal , natural gas or uranium .
We favour a shorter period followed by a review , and I would say to my colleague , Mrs McNally , that she paints a pretty picture of windmills in the sea , but I must tell her that the engineering difficulties and the costs involved make that technology , as with electricity from the sun , rather a long way off in the future .
This directive does , of course , take the desired line in that here , at last , is genuine exploitation of renewable energies .
Mr President , I would like to thank Mrs Rothe for her valuable work in drafting this report .
Our objectives in the field of sustainable energy are ambitious , yet still modest in the context of the climate problems we face .
Mr President , let there be no doubt a combination of investments in renewables and energy efficiency is the only realistic way for the European Union to meet the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol and reduce our heavy dependence on fossil fuels .
We must vote overwhelmingly in favour of the proposals from Mrs Rothe .
With regard to our targets in this field , we have to listen to the people and go beyond the Commission ' s proposal of 21 % , which I think is very positive overall , and increase the renewable portion of the total electricity produced .
Amendments Nos 1 , 2 , 8 , 20 and 21 highlight the need for a policy favourable to green electricity and its many advantages and can be immediately accepted by the Commission .
We therefore support Amendments Nos 36 and 56 and also certain aspects of Amendments Nos 4 , 15 and 62 , relating to the idea of internalising external costs and compensating for external costs which are not covered in favour of renewable energy sources .
Gender-related aspects of armed conflicts
Women must participate fully in all peace negotiations , in all reconstruction work and in peace-keeping operations .
The situation is also particularly difficult for women , however , if they still have to fight for recognition and for equal rights in practice .
The aversion some men in this House have shown towards having a serious discussion of this issue means the writing is on the wall .
There could also be training in involving NGOs and in developing facilities for people affected by crises etc . We could subsequently hold hearings , seminars etc . on these subjects .
We agree that rapes , forced pregnancy , forced sterilisation and any other type of sexual violence should be recognised as crimes against humanity , and legal texts should therefore be updated to protect women effectively .
( The President cut the speaker off )
Once again , my congratulations , and let us hope that something comes of it .
The report not only refers to the social exclusion of women as a problem in itself , it also rightly emphasises that protection against criminality and personal safety are no longer something that can be guaranteed solely within national borders .
In this field there has been nothing but shameful failures but nevertheless we are still faced with a brick wall which excludes women .
In her eagerness to oppose everything that is evil , systematic rape and sexual slavery are condemned .
The fourth example is the important role of women in the peace process which the European Community is supporting in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean basin .
Mr President , we are now descending to the level of a more everyday problem , namely the regulation of domestic work performed by third parties in private families , for that is the subject under discussion .
Finally , all this will inevitably involve financial intervention from the government , be it fiscal or parafiscal , because a private family would not be able to afford a full statute , even a limited one , and then they would all carry on taking people from the black market .
The workers , mostly women , should be provided with access to training .
Mr President , Commissioner , I want to begin by thanking the rapporteur .
Mr President , Commissioner , domestic helps , who were formerly almost exclusively employed by more wealthy households , nowadays provide much-needed and essential support for working men and women and , above all , for single mothers and the elderly .
The vote will take place tomorrow at 12 noon .
Mr President , we are very much looking forward to your address and we hope it will trace out the paths of our rediscovered cooperation and brotherhood , which we will henceforth be travelling along together .
Not only are we to carry out privatisation of our centralised economy , but also create a legal system that would guarantee the freedom of business operations and the entire economic process .
When it comes to relations between Serbia and Montenegro within the federal state , the former , non-democratic organisation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia seriously threatened the functioning of the state .
Then your brave predecessors embarked on an uncertain project that bore historic fruit .
Approval of the Minutes of the previous sitting
Mr President , what I have to say concerns rather the future than the past , in other words , I would just like to make sure that we are to vote on the BSE issue in today ' s vote .
At the beginning of this part-session I even submitted a complete proposed initiative to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs .
Obviously there have to be limits to such a right , and that is something we are also discussing today .
Mr President , the right of Members of Parliament to confidential documents is a very important issue , but it cannot replace the direct right of access to information on the part of the public .
These are the considerations that led the Committee on Budgetary Control to deliver an opinion under this procedure .
What they learn is at the media ' s discretion or depends upon special interest groups , and they often feel powerless over and against the institutions .
However , the issue here is the public 's , not Parliament 's , access to documents .
We have therefore reduced them to six .
Furthermore , a report must be sent to Parliament every year so that we might continually follow up this action .
The stipulations concerning the duty of the Commission and the Council to provide Parliament with information , have no place in this legislative proposal .
In other words , as I see it , a link has been established - erroneously so - between the rights of parliamentarians and the rights of the public .
Our concerns are threefold : the first is regarding the common foreign and security policy sectors , but also the sectors of justice and home affairs .
In principle this regulation is positive , especially the clarification that it covers all areas of activity and all the institutions of the Union .
I call on you to pressure the Council into changing its mind and , at the same time , I call on you to vote in favour of the Cashman report .
Mr President , I would like to thank the rapporteur and everyone else involved in this work .
Finally , so many documents are kept secret even from the Members of Parliament that many of the facts we would need in order to reach a decision remain so hidden that . . .
We Members should be more courageous .
It would be better to create provisions in the paragraphs themselves , which would oblige all bodies to publish their documents and create registers on them .
This gap is symbolic of the distance between the European Union and its citizens .
I would also like to say how much the Commission and myself appreciate the efforts made by the rapporteur , Mr Cashman , and the draftsperson of the proposal , Mrs Maij-Weggen , to present this report in such a short period of time .
I believe that this demonstrates that there are no perfect situations and that we all have to make progress in order to prevent situations of this type .
I include here amendments such as those tabled on measures which must be agreed by means of an interinstitutional agreement : Amendments Nos 34 , 45 , and 48 .
I am making this comment because as a rule the Commissioner present gives the Commission ' s voting recommendations orally .
The vote will take place at 12 noon .
We , in the committee , cautiously accept the role proposed by the Commission for external ratings , with the reservation that this is a role with limitations - most importantly , small businesses will not need to be rated , nor will businesses without a rating be disadvantaged .
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
Report ( A5 - 0318 / 2000 ) , by Mr Cashman , on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation regarding public access to European Parliament , Council and Commission documents [ COM ( 2000 ) 30 - C5 - 0057 / 2000 - 2000 / 0032 ( COD ) ]
The majority of the women will be travelling to a conference of Members of Parliament in Berlin .
Mrs Villiers ' report deserves better than to be voted on tomorrow morning .
I will go along with this , but had you gone down the list in the right order and not had the vote on the Cashman report first , because a number of people are absent this evening - for that is the reason - then there would still have been time to vote on the Smet report .
Mr Mann , your first comment will naturally be brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Bureau and the Conference of Presidents .
. ( EL ) The Commission and the Council of the European Union have a great deal to answer for as regards the proportions which the issue of BSE has assumed .
Turning to the substance of the matter , my group recommended extremely stringent measures to fight this epidemic .
Moreover , the ambiguous wording of Paragraph 4 is bound to raise questions about the resolve of the authorities to oppose , by all possible means , the fraud and swindling of the agri-food trusts , when it would have been so much simpler to say in a few words that the production and use of meat-and-bone meal are totally forbidden .
The CAP must make public health its top priority .
The cases of BSE which have arisen in France , in the same way as the dioxins in chickens issue in Belgium , are the latest in a long series of irresponsible incidents .
It is crucial to resume the negotiations in the WTO so as to enable European farmers to increase their production of vegetable-based proteins .
The Commission is clearly envisaging no more than half-way measures , which will take away from and not add to the countries with the most stringent safety , whereas , in line with the principle of subsidiarity , it should be giving Member States back the freedom of action they need to protect their people effectively , to ensure their safety , taking account of public opinion in their country , the political resolve there , the scale of the epidemic in their country and the place of the sectors involved in that country ' s economy and their society .
These are very legitimate concerns and they have led Parliament to be very vigilant and to table amendments aimed at establishing very stringent controls over everything connected with the process of incineration and co-incineration .
All these measures reflect changing public opinions on the issue of waste management .
new forms of exclusion are included , such as exclusion from the information society ,
I welcome this initiative , which responds to the expectations of our fellow citizens , the citizens of Europe .
This will be achieved by setting specific objectives to be integrated into national action plans and implementing policies to promote equal opportunities .
Although we are seeing strong economic growth and a fall in unemployment , in the modern world work offers no protection against exclusion .
The British Labour Government has been leading the fight against poverty and social exclusion .
Billions are paid out in subsidies to the few who are ruining the countryside with their wind turbines .
The Member States must now pursue the same line and respect the environmental objectives they endorsed both at European level and at international level , but they must also ensure their independence as regards energy and security of supplies .
The importance of nuclear energy is increasing constantly , for this very reason .
Nuclear energy can cause disasters capable of rendering large parts of the earth uninhabitable , and produces a hazardous waste product .
It is urgently necessary to breathe new life into the interparliamentary dialogue ( ASEP ) between Europe in the west and Asia in the east .
We feel that regional integration is a crucial instrument for promoting the three fundamental objectives that I have just mentioned .
I believe that four years ago - Mr Salafranca perhaps remembers this better - we held a meeting , called by IRELA , in Antigua , a beautiful city in Guatemala , where we debated along with our colleagues from Parlacen what the future should be , not only of Parlacen , but also of the European Parliament .
I therefore believe that we have to flatly reject the self-interested criticisms of those people who brand the activity of the Central American Parliament an artificial system and accuse it of being a cardboard parliament which is hollow and devoid of substance .
In this context , the Commission is taking action and we have specific projects for each of those three areas .
( B5 - 0849 / 2000 ) by Rod and Maes , on behalf of the Verts / ALE Group ;
That is precisely the point of our resolution .
It is also impossible to envisage lasting peace in the country without religious and ethnic tolerance .
But above all , we must , in my view , insist much more firmly on this racist constitution being declared null and void .
After all , he drew the nationalist card too .
All we can do is ensure that these are free and peaceful elections , and hope that the new Ivoirian government has a broad democratic basis . This is what is needed to restore ethnic harmony and help this country out of its economic morass .
For the same reason , it is tolerating all the villainies of its protégés who run the Ivoirian State , provided they protect French interests in return .
Human rights
The number of political prisoners appears to have risen from 1,500 to 3,000 very recently , many of whom are forced to carry out hard labour and are subject to cruel forms of torture .
The problem of course , is what should we , as the European Union , do now ?
Mr President , for many years I have had a poster on the wall of my office of Aung San Suu Kyi when she was awarded the Sakharov Prize by this Parliament .
Large numbers are under arrest or are being harassed , and attempts have been made to close down their offices in Burma .
After all , the West has had a certain level of involvement in the country .
So the European Union must begin to take a firm stance towards Vietnam and raise the issue of the rule of law and not just - I repeat - the issue of human rights , where there have been some signs of improvement .
I would just ask you to approach this matter with delicacy , and I hope you will pardon me this misuse of my speaking time on the question of Vietnam .
The war between these two countries has not led to lasting bitterness .
President Clinton would do well to raise this matter during his present visit to Hanoi .
Since then , Vietnam has pursued an open-door external policy , and that is why that country occupies the place that it deserves within our international relations .
After all , we know what the issue is .
This , of course , will be of small consolation to those living with filthy water running through their houses and who might be facing enormous financial loss .
This is undoubtedly true .
It is not fair that people should experience tragedies of this proportion and then face a very uncertain future when , given the climatic changes already taking place , there is an absolute certainty that the problems they have experienced over the last couple of weeks will recur , if not next year , then certainly in the years that follow .
It is therefore these industries which ought to be making a major effort to reduce emissions .
Thank you , Commissioner .
So we should now be voting on this highly important text in the presence of only 171 MEPs , which is the number just counted .
I respect the remarks you made and can assure you that they will be recorded in the Minutes .
The ÅU attaches greater importance to the principle of the free provision of services than to the right to heath and medical care , methodically and systematically undermining the public health system , especially in the medical care sector , by disgracefully promoting private forms of insurance as a ' necessary ' complement to and / or substitute for the public-sector system of social protection .
In fact , despite the very legitimate recitals on the rights acquired within the existing systems , seeking to give all citizens a high level of protection , regardless of their personal resources and the individual risks incurred , which also highlight the risks of transfer from public to private schemes , and outline the growing involvement of the latter in overall expenditure and the resulting inequalities , all the practical proposals set out in the resolution do nothing but promote the faster growth of private insurance schemes throughout the Community .
Everyone is being compelled just to think of their own interests , and to start attending to all kinds of unnecessary financial matters .
Own funds of banks ( continuation )
That is the only way to create equal conditions of competition .
But what we could find surprising is its very existence , and the existence of the Commission ' s new initiative here .
We are in favour of matching the own capital held to cover credit risks more closely with the economic risk level and further developing the rules on own funds .
Mr President , in the first place , I would point out that the Commission is pleased to see that Mrs Villiers ' report relates not only to the evaluation of the Own Resources Directive but also to the current revision of the changes to the regulations concerning capital adequacy .
We ought to support these objectives by means of sound and prudent standards which guarantee the security of our markets and institutions .
The debate is closed .
Given that we will soon have to apply ourselves in this Parliament to fundamental changes to the statute of the European Ombudsman , which are still being discussed in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs , to whose report I have been given access and which addresses the issue of extending the Ombudsman ' s powers of investigation , we will wait until then for a complete , qualitative revision of the text of that statute .
The Ombudsman 's office certainly helps to redress that democratic deficit .
The debate is closed .
It is her opinion in particular that I want to draw attention to as I speak tonight .
Mr President , Mr Bösch has drawn up an excellent report and we thank him for it , as we do Mrs Hautala , representing the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market .
The rapporteur , Herbert Bösch , from the Committee on Petitions , states in the explanatory statement in his report that the principles that led to the Ombudsman ' s recommendations proved to be the same as those adhered to by the European Parliament : correctness , transparency and the desire to create confidence .
The Ombudsman 's initiative and recommendations can therefore be warmly welcomed , as can the decision by the Commission to follow them .
We could summon anyone in the country before the Ombudsman committee , and the select committee procedure which I will discuss in two minutes is something that we could learn from .
Unlike the Member States , with their long history , the European Union has only a short past , which is why it must create the expectation of something new .
Finally , the Commission can obviously make a commitment on its own behalf .
Approval of the Minutes of the previous sitting
One way to win a vote is to turn up when your opponents do not .
. ( IT ) I voted for the Villiers report on the own funds of banks , for it is imperative for Directive 89 / 299 / EEC , which regulated the matter a good 11 years ago , to be updated and supplemented .
We support the demand for a solution to be found to the conflict between the United States and the EU , produced by the discriminatory Gramm-Leach-Bliley legislation .
I would thank the Bavarian and German ministers of the interior , as well as former Austrian Minister of the Interior Schlögel , who together made this possible back in Tampere .
Naturally priority should be given to the countries with which the European Union is conducting accession negotiations .
After 110 days of detention a person , if not tried , must be released and never tried for that offence again .
To take just one point , Mr Posselt writes of ' providing training sessions for senior national police officers on the basis of common standards ' .
Mrs Karamanou has just stated that she welcomes the fact that Parliament will have an advisory role , and yet , only the other day , the Group of the Party of European Socialists voted against a motion on the grounds that the Europol Management Board was to include Members of Parliament with the right to vote .
No-one in the UK would ever have believed a soothsayer from that period who warned that it would all end up in Dixon of Dock Green whistling " Ode to Joy " and working out how to apply the European approach to policing down at the nick .
Parliament can be proud that the proposal to set up this academy originated here , and we are grateful to the Portuguese presidency for taking it up and the Commission and Council for their support .
We see that the police in one country react totally differently to the same situation than the police in another country .
Above all , I wish to emphasise that , as someone who has always advocated the idea of community policing , which is the method employed in the United Kingdom , I would welcome the fact that this British idea is finding ever more support in a range of countries in so-called " continental Europe " .
As MEPs , we ourselves are very often concerned by crime .
Moreover , it would be flexible in its organisation , offering great potential for development , with the possibility of training programmes being held at the best qualified national institute for each aspect .
I have worked on these issues for over six years and , very much thanks to the help and resources of the European Parliament , have had several significant successes in recovering children who have been abducted .
It is nevertheless a matter for regret that the scope of this regulation is limited , since it does not cover the families of unmarried couples , in which there are children born outside of marriage , whose rights will not , as a result , be recognised and enforced under Community law .
That is a task for the future .
But I have many more objections to tackling legal weaknesses and setting precedents in ways that leave social problems permanently unsolved .
Mr President , I do not doubt for one minute Commissioner Vitorino 's commitment to this issue .
The Commission feels that the Treaty establishing the European Community that is currently in force enables account to be taken of the specific nature of sport in general and of its social function in particular .
I recognise their commitment and determination to do that and , of course , that sport and especially football are big business and cannot expect to be exempt from the normal rules of business .
The European Parliament has often expressed its concern with regard to drugs and called for more effective action to counter their use .
That concludes this item .
This proposal is particularly hard and vexatious for Ireland .
What we need to get clear today is that the UK is proposing what it is doing in full recognition that it must consult the European Union and in full recognition that there is EU legislation in place that it must abide by .
I very much hope that will be one result of this .
I listened to Mr McCartin earlier and it is evident he has got the wrong end of the stick .
The local haulier in Denmark or in the UK will get his full money 's worth 365 days a year , but the foreign haulier from another Member State entering that country - maybe for one or two days or ten days or even 100 days - will not .
Unfortunately , our democracies have been sent a new message of violence in the form of the particularly heinous murder of Ernest Lluch .
You are aware that we have a very full agenda and I have therefore taken this decision by virtue of the powers accorded me under the Rules of Procedure in order to ensure the smooth running of parliamentary business .
After intensive negotiations , both at technical and ministerial level , on the basis of draft decisions with approximately 500 square brackets , it was not possible to reach a comprehensive agreement on key political issues .
In the end , however , the concessions obtained from other parties on " supplementarity " , compliance and the Kyoto mechanisms were insufficient to compensate for the weakening of emission-reduction targets , that would have been the result if the proposal on " sinks " had been accepted .
They were , in a sense , an accident waiting to happen - like the Titanic and the iceberg .
CO2 emissions are on the increase here too ; we know that , and we have discussed it often enough .
Madam President , the conference on the world climate may have broken down but substantial progress was made nonetheless .
Fortunately , 14 of the 15 Ministers for the Environment were of the same mind on this issue .
The European Union made an error of judgement where the second view is concerned , because the green Environment Ministers of France and Germany were not prepared to forget Kyoto .
This Kyoto protocol must not be watered down under any circumstances .
If we could reach an agreement with the United States which allows them to work towards a lower realisation percentage in their own country , this would always be preferable to having no agreement at all .
Let us conclude , however , on a hopeful note .
We have repeatedly said ourselves that no agreement is better than a bad agreement , but that does not mean that we should make our own political wish list the yardstick of a sound agreement .
Madam President , ladies and gentlemen , as Chairman of the European Parliament delegation to COP ­ VI , I wish to begin by expressing my pleasure at the excellent relationship that has developed between the Commission and Parliament over this last week .
Now is the time to decide that we cannot fail once more .
We opened up discussions on what we had earlier said were big loopholes , or potentially of big loopholes .
We are pleased to welcome Mr Hubert Védrine .
Good progress has been made on qualified majority voting , which could be extended to another thirty areas , if some Member States make the effort to confirm this .
There is perceptible movement - I say that with caution because several Member States may not yet have determined their final position - but support has begun to emerge for a simple reweighting whose exact scope and conditions remain to be defined , of course .
They have even arranged for the Council to continue through Sunday if that is absolutely essential .
At the Nice meeting there will be an exchange of views with all the candidate countries on the reform of the European Union ' s institutions , and more generally on the outlook for the future of Europe .
In this sphere , following on from Lisbon , the French Presidency made the adoption of the social agenda one of its priorities .
Finally , we have prepared a statement for the European Council on the specific economic , social and cultural characteristics of sport and its social functions in Europe .
( Applause ) Member States naturally find it politically difficult to give up the right of veto in sensitive areas such as social policy , asylum and immigration , common trade policy , cohesion and taxation , even when this relates only to the technical changes necessary to make the single market work .
We also believe that , with regard to issues on which we fail to agree to majority decision-making at this stage , you could lay down in the Treaty that the switch to majority voting may be made by a unanimous decision of the Council , for if it is enshrined in the Treaties in that way , there will be no need to revise the Treaties and engage in a lengthy ratification process for each and every extension of majority voting .
Secondly , we believe that there should not only be progress with regard to qualified majority voting , but that there should always be codecision in relation to legislative issues .
My appeal to you , Mr President-in-Office , is to present us in this Parliament a document worthy of this Parliament 's assent and a document worthy of the scale of the historic challenge we face in Europe .
I say this today , if the bar is compromised and is too low , we will refuse to consider it and we will do so for Europe and we will do it in good conscience .
This would be a very important position for Parliament to adopt , and we will be able to vote on it tomorrow .
It is highly like that , on the last night of the Council , measures will be adopted which our national parliaments will not have discussed properly and which they will then be required to ratify for the sake of a forced compromise .
There are still 65 categories of legislation requiring unanimity according to the Treaty of Amsterdam .
In democracies , it is the other way around .
It is therefore no way to tackle the fact that the decision-making process within the European Union is still akin to wading through treacle .
As practically everyone who has spoken before me here has said , we want a reference to the Charter in Article 6.2 . Do not underestimate Parliament ' s determination to achieve this .
Its voice would be stronger yet and that of the ministers defending an agriculture that promotes sustainable development would also be stronger within the Council if it were to be based on decisions taken in this place under the codecision procedure .
Mr President , I was involved in securing Denmark ' s positive vote against the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 .
Mr President , Mr President of the Council , Mr President of the Commission , today at talks in the House , the President of Latvia directed this reproachful remark at us : " We have been doing our homework !
I should like to emphasise that the population of Europe consider themselves to be represented in the European Parliament , and Parliament must reflect this .
Mr President , even Paris is divided over Nice .
The Charter does not deserve to be left in a vacuum , with no clear status .
It takes no great genius to work out that 700 Members of Parliament can no longer be sufficient for a Europe of 27 or 28 nations , or the smaller countries will be at an unfair disadvantage .
Mr President , Mr President-in-Office of the Council , Mr President of the Commission , As soon as Nice has finished , it will the European Parliament 's turn to reply to two historic questions , questions which affect both the future of the European Union and its own political credibility .
That is , of course , important and I am surprised that others have not mentioned it as it has occupied much of our time in the committee .
We are aware , from the speeches made by President Chirac in this place in July , that at least three major topics stand out , namely the simplification of the Treaties , the sharing of jurisdiction between European , national and regional levels , what I might term the rights of states in the American expression ( Section 10 of the American Constitution ) , and , thirdly , the balance between the institutions - though here we should especially , perhaps , consider the role of the national parliaments - i . e . how is our institution to be managed in future .
It is nothing to be afraid of .
As far as extending qualified majority voting is concerned , we are agreed that , unless we make some sort of move in this direction , we shall encounter a great many problems .
The story of Mrs Vike Freiberga is illustrative of the courage in adversity shown by the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe .
As Mrs Berès said , it is of course untenable to draw a distinction and give us codecision rights in consumer affairs on the one hand , but at the same time , only give us consultation rights in agricultural matters .
To hear Mr Bonde talk , the Balkans is his ultimate ideal .
This time , however , it is paradoxically the prospect of an emerging consensus that is causing us political headaches .
Mr President , we Members of Forza Italia and the European People 's Party believe in this project and we will be protagonists alongside you in the construction of a Europe of the citizens .
Once we had reached agreement on a text - and this is a good text , very well drafted by the Convention , it reads well , it has style - some countries then said we must incorporate it into Article 6 .
In developing the idea that it would be advantageous in the future to have a Commission that was not too large to be effective and retained its full capabilities , especially its power of initiative , we demonstrated that we too were ready to make that sacrifice .
Thank you again and I know we can find the solution together .
The debate is closed .
Mr President , I would be grateful if you would report back to the House on the points that I have raised .
Mr President , I was not aware of this incident .
I can inform you that Mrs Fontaine - this has just been communicated to me and I should like to echo the sentiment on behalf of the Bureau - deeply deplores this grave incident .
Mr President , there was an extremely serious occurrence in Italy yesterday .
This excellent initiative was repeated this year and the second forum will be held on 12 and 13 December in Paris , which is to say at the same time as the European Parliament ' s part-session in Strasbourg .
Mr Gorostiaga , I am going to interrupt you there .
At the same time , we also agree that the sequence of responses is correct .
Things do not often turn out that way , Minister , and we are delighted .
There is so much more to say , but I want the Council ' s representatives to know that the European Parliament is keen to adopt this unfamiliar culture of security and defence , and we hope the Nice Summit is a great success .
The institutional aspects are also extremely important , because they will allow the Union to make plans , to take decisions and to act ; in other words , to take political control and maintain strategic leadership of a crisis management operation .
As Mr Brok hopes in his report , the Council will have files summarising all of the relationships between the Union and each partner country , in order to gain greater benefit from the Union ' s overall effort , to increase its efficiency and to provide better preparation for its discussions on external action .
This is the context that explains why the summit held recently in Zagreb was so important .
The French Presidency has striven to develop relations between the Union and the other great regional blocs and has held many meetings with Asian countries . There has been the third ASEM Summit , the summit with Japan and the one with China .
I wish I could say that our pressure and our action are having some effect on the current situation , but unfortunately the Afghan situation appears to remain somehow self-sufficient and resistant to all such action .
Firstly , we have the catalogue of capabilities , a 300 - page document which scrupulously lists all the military capabilities that are known to be needed by our Union in order to guarantee that all of the Petersberg tasks can be fulfilled .
A new dynamic has therefore been launched on the basis of an action demonstrating political will on the part of our Member States .
Perhaps I can begin by commenting on what my honourable friend Mr Hume has just said .
As the ministers have pointed out in their excellent speeches , recent weeks have seen important developments in strengthening Europe ' s contribution to its own security .
The challenge for us now is sticking to that strategy , ensuring we can make that strategy work , ensuring that , in holding out the prospect of a closer relationship with the European family , we can help those countries make the economic and political changes and reforms required in order to secure their stability and long-term prosperity .
With respect to the provision of aid , the Commission largely through its humanitarian aid office , ECHO , has made a number of specific interventions this year aimed at alleviating both the effects of the catastrophic drought in the country by supporting , through provision of funds for food security and winterisation kits , the population 's displaced by the fighting in the northeast of the country .
Now it is matter of forging an effective and efficient European unit from this , under a clear and unambiguous command .
Mr President , Mr President-in-Office of the Council , it often takes a very long time before visible results can be discerned when issues are dealt with at European level .
This means that , as MEPs , we need structures to enable us to obtain information about the decisions made and to enable us to engage in debate , to participate and to hold people to account .
The first point concerns the role of the European Parliament , which is something several other speakers have already touched on .
I can tell you that the Palestinians have great expectations of Europe .
As an association of soldiers ' mothers stated , we did not take our children out of Lebanon just so that they could die for the settlements .
The Middle East conflict could therefore become the acid test of the efficiency of European Middle East policy .
Minister , I should like to say a special word of thanks to you for having been with us in committee and for being here today .
In this way other EU Member States could keep to their traditional peacekeeping activities .
It can only recover credibility if the civilian approach is its supreme guiding principle , if the instruments at its disposal are used in pursuit of effective prevention and if those instruments receive a level of funding that maintains their credibility .
This is the enemy which your CFSP has in its sights .
Secondly , NATO should be gradually winding down rather than engaging in eastward enlargement .
I cannot tell you how delighted I am to discover that Mr Brok all along was a dangerous revolutionary !
The priority now is to do all we can to strengthen the conditions for freedom and peace in Europe .
I think if we could clearly understand that , then a lot of the concerns might indeed evaporate .
We must ensure that this whole process is democratically monitored .
Like my Fine Gael colleague , Mrs Doyle , I recognise that this does not represent the creation of a European army and before shrill voices are raised in my own country , which there will be , against Irish involvement , I would point out that participation is voluntary and on a case by case basis .
All the political and diplomatic efforts , all the economic pressure , could not prevent the outbreak of violence in the heart of Europe and the unacceptable challenge that posed to all our European values .
I would also note , by the way , that the positions adopted by the Council do not , and will not , include any EU budgetary commitment to finance military action of whatever kind .
A5 - 0326 / 2000 by Mr Harbour , on behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market , on the White Paper on Commission reform ( the aspects of direct relevance to the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market ) [ COM ( 2000 ) 200 - C5 - 0446 / 2000 - 2000 / 2216 ( COS ) ]
That is why we want to ensure that this process is not imposed from above ; we consider it crucial that all the staff are effectively associated in this whole process of modernisation .
An annual evaluation of the changes in the functioning of the Commission and of the additional cost of this reform requires consultation at the beginning of each financial year .
Moreover , it is totally illogical for the Council alone to be able to amend the Financial Regulation and we repeat our call for conciliation on this issue .
We have also been unanimous in stating that many of the shortcomings and irregularities that were condemned during the discharge for 1996 were due to the fact that previous Commissions had not managed to modernise their management and control systems and had not applied all of the legislation in force .
Evidence of this weakness can be found in the extremely limited number of refusals of approval , of authorisation , originating from the Commission .
What was very interesting from those discussions was to see how employment and organisation practices in private and public sector are actually moving closer together .
Leadership from the top will be crucial .
Lastly , it is also time to look at the Union 's external representation .
We therefore ask the Commissioner : can the Commission guarantee a truly limited transitional period ?
I am happy to see that the Commission ' s proposal appears to be consistent with the position we are due to adopt tomorrow .
The managers of units and institutions must be given a certain amount of leeway in administration .
We can see that some ground still needs to be made up here , and we hope that the Commission will take a bolder approach to the transparency problem .
Mr President , in his letter to the Romans , the apostle Paul exhorts his readers to allow themselves to be transformed by the renewing of their minds .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , with the plan to reform the Commission , we are progressing towards the new European institutions : new in that changes were made to the old institutions following the problems which arose during past management and on the basis of the lengthy , exhaustive and in many places complex report of the independent experts .
As you would expect we are supporting Amendments Nos 1 to 6 , submitted by the PSE .
Mr Lamassoure says on enlargement that the Commission , as regards the accession process , is expected to propose a comprehensive strategy reflecting the Union 's interest in its political timetable - not just an assessment regarding the suitability of each applicant country .
With this consideration , we urge the Commission and Mr Kinnock to move ahead with their efforts at reform .
Mr President , the resignation of the Commission in the spring of 1999 was in fact the dénouement of a much more deep-seated problem within the European Commission , namely vague working structures that resulted in a lack of political accountability , fragmented policy priorities and unsatisfactory results .
This cannot be achieved by over-emphasising the word ' internal ' in the reforms .
For the European Parliament , foreign affairs is a vital and interesting matter , and I completely agree that , having had a lifetime 's interest myself in these issues , that is a proper explanation .
It emphasises the responsibility for those receiving reports of possible wrong-doing to act promptly , seriously and effectively .
I am sure that Parliament will give you the opportunity to go into greater depth on another occasion , since this reform is not going to end with the first vote tomorrow .
So once again transparency is the aim , and I believe we shall achieve that aim .
In those situations it is sometimes forgotten that we also operate within a democratic system and that codecision rules have to be respected - and rightly so .
The Commission maintains a division - albeit a somewhat blurred one - between political responsibility and executive competence , which past experience leads us to believe , will not work very well in practice .
( The President urged the speaker to bring her speech to a close ) Mr President , I will conclude by saying that we are going to approve two amendments and another three will not be approved , as has been discussed in committee .
It was an excellent idea of Mrs Sauquillo ' s to include the part on external relations in the section on internal training , thereby making it an item on the agenda .
Poverty and need are not just the product of economic backwardness and development problems but are often the result of aggression and the exploitation of the weak by the strong , of the selfishness of the capable in the face of the weakness of the marginalised .
Finally , we should understand that Mr Patten ' s proposal for aid responsible to a board of Commissioner directors with Mr Nielson as Chief Executive is an unworkable gimmick borrowed from management text books and is fundamentally incompatible with the collegiate structure of the Commission itself .
Our Committee shared the view of the rapporteur that the Commissioner for Development should both formulate and implement policy in this area , although these should be coordinated with the other policies dealing with external activities .
Here again the understanding of the budget authority has played a crucial role for funding this major reorganisation of the European External Service .
( The sitting was closed at 12.30 a . m . )
I am told , especially in France , that stringent national measures must be adopted to protect French coasts : it has also been proposed that French coastguards should be deployed .
Madam President , I believe it is beyond doubt that the Commission , like the French Presidency considers the question of maritime safety and environmental protection to be of extreme importance .
I wish to conclude by thanking Mr Gayssot , President of the Transport Council of Ministers , for his encouraging comments .
We all agree on that , but we have to find the methodology by which that particular priority can be implemented , and we have yet to secure an agreement between the three institutions on that .
There are numerous points , as Mr Watts has already explained , where the European Parliament takes a firmer stand than the Council appears to be taking .
There have also been talks with the sectors concerned and a great deal of contact with the French Presidency with the aim of being able to arrive at a text agreed by consensus that can be adopted quickly by the two legislative bodies : the Council and the European Parliament .
Although industrial and radioactive discharges continue from a range of sources , the practice of direct dumping with little thought for the future is now widely regarded as unacceptable .
Furthermore , the public have a right to know what preparations have been made , what types of material are threatening and what impacts are to be expected .
I am convinced that this will mean , in the longer term , the establishment of a European coastguard .
I will support this report and the Commission ' s amendments , but I call on the Members of Parliament to also support the amendments of the Committee on the Environment , Public Health and Consumer Policy on social standards .
What is less satisfactory , as has just been pointed out , is our past record ; heaven knows that the States of the European Union have scarcely covered themselves in glory in the realm of maritime safety .
Please help to ensure that the Commission sends a clear signal here .
Everyone who works in the sector bears a heavy responsibility .
Mr President , Commissioner , Mr President-in-Office of the Council , the disasters of the past few months have brought to light the inadequacies of legislation , weaknesses in the systems of control and deficiencies in terms of human and financial resources .
A few weeks ago , the west of France was struck by another ecological disaster , the wreck of the chemical tanker , the Ievoli Sun , and it is only today that the European Parliament will take the decision to strengthen maritime safety .
As the rapporteur very rightly points out , the condition of a tanker is more indicative than its age .
Mr President , I am only going to comment on and explain the majority position of the Socialist Group on one of the proposals , the one that modifies the directive regulating inspection organisations .
We do not want them in our ports or in our waters .
I would just like to concentrate on two dossiers : port state control and the phasing out of single-hull oil tankers .
If we want to be credible , we must act quickly and put an end to sterile political diatribes .
We all know each other 's positions by now , which is another reason why we need to vote today .
There is , however , still much to be done to improve safety at sea .
Justice can be merciless towards the poor who are unable to pay a tax or a fine , and will even go so far as to seize their meagre belongings .
I therefore consider that there is an incredible amount still to do in this area .
So it is important to state the political and cultural bottom line : it is time to get rid of the emergency culture , and it is time to affirm the prevention culture .
The problem of safety for this form of transport requires offenders to be penalised rigorously ; imposing such penalties entails costs that must be shared by the whole sector worldwide , so that we do not penalise the European sector even more .
When we do this we should always remember that double hulls or even triple hulls do not guarantee with absolute certainty that accidents will not happen in the future .
I want to say to Mr Jarzembowski that the Council is not seeking a compromise .
Madam President , I first would like to thank you all for this interesting and valuable debate .
Amendments Nos 1 , 6 , 7 and 8 also relate to the refusal of access .
In order to achieve the main objective of this proposal , namely to phase out old single-hull oil tankers quickly , we are prepared to go along with the deletion of the proposed financial incentive system setting up differential charging of port and pilotage dues .
Member States must satisfy themselves that the classification society they have chosen to work on their behalf , fulfils the tasks to their full satisfaction .
That leaves Amendment No 10 dealing with the important issue of liability limits .
Let me conclude by recalling that one month ago the Ievoli Sun sank near Cherbourg with 6 000 tonnes of dangerous cargo .
" You can understand that there might be an incompetent and provocative official , but when 15 countries give their assent to this kind of answer , Madam President , I think you should take the initiative when you meet the Council to have this prerogative of Members of Parliament respected .
Report ( A5 - 0344 / 2000 ) by Mr Hatzidakis , on behalf of the Committee on Regional Policy , Transport and Tourism , on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on the accelerated phasing-in of double-hull or equivalent design standards for single-hull oil tankers [ COM ( 2000 ) 142 - C5 ­ 0173 / 2000 - 2000 / 0067 ( COD ) ]
Relating to Amendment No 2 :
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
Employment creation must remain one of our top priorities .
At the same time , big shipowners ply their trade uncontrolled under flags of convenience and the state of world shipping goes from bad to worse .
The Commission proposal looks reassuring , but is not proof against deliberate sabotage .
To do so , we must be sure that the measures we are proposing today are implemented by all the Member States of the European Union .
The Commission is right to want to stop Europe lagging behind America .
Many technical experts have pointed out the difficulties encountered when inspecting the space between the two hulls and during its maintenance .
This decision is important but it does not go far enough .
In addition , I have voted for all the amendments that improve and tighten up the Commission ' s proposals .
The revision of Directive 94 / 57 / EC is becoming a matter of some urgency , especially since Malta and Cyprus , the fourth and sixth largest fleets worldwide respectively , are candidates for accession to the European Union .
Ships save on port fees by continuing to sail through stormy weather and by risking fatal accidents at other times too .
Maritime safety must not simply be an issue arising out of a state of urgency in the wake of each new disaster that hits our shorelines , but the object of an internationally integrated and constant policy .
It is of little consequence to us whether the Charter of Fundamental Rights is incorporated into the Treaty on European Union or not , because , in any case , this Charter , allegedly a Charter of Fundamental Rights , not only refuses to include the elementary rights of workers , it actually clears the way for retrograde social measures .
I believe that is a crucial criterion by which to judge the Treaty of Nice .
. ( FR ) On the eve of the Nice Summit and without prejudging the outcome , I want to salute the tremendous work carried out by the French Presidency and the majority of ministers who generously put in the time and effort to address Parliament on a regular basis both in committee and in parliament .
. ( PT ) The debate and the resolution adopted by Parliament give serious cause for concern as to what will be decided at the Nice Summit , specifically as regards the potential increase in restrictions on the sovereignty of small countries such as Portugal , the strengthening of federalism and the militaristic path in security and defence policy , and the weak and clearly inadequate measures in the social sphere .
In order for Treaty reform , and indeed enlargement , to be a success it must have the full support of the people .
The reforms proposed by Malcolm Harbour MEP on the White Paper are common sense reforms .
The voters I represent have no sympathy with any of its policy directions .
It is becoming ever more apparent that opening the debate on proportionality ( votes in the Council and seats in the European Parliament ) , one might go so far as to say on the balance of power between the Member States , has opened a Pandora ' s box which will be very difficult to close in Nice .
So if you succeed in avoiding wars , as you have done so far , you will be doing the most important thing that has ever been done in the world . '
. ( FR ) The ' Other Europe ' delegation of the Union for a Europe of Nations Group resolutely voted against the own-initiative report which was drawn up by the Committee on Foreign Affairs , Human Rights , Common Security and Defence Policy and presented by Mr Brok .
I have a nephew , my sister ' s son , who has been at the NATO bases in the United States learning to fly fighter planes , and he has been promoted , so he is ready to be an air-force pilot .
It is up to each individual Member State to decide to what extent it wants to participate in a common European security and defence policy .
We are convinced that a Europe of Peace will not be created through military alliances .
We do not need euro-militarism .
. ( SV ) I value the attempt to develop a common European security policy , but I am against the development of a common military defence force .
We do not consider that an arms build-up , with the resultant increased military expenditure , is the answer to the challenges faced by Europe in 2001 and beyond .
We have 19 recitals and 23 numbered paragraphs with 36 subparagraphs .
But the language of the document goes even further .
Problems taken up in the report can be solved with a humane asylum and refugee policy , by organising work to take into consideration a balance between work and personal life as well as by taking responsibility for people with special needs in a way which shows solidarity and social responsibility .
The rapporteur feels that a legal framework is required at European level that makes it possible for persons providing domestic services to be covered by employment protection legislation .
She wants this type of work to be recognised as an occupation in its own right and is calling for European rules to be established on the rights of these workers - at present the situation varies from country to country .
Guy-Quint report ( A5 - 0327 / 2000 )
By the same token , nepotism and lack of transparency must be eradicated from the Commission services , especially as regards recruitment for temporary posts .
It is therefore necessary to ensure that these commitments are respected much more closely than they have been in the past .
I have voted in favour of the Lamassoure report , which concerns itself most of all with the institutional aspects of Commission reform .
I regret this and that is why we abstained from the vote as a group , because we feel that the NGOs have done badly out of it .
Secondly , Madam President , I would like to ask you to explain to the House as clearly as possible , given the amount of contradictory information which has accumulated throughout the day , what the structure of the debate with the French Presidency will be in relation to the Nice European Council , and what approach will be taken to the participation of the President-in-Office of the Council .
Do you not want there to be a resolution ?
Madam President , no one underestimates the significance and scope of this summit , which has also been the lengthiest in the history of the European Union .
Madam President , there has been mention of what the task of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs may be .
Thank you , Mr Hänsch , for that constructive contribution .
Madam President , in view of that decision and since Commissioner Liikanen will not be present on Thursday but could be present on Wednesday , I wonder whether it would be possible to bring Mrs Gill 's report on European digital content forward from Thursday to Wednesday to fill that slot .
Madam President , on 20 October , 200 political prisoners went on hunger strike , which they intend to see through to the bitter end , in protest against the Turkish Government 's policy of using ' white ' isolation cells in order to undermine morale and break down prisoners ' resistance .
Madam President , we are now discussing this directive for the second time this year , and once again , a large number of amendments have been tabled .
Despite this clear course of action , we must also be conscious of the fact that we are the Parliament of a Union that sets great store by the principles of the constitutional State , which means that we must recognise the limitations of our authority , i . e . we must know what the limits are to the authority we derive from Article 95 , the legal basis we are invoking for the new tobacco directive .
To uphold this basic principle , we have , to begin with , proposed extending the legal basis to include Article 133 of the Treaty , but above all , we have postponed the date by which Member States will be obliged to implement it to 1 January 2007 .
Let us be absolutely sure that they are informed when they make the decision one way or the other .
We are of the opinion , however , that there are very significant differences between the issue of tobacco advertising and this directive .
The fact is that the Court of Justice has just repealed the 1998 Directive banning advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products .
However , I think the Council ' s proposal with regard to the size of the warnings on labels besides those on cigarette packets , is an improvement on Amendment No 25 , since the 50 cm ² limit is far too close to the surface area of a packet of cigarettes .
This is my concern on this issue .
Therefore , their correct legal basis is the former Article 100a or the current Article 95 .
What is more , I feel this will set a poor example if we want to put warnings on other products at a later stage .
Mr President , it is fair to say that we have a moral obligation to fully inform the 30 million consumers of the European Union about the public health dangers of cigarettes .
So , instead of exporting cigarettes we will be exporting jobs - 4 000 of them in my region alone .
Mr President , to begin with I would like to congratulate Mr Maaten on a splendid report .
Mr President , smoking is the tragedy of our time - the biggest cause of preventable illness and disease across the European Union .
If you enlist Article 133 for the export ban then the conclusion is obvious that it is not part of a common commercial policy to dictate to third countries what they should import .
There should be no exemption for trademarks or we will simply create new anomalies in competition and the single market .
I am hoping the Commissioner might reassure us that an increase in the level of staff support within the Commission is on the cards .
Mr Bowis asked whether the exemption would apply .
They went on to say in Paragraph 117 of the judgment : " As has been observed in Paragraphs 98 and 111 of this judgment , a directive prohibiting certain forms of advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products could have been adopted on the basis of Article 100a of the Treaty .
The Commission would prefer to examine the available data and report back in due course .
The Commission reports on the application of the excise directives address this problem in the proper way .
As the rapporteur , I would recommend that these amendments be supported as they make a lot of sense .
The extra hour of daylight provided by moving to summer time is particularly beneficial in the tourism and leisure sector , where increases in business directly linked to lighter and longer evenings have been recorded .
I have said this because I and my group are convinced that Europe has more serious problems and tasks to deal with .
The amendments which have been tabled by Parliament and the rapporteur are therefore , in my opinion , unhelpful , because they tend to create uncertainty rather than increase confidence .
For example , the transport sector in particular , but also other sectors of industry , requires stable , long-term planning on account of technical requirements connected with the preparation of transport timetables .
The next item is the recommendation for second reading ( A5 - 0349 / 2000 ) on behalf of the Committee on the Environment , Public Health and Consumer Policy , concerning the common position adopted by the Council with a view to adopting a European Parliament and Council directive on the approximation of the laws , regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use [ 8878 / 1 / 2000 - C5 - 0424 / 2000 - 1997 / 0197 ( COD ) ] ( rapporteur : Mr Liese )
As far as the direct benefit is concerned , investigators running clinical trials have to identify those cases where it is necessary to administer medical products and carry out the accompanying examinations in order to draw conclusions for future patients .
Finally , adults incapable of giving consent should only participate in trials that relate to the condition affecting them and causing their incapacity .
One more word , on another point I consider highly important , I mean Amendment No 30 which concerns non-commercial clinical trials .
That is why medical science should be given every possible means of properly protecting individual and public health .
The debate is closed .
We must not forget that the essence of the acquis communautaire from these programmes needs to be passed on to the new health programmes currently being drawn up and it is therefore only right that we extend them .
I agree with Mr Trakatellis : you cannot play games with patients ' health when they expect our help , or with non-governmental organisations which need these Community budgets to deliver the health policies on the ground .
The prevention of drug dependence programmes must also be focused not only on black spots , but across many other areas within the European Union .
To summarise , Madam President , I must say the developments in the public health sector in the European Union go too far for my liking .
Standing of victims in criminal procedure
I would like to highlight that , despite its importance and the fact that it is a mandatory point of reference in Europe , the Convention has still not been ratified , as of 18 September 2000 , by the following Member States of the European Union : Austria , Belgium , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Portugal and Spain .
The second aspect which played a certain part was the issue of evidence recorded on video .
It may be that we have devoted too little time to the victims , who are often the weakest members of society .
Finally , this vote is important because Parliament has the opportunity to make significant improvements to the legislative proposal , precisely those suggested in Mrs Cerdeira Morterero ' s excellent report and supported by the Committee on Citizens ' Freedoms and Rights , Justice and Home Affairs .
In addition , it has been ascertained that when victims report crimes they are subjected to discriminatory behaviour .
The guilty party , Arturo Lojacono , was identified and sentenced , but sought refuge abroad .
It can be difficult for a foreign victim to follow the criminal procedures from a distance , and in this case it is clear that special measures are required .
It was the subject of difficult discussions in the Council .
The Commission wishes to continue the feasibility study for such a project .
Mr Posselt , we will pass on your arguments to the College of Quaestors so that they can adopt the resolution that they think best and so that it will be known to all Members .
The Commission therefore supports the Council 's request for urgent procedure and calls on the members of the European Parliament to support this urgent procedure .
The chairman of the Committee on Budgets tells me that this is the very first time that agreement has been reached between the Council and Parliament at conciliation .
The Commission has submitted its analysis of outstanding commitments and its strategy for eliminating abnormal outstanding commitments .
We can finance cooperation with the Baltic region and our crisis reaction forces and we have given MEDA EUR 40 million more than the Council provided .
Having been allocated so little time , which is a pity because the budget - and the rapporteurs - deserve more than a derisory two and a half minutes , I must confine myself to just a few comments .
Mr President , when a delegation from this Parliament was visiting the People ' s Republic of China some time ago , we were in Xiamen , in the south-east of China , and there was an island visible on the horizon .
Indeed , the representatives of the three institutions spared no effort to conclude an overall agreement on the 2001 budget and I wish to take this opportunity to thank , on behalf of the Council , both the members of the parliamentary delegation and Mrs Schreyer .
I am delighted that our institutions have been able to reach agreement on adopting , at only one reading , all aspects of this Letter of Amendment No 2 , which concerns not only agricultural expenditure but also the fisheries agreements and the inclusion of an estimated balance for the 2000 financial year in the preliminary draft budget for 2001 .
Personally , I consider this to be extremely important .
To conclude this overview , I wish to join those who have highlighted the excellent climate in which this budgetary procedure has taken place .
In providing the EUR 200 million emergency package , the Union has also proven that it is perfectly able to act quickly and take full account of its foreign policy responsibilities .
Mr President , I should like to answer Mr Colom i Naval on the issue of the use of the flexibility instrument in revising the financial perspective .
We praised Commissioner Busquin , who has exceeded our expectations in that area .
Mr President , as draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Development and Cooperation , I would like first of all to say that the European Parliament has scored a major victory in as much as the cuts in the Latin American , Asian and African poverty programmes have been made good .
In particular I would cite Euronews so that people can see in the media what Parliament and the Union are doing .
We have a budget which is under 1.06 % , we have a budget , Mr Colom , which is within the financial perspective .
I should also like to thank Mrs Schreyer , who has continued to help us with her highly constructive approach and , of course , my friend Jutta Haug , who has done an excellent job , not forgetting Joan Colom i Naval and Markus Ferber .
You keep saying that the financial perspective is sacrosanct as far as you are concerned .
Our group will also vote in favour of this budget because it shows that , once again , we have reached an exemplary compromise , despite being under increasing pressure .
Ladies and gentlemen , I wish to welcome Mr Jacques Chirac , President of France and President-in-Office of the Council ,
We must also pay tribute to the European spirit , which finally enabled us to leave Nice having resolved those issues left over from Amsterdam and having paved the way for the future .
I now come to one of the most positive outcomes of the IGC .
After all , enlargement is clearly the major issue facing Europe today .
Its significance will be assessed in the future and I wish to pay tribute to your Parliament which contributed so greatly to its drafting .
A year ago , the Erika ran aground off the French coast and despite the amazing mobilisation of charities and the authorities , the coast is still suffering the consequences of this shipwreck .
First of all , at Nice we concluded the round of negotiations begun at the Cologne and Helsinki European Councils .
We can welcome the fact that the Union was able to announce that it would be dedicating some EUR 13 billion to the process over a period of seven years , including , of course , the loans from the European Investment Bank .
The Commission 's proposals on maritime safety and the creation of a European Food Safety Authority met with strong support , as did the decisions on our seven outermost regions .
Lastly , it was the weighting of votes in the Council that gave rise to the most difficult debate and the most difficult decision .
Unfortunately , we also witnessed the contrast between large and small countries over recent months - and this too should never be repeated , because it acts as an insidious poison in the European Union - with many large countries behaving most meanly and many small countries behaving most generously .
This is a step backwards that applies to all areas of Community life , and I predict , Mr President-in-Office of the European Council , that our fellow citizens - and I am afraid also the Members of Parliament and the Heads of Government - are going to have to go back to school for lessons in arithmetic .
I can say that there are parts we like and much about which we are concerned .
( Applause )
The obstacles between the Fifteen that multiplied during the Summit are symptomatic .
The Member States do not have the support of the people because there is no such thing as a European people and they are therefore forced by public opinion to advocate their national interests with increasing fervour , even if this means changing the maximum number of Members of the European Parliament set by the Treaty of Amsterdam , which is already out of date , and even if this means increasing the number of European Commissioners to 27 , even though the current Commission of Fifteen does not work .
Into what situation will all these people have dragged France when the European bubble bursts and the French have nothing in their mouths but the bitter taste of having been conned once again by their mediocre and self-serving leaders ?
On the contrary , their restraint was driven by serious problems and concerns and the result of informed national opinion , which cannot be swept to one side and must be taken seriously .
The Presidency regrets these shortcomings and itself had reservations and made a considerable effort to ensure that France made progress in areas about which it is particularly sensitive .
Hence these proposed amendments , these so-called compromise amendments from three groups .
It was really necessary to simplify the plethora of legal and administrative arrangements applying to clinical trials in the Member States .
In fact , I feel that it is right for all the States of the European Union to be on the same summer time " .
That brings us to the explanations of vote on the Cerdeira Morterero report .
Appropriate measures should be taken to provide crime victims with the following rights : to provide and receive information ; communications facilities ; participation in the procedure and access to free legal aid ; a suitable level of protection and privacy ; the possibility to seek compensation under criminal procedure and to dispute settlement through mediation .
European Council / French Presidency ( continuation )
That explains why many of us found Nice heartbreaking .
The Heads of State and Government have just recognised at Nice what we were saying after Amsterdam : the Intergovernmental Conference method is no longer successful for Europe .
As representative of the parties united in the European Free Alliance , I would like to alert the Commission , but particularly the Council , to the dangers , should the EU wish to be no more than an intergovernmental association .
Mr President , the fairly unanimous message from the President-in-Office of the Council , the Commission and heads of government is basically that the Treaty of Nice secures the framework for the unification of Europe .
In other words , the democratic deficit is now even greater .
We must reflect seriously on what has happened .
In reality , it is the President who is being unrealistic if he thinks that it will be possible to enlarge the Union with such a Treaty .
Mr President , Nice was , and should have been , a historic date , the kick-off for the new Europe , the Europe of the new century , the great Europe , the Europe of all the Europeans .
Enlargement has given you , has given us all the same task as Monnet and Schuman had fifty years ago : the task of developing a method , structure and vision for the future of Europe .
There is just one small satisfaction : enlargement .
Four main problems loom large .
This clause adopts the European Parliament 's opinion that further development of the European Union will be impossible using the intergovernmental method applied in the past .
Like the President of the Republic this morning , I too try to imagine what would happen if we had arrived here without a Treaty of Nice .
We have tried to work on a principle of simple reweighting in this squaring of the circle , and I think that on the whole the result is balanced .
Later we will see , together , all together , how to proceed .
We must lift the consensus rule , including in a future convention .
In all those cases we reached the conclusion that those treaties were not entirely satisfactory , did not respond to all of our aspirations , but nonetheless represented a step forward and were at least better than the status quo .
Many people looking at the Treaty of Nice will wonder why it was done in that way .
But the European Council in Nice , like many other summits in the history of the European Union , represents a triumph for reality , a triumph of pragmatism over utopianism .
We would have been able to convey a better , stronger European result to the people with a better and clearer conscience .
This summit would have been a triumph if the crucial revision of the Treaties had been crowned with as much success as the areas I have just mentioned .
And it is more democratic to boot .
Mr Blair returned to Great Britain as a conquering hero because he had not surrendered this , had not surrendered that and had fought for Britain 's interests .
We have been quite frank with each other in today 's debate about those parts of the Treaty of Nice which give us cause for satisfaction and even more open about those with which we are not content . Our reasons are different in some cases but we share the same feelings and concerns .
A fine signal to send our close partners in the South .
It is true that the Chamber is pretty thin , but unfortunately the debate on the budget lasted longer than planned and we - I and the speakers who follow me - will not have the opportunity to raise the matter with the Presidency .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , the principles of thrift and social and economic balance have been taken into account in drawing up the budget and the rapporteur must be thanked for that .
Let us not kid ourselves , this is a good budget .
What we are talking about is an early-retirement scheme which as yet has no legal base ; no one knows whether what will be proposed is compulsory or non-compulsory and it is , after all , a p . m . that is on the line .
Mr President , ladies and gentlemen , Commissioner , representative of the Council , rapporteurs , each budgetary year the European Parliament gains budgetary importance .
And I am going a little further , because it is not enough to have strict and transparent rules for implementing the budget , such as the cancellation of commitments if they have not been implemented after two years .
We all know that .
We are being up front with our praise and you may be sure that we shall seek to exercise strict control in the future .
Here are your measures which quite explicitly promote environmental protection .
Mr President , our relations with Russia underwent a fundamental change when the cold war ended .
However , I am of the opinion that the importance of Russia is not really reflected in the budget , but we disagree with the Social Democrats on that score .
Now I am in favour of encouraging Russia and the Ukraine to move in our direction and cooperate with other alliance countries in crisis-management tasks , but I would not be in favour of us moving in their direction or adjusting our policies in order to accommodate them .
Unless the Russian Federation rectifies this situation by creating , post haste , the necessary legal and security framework and hence a more friendly investment climate , there would appear to be no way out of the economic crisis , high oil prices notwithstanding .
That means that we have a joint responsibility for peace in the Caucasus , for environmental protection in the Russian Federation and for the rights of its indigenous people .
I think that the solution cannot be military , as the situation clearly demonstrates , and that it can only be political .
The famous Russian opposition politician , Grigori Jawlinski , has made it into western newspaper columns again lately .
Negotiations to find creative solutions as regards the future freedom of transit for the people of Kaliningrad through Lithuania and Poland should also be completed before Poland and Lithuania accede to the EU .
It is not just because each of the major European powers is primarily concerned with safeguarding the interests of its own capitalist groups , but in the final analysis , what does capitalist Europe have to offer Russia ?
The twin-track strategy proposed by Mr Oostlander offers a way out , for which I thank him .
His report has been welcomed by all parts of Parliament except , perhaps by those who look back with nostalgia to the not-so-golden days memorialised by a very large number of brave Soviet dissidents .
I am anxious to work closely with the incoming Swedish presidency to make concrete progress on the Northern Dimension .
It is because we take our relationship with Russia so seriously that these issues matter .
Subject : Genetically modified organisms and crops Since the Spring of this year there have been many cases of the release into the environment in various EU countries of genetically modified organisms and crops , namely cotton , oil seed rape and maize .
This common position sets much more stringent requirements for the Member States .
It would be both unwise and foolish for the Council to attempt to do so .
Secondly : has the Council obtained information from the Council of Europe 's Commissioner for Human Rights , who is well represented locally ?
The President-in-Office must know if he met Mr Maskhadov or not .
What improvements does the Council intend to make to the basic directive , 92 / 12 / EEC , to ensure that the shipper ' s and recipient ' s responsibilities are precisely apportioned , precluding any possibility of fraud ?
This report shows , as you quite rightly state , that tax fraud within the Community has reached worrying levels .
I should like to draw the honourable Member ' s attention to the fact that recital 3 of the draft directive does indeed stipulate that application thereof shall not be prejudicial to the commitments arising under the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the Status of Refugees , as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 .
The proposal for a Council regulation amending Council Regulation ( EC ) 2820 / 98 so as to extend duty-free access without any quantitative restrictions to products originating in the least-developed countries , which the Commission put forward recently , is the result of Community initiatives to improve market access for the least developed countries .
I should just like to make you see , on this , my last visit here , what the point of this exercise actually is .
Finally , non-tested animals aged above thirty months may no longer enter the food chain .
As you yourself stated , these are bold decisions of recent date , the latest of these being from 4 December , that is a week ago .
This party , which aims to reconcile Islam and the modern world and which could make a significant contribution towards reviving the country 's ailing democracy and , therefore , strengthening the rule of law , finds itself subjected to a ban on the well-worn pretext that it would represent ' a threat to State security ' .
Subject : UN special session on children The UN General Assembly 's Special Session on Children , in September 2001 , will discuss the situation of children world-wide , and consider adopting a new plan of action to make children 's rights a reality across the world .
Question No 11 by ( H-0894 / 00 ) :
The Loïzidou case has already given rise to two judgements against Turkey .
This occurs particularly in Longuenesse jail in France and applies to truck drivers from the United Kingdom and other countries .
In accordance with Article 23 of the Treaty on European Union , the Council shall adopt this decision unanimously , as is the case , moreover , for any other decision with implications in the area of defence .
Question No 22 by ( H-0918 / 00 ) :
As you know , it was not possible , unfortunately , to make any progress in this area at Nice .
With the changes and democratic developments in Yugoslavia , the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the European Union and the present motion for a resolution on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia , there are good prospects for democratisation and stabilisation in the Western Balkans and Croatia can play a specific and decisive role here .
Another point in Croatia 's favour is the changed attitude of the newly elected Croatian authorities to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia .
Let me also stress that Croatia is endeavouring to put its relations with neighbouring states in good order .
Unlike its neighbour Slovenia , immediately after independence in 1991 Croatia was not able to develop in a way as to allow it to become a candidate for accession at this point .
Mr President , I am delighted to be able to comment on the excellent report by the honourable gentleman , Mr Baltas - produced , as several honourable gentlemen have said , with considerable expedition - on the Commission 's feasibility study for a stabilisation and association agreement with Croatia .
Last month , as the House knows , Croatia hosted , with extremely impressive efficiency and diplomatic finesse , the historic Zagreb Summit .
We welcome Parliament 's support so far , not least on the important question of the legal base for the stabilisation and association agreements .
The road to democracy , to respect for human rights , to a sound administrative and legal system , to the eradication of corruption , seems to be a long road beset with obstacles .
Last week , hundreds of students were picked up and four of them were returned to their parents as corpses .
The EU embassy in Jakarta could assume a coordinating role .
Mr President , the positive developments that have been seen in Indonesia are unquestionable , to the extent that they suggest that a new relationship and effective cooperation with that country are in order .
More than one hundred thousand refugees remain in West Timor , virtual human shields for the originators and perpetrators of crimes in East Timor .
In many places , violence prevails over dialogue .
The international community must bring maximum pressure to bear on Jakarta in order to put an end to the violence on the Moluccas .
I believe Indonesia is a great country , but it is at a crossroads , and it depends on the efforts of the international community and the European Union whether , at this crossroads , it will swing for good towards democracy , respect for human rights and the rule of law , or whether the disorder will increase .
The position we have to take regarding the territorial integrity of Indonesia is simple : we have to abide by international law and by the United Nations Resolution 2504 of December 1969 .
Mr President , I welcome this report but I feel it is a little up-beat .
A special case is the still unresolved question of West Timor .
The support we are currently giving to the office of the attorney-general in Jakarta is intended to help him in his attempts to combat corruption .
The enlargement of the Community and the introduction of the euro could bring further risks with them .
I thank the Commission for its efforts and its work . . .
I am sure , Commissioner , that once this first step is taken , the discussion about the European Public Prosecutor 's Office will no longer seem like a religious war between those for and those against , which has blocked all progress so far .
Despite our having every possible sympathy for the rapporteur , Mrs Theato , and for her sterling efforts , we are opposed to establishing an independent European prosecution authority because it is a staging post towards the federal Europe we oppose .
Mr President , it is always a pleasure following Mr Dell 'Alba , because he makes a British Euro-sceptic sound very sensible in this place .
I would like to congratulate Mrs Theato on her report and in particular for making the effort to come here as I know she is not feeling very well tonight .
The strategy is built around four main lines of action : an anti-fraud legislative policy , operational cooperation between the relevant authorities , an interinstitutional approach to combat fraud in office and enhancement of the penal judicial dimension .
The next target date is 2004 , the next Intergovernmental Conference .
This has happened on several occasions in relation to the structural funds , for example .
It is imperative also that we stick to the remit required of us and that we concentrate exclusively during the discharge process on the year in question .
One day we will have to change this sort of absence of the ' innocent hand ' of the Council , which is never guilty of anything .
The Court of Auditors supplies reports and one of the most important recipients of these reports is Parliament .
In colloquial terms , what this report is saying is that in future the Committee on Budgetary Control will be more watchful and will want to hear names named when it comes to the unknown whereabouts of European tax monies .
I heard - and it is not an isolated incident - the United Kingdom Minister for Social Welfare say on television that if he could stop fraud he could save GBP 6 billion .
After the events of the past year , your aim is to create a budgetary control and discharge procedure which is more transparent and above all more efficient and effective .
That too would have to be taken into account .
In my view , the common position before us , which we have to decide on today , has a number of crucial weaknesses , which for the rest nobody has disputed so far during the debate in terms of principle .
If it takes three pages to do so , then clearly there will be enough points of reference and opportunities for dispute and we will create no legal certainty .
The European single market is a pan-European market place but within which the market in shares must be treated like other markets so that national boundaries , even if they delineate different jurisdictions , do not interfere with the essential equivalence of the rules across the market place .
In the second block are a series of amendments that aim to improve the participation of workers when there is a takeover bid .
The proposals introduce three key elements at a time when there is a change in control of a company : protection of minority shareholders , transparency in relation to bid information and regulatory supervision of the process .
This is a matter on which clarity is of the utmost importance .
Greater understanding must be shown for national characteristics . Otherwise , there may be devastating consequences for an individual Member State ' s company structure .
Mr Bolkestein himself has said that it is crucial that the management of target companies consult shareholders in this case .
Mr President , it is interesting to follow Mr Martin as an English speaker and I can assure him that things are certainly not falling apart in the British economy even though my party would like a change of government .
This amendment seeks to introduce an instrument enabling a majority shareholder to take over the remaining securities .
The situation in the United States can teach us a thing or two on that score , and should be a warning to us to proceed more cautiously .
I owe special thanks to Mr Dehousse and Mr Echerer , whose many discussions helped bring about workable compromises .
The reservations voiced in several quarters can be summarised in two major groups .
Mr President , to repeat a felicitous expression used by GESAC ( the European Association of Authors ' and Composers ' Societies ) , the draft under discussion was subjected to unjustified attacks during its review by the Council .
I will have a hard job persuading the people in my country , but I am firmly convinced that the harmonisation of the right of resale , on the basis of the EP 's proposals , will bring benefits to all concerned .
That has nothing to do with special national interests but contributes to an open and transparent political debate .
With one item there would have been considerable difficulty in tracing the artist 's family ; only tracing agents and collecting societies would have benefited .
The second important issue is that of the total amount , which is removed in Amendment No 7 .
I have duly noted the fact .
I think that this important matter , close to the committee ' s heart , ought to be debated today .
What has surprised me slightly as rapporteur over the past few months is that we have somewhat lost sight of these three things .
Without jeopardising the modernisation of all postal services and the opening to competition , Member States must continue to preserve their rural network of counter services , which help bring the remote places closer to centres of decision making and are thus indispensable to the social cohesion of the smallest urban or rural communities .
There is no reason why the service offered to people should not incorporate all kinds of technical and economic progress , and I believe that , from this point of view , doing away with special services is a step for which no clarification had first been provided .
Madam President , Commissioner , may I begin by reiterating my thanks to my honourable colleague Markus Ferber on behalf of our group , because he sought compromises within the committee and he found them .
What it came up with was , in the words of Neil Armstrong , the famous American astronaut : " one giant leap for mankind " in that they moved from 350 grammes to 50 grammes in one fell swoop .
I am sorry , Mr Ferber , I am concerned about job losses and the effect they will have .
Some of my colleagues do not share my opinion on a number of scores , as will become evident in due course .
It would be more in keeping with citizens ' expectations to restore the balance where public services are concerned by making any new extension to the commercial sphere conditional upon respect for the fundamental objective of the sustainable development of European society .
Private operators will also be able to deliver letters at four times the price of a normal letter .
In fact , it provides for minimal subsequent opening-up of the market and provides absolutely no certainty regarding future steps while , as far as the universal service is concerned , the Swedish example should reassure all those who feel that privatisation will mean the end of the postal services .
If the step which the European Parliament now wants to take is far too small , let us then at least ensure that we pick up the thread in a couple of years ' time .
Let me say this to Georg and Markus : when the postman calls once , or even twice , we are well aware that this is not the ultimate social service in Europe .
In the capacity of rapporteur of the general interest services for our committee , there is no doubt that we will need to cast a critical eye over these developments .
According to my Spanish colleagues - and I would like to check this out with the Commissioner - Spain has transposed the 1997 Directive in its entirety , others have not done anything , and those who have not done anything would now like to take huge steps to make up the difference .
For example , in the present case , a country with a much lower than average ratio will obviously not have any problems , while a country with a much higher ratio will despair if it has to liberalise cross-border postal services as Mr Bolkestein proposes .
We in this House must give the postal market a chance .
Madam President , the public monopoly for postal services was introduced in the nineteenth century for a very good reason .
The Commission 's proposal to liberalise the postal services has been discussed intensively across the length and breadth of my constituency from Malin Head to Connemara and from the outskirts of Dublin to the islands .
From the Spanish experience , which has been mentioned a few times , I believe that Parliament ' s amendments improve on the Commission ' s proposal because it introduces moderation - strict moderation - into the pace of opening up and liberalisation .
Madam President , Arlette Laguiller and I reject any way in which private capital might be introduced into postal services .
Madam President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , it is as if we are debating the procession of Echternach today : two steps forward , one step back with the little progress we are making on one of the key political dossiers for completing the internal market , namely the liberalisation of the postal services .
That is why I have re-tabled some of the amendments which we discussed in committee and which we will be voting for - especially in relation to the liberalisation of direct mail .
It will be a triple blow to Britain and a triple blow in particular to rural Britain : an end to the daily delivery and collection ; an end to the uniform price - people in rural areas will pay more for their post ; and third and finally , an end to our extensive and excellent network of rural sub-post offices .
It is indeed a balanced compromise and I hope that it will be accepted by the Council .
In the same way , the great flights of rhetoric , here in this debate , on the need to build the new Europe do little to conceal the faint-heartedness and conservatism that exist .
Look where we are now , more than ten years later .
If we do too little , too late , the postal sector as a whole will be in danger .
Our proposal strikes a careful balance , because universal service providers will need time to change the structures further , to become more flexible enterprises so they can adapt to new market conditions .
In this spirit , I can accept those of your amendments which are non-contentious and others which rightly give emphasis to issues such as universal service as applied in Member States , redressing complaints , and the rural network .
Secondly , this whole matter will be discussed at a Telecom Council next Friday .
We tried to arrive at a conciliation with the Commission , but this did not really come about .
There has been liaison with the Commission , and it was clear from the last meeting that the Commission was maintaining its position , i . e . a quota system administered according to the ' first come , first served ' method and a transition to a ' tariff only ' system in 2006 .
This proposal has already been accepted by Ecuador , the world ' s leading banana producer and one of the parties which has complained to the World Trade Organisation .
I believe that the amendment tabled at the last minute by Mr Vatanen does nothing to help this issue , and I would ask him , if he is listening , to consider the possibility of withdrawing it .
In this regard , I would like to remind you that banana production is not alien to the Community .
The WTO is a set of rules .
We shall most probably be in a more powerful position then , and this should be reflected in the banana report and in the objectives we lay down .
Each group of countries has been able to develop its production because we were offering them a market which we ought not now to take away from them .
I conclude by congratulating the rapporteur , Mr Dary , on the excellent job he has done .
I would also like to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development , Mr Graefe zu Baringdorf , for his desire his reach a compromise solution with the Commission .
This is deeply unfair .
Welcome
Mr President , may I express my thanks for the strong support I have received from all the groups .
( The President declared the common position approved as amended ) ( The sitting was suspended at 12 noon for a formal sitting and resumed at 12.30 p . m . )
The Commission is prepared , on the other hand , to accept Amendments Nos 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 and 15 .
This has also met with the approval of the person who tabled the amendment .
Report ( A5 - 0376 / 2000 ) by Mrs Theato , on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control , on the Commission communication " Protection of the Communities ' financial interests - The fight against fraud - For an overall strategic approach " [ COM ( 2000 ) 358 - C5 - 0578 / 2000 - 2000 / 2279 ( COS ) ]
. ( EL ) Unfortunately , although the Commission accepted many of the European Parliament 's amendments , the Council did not .
Under cover of legal arguments , a number of MEPs have actually been defending the tobacco industry .
We have no right to dictate to others what they do in their countries outside the EU , nor is it wise to export jobs from the EU to third countries where they will simply produce and sell the products and take over our existing markets .
As many as half a million people in Europe are killed by tobacco , and 85 % of lung cancers are caused by smoking .
Mr President , I voted for the Trakatellis report which , as we know , allocates EUR 79.1 million for 2001 - 2002 , including EUR 8.5 million to health information , EUR 31.1 million to the plan of action on cancer , EUR 22.2 million to the prevention of AIDS , EUR 11.4 million to the prevention of drug dependence , EUR 4.4 million to health monitoring and EUR 1.3 million to the fight against pollution-related diseases .
Mr President , I voted for the directive on takeover bids .
It cannot , therefore , be the objective of this Parliament to undermine the European art market and in conciliation I hope now that the Member States and Commission will be able to maintain the common position .
For these reasons , the Members representing the Freedom Alliance have decided not to endorse the report .
Also , both the young and the renowned artist will suffer if the international trade moves outside the European borders due to European over-regulation .
In general , the financial resources allocated to the stabilisation of this area are widely known to be insufficient .
The situation is alarming .
The fraudsters will seek out those countries that have the least protection .
Corpus Juris envisages the eventual creation of an independent European Prosecution Office with jurisdiction for offences against the EU 's financial interests carried out both by members and officials of EU institutions and by third parties .
If , in that process , I can safeguard the interests of our ACP countries then that is all to the good , but I believe that it is important that we safeguard and look to the welfare of European citizens .
Mr Dary ' s report shows due concern both for the banana producers in the Community and the ACP countries .
I can also accept Amendment No 28 , if a corresponding clause is added about the possibility of reducing the tariff .
In the view of the Commission , the ten-year period to which Amendments Nos 11 and 13 refer would be too long .
EU / US summit
We would like to focus the twice-yearly summits on strategic themes that may run across several summits .
Finally , we will , I am sure , touch on the recent decisions at Nice on the European rapid reaction force .
The most important thing for us will be to consolidate , to examine very carefully the actual progress that has been made in the various programmes we have launched under the umbrella of the Transatlantic Agenda .
I know the Commission is now talking about reviving elements of its position for a new round , making it more flexible , and I look forward to knowing what that really means in practice .
It is impossible to accept that the only solution to crime and violence is further crime and violence .
We should be delighted to incorporate in that analysis a review of the way that the various dialogues have been developing .
We should take that position vigorously , without thinking that to do so will somehow undermine our relationship with our greatest friends and allies .
My military career was neither long nor distinguished , but I did learn that the role of the artillery was to bombard the infantry , if possible , the enemy infantry .
Secondly , the provision of digital products constitutes a provision of services rather than a delivery of goods .
Faced with this situation , the Commission ordered a study , which is the one we are investigating here , on what can be done .
In conclusion , let us say that we do not like to see the Commission giving up completely on VAT harmonisation at the beginning of its mandate , and Parliament , understanding the need to extend the validity of the legislation in force , being left waiting for the Commission , in the middle of its mandate and with the euro already in circulation , to present us with a new , full and thorough proposal on this matter .
In this sense , I welcome the Commission 's brave attempt to find a way to close the competitive gap that clearly exists between EU and non-EU e-business .
As and when the train offers an equivalent alternative on an increasing number of routes , this alternative can be promoted .
I think that the fairest thing from the point of view of the different transport sectors and also from the point of view of competition is for us to lead the way and introduce aircraft fuel tax within the EU .
Yet we are all aware now that unfettered fiscal competition is detrimental to every one of us .
However , on account of the wide range of VAT rates , it will be necessary , as our rapporteur rightly proposes , to distribute VAT revenue fairly among the Member States by means of a clearing system .
A global view is required .
It would also create a much fairer situation between the different forms of transport .
I cannot , for instance , see why the introduction of the euro should require further or even any coordination of VAT rates .
We are familiar with the vital statistics : with taxes and public charges accounting for more than 45 % of earned income , many of our Member States have budget deficits , whereas the United States , where taxes and public charges account for less than 30 % of earned income , is achieving budget surpluses of several hundred billion dollars .
I would call upon the Commission to rethink the proposal and to think of an alternative way .
Coordinating and harmonising are not the same as standardising .
Mr President , it is truly touching to hear the purportedly angelic arguments in favour of promoting e-commerce , but here the problem we have is the real competitive disadvantage of our European companies , and the problem of correcting that situation by establishing certain rules , so that all services supplied to private individuals by electronic means in the European Union are subject to VAT .
That is precisely what we want to see for aircraft too .
Furthermore , this proposal is in line , as I see it , with the principles agreed at Ecofin , which in turn are in line with the agreed principles of the OECD Conference in Ottawa .
When air tickets are 42 % cheaper today than they were ten years ago , it is clear that the wrong price signals are being given out .
The public at large deserves better .
That is not my view .
Mr President , I find the idea of a unilateral setting of EU aircraft fuel tax regimes entirely inappropriate , given that globally we are still subject to the Chicago Convention of 1944 , exempting kerosene from taxation internationally .
It creates legal certainty for every individual saver and citizen .
This topic has been given much attention ever since the Commission introduced the proposal on 7 June of this year .
It is useful to have an objective and clear criterion at our disposal , namely the Member State where the consumer lives .
This is a simplification measure which regulates the exchange of information between the Member States on VAT numbers in the electronic trade , and we will take the proposal to heart in our future work in Parliament and the Council .
These discussions will prove very difficult , however , since the possibility of levying tax on aircraft fuel was not decided on at the previous general meeting .
This accident , which followed many others , gave rise to anger and despondency amongst the communities that were affected and within public opinion in general because of the opacity of the maritime sector and the inability of the legislation in force to prevent problems such as this .
The second objective is to simplify and speed up , in the case of accident , the communication of detailed information on dangerous and polluting cargoes , obliging ships and authorities to communicate the data electronically .
As far as liability is concerned , we must take a very careful look at that .
With regard to the black box , it should be pointed out that the International Maritime Organisation has laid down an obligation of this type for ships using national routes as from July 2008 and we wish this date to be brought forward .
Mr President , I should like in turn to thank Mrs de Palacio for her comments .
Question No 33 by ( H-0873 / 00 )
So is it acceptable that a vehicle may be stopped at the border of a neighbouring Member State if they comply with all the legal requirements in their own country ?
They therefore do not contribute at all towards road infrastructure costs in Britain and at the same time pay lower vehicles taxes at home .
I am not in a position to give you exact figures in relation to the volume of imports of beef from third countries but I can say that such imports are governed by the appropriate regulations and that food safety considerations underlie that legislation .
Mr President , the Jews are the enemies of the prophets and believers .
So I repeat , we will pursue the issue with the Palestinian authorities .
The Merger Regulation provides no legal basis to take allegations of human rights abuses into account and the Commission therefore has no powers to investigate such alleged abuses in this context .
Conversely , Member States and the European Union have at their disposal other means to deal with human-rights-related issues .
In addition , if in the framework of the TBR procedure the Commission does not achieve a negotiated solution with Korea satisfactory for the European Union , the Commission will report to the Council by 1 May 2001 and will propose to bring the case to the WTO in order to seek remedy against unfair Korean practices .
And we must not forget that Mr Valdivielso de Cué asked you if the Commission believed that , without the aid which the shipbuilding industry had received , this industry would have been able to survive in the European Union .
Particular attention has been paid to the issue of employment .
Subject : Everything except armaments Is the Commission content that this dramatic proposal - which may well have dire consequences for already hard-pressed sugar beet farmers in the European Union - should be passed without any consultation of the directly-elected European Parliament ?
Regarding Glenys Kinnock ' s question concerning the link between this initiative and the Cotonou agreement , I should like to say again that the Commission entirely respected the spirit and the letter of the provisions of this agreement when it came to informing and consulting the ACP countries .
It is true that the price of sugar in the European Union is now three times higher than on the world market . This does indeed present a problem .
With regard to whether or not this is a tactical gesture designed to win the favour of least and less developed countries within the framework of a round of negotiations , I would point out straight away that this is not the case .
One of the four organisations is ECPAT , whose measures in this area during 2001 , which are eligible for aid , are wholly covered by this application .
Mr President , Commissioner Liikanen , this very night we shall be discussing the proposal for a Council Decision on European digital content .
A new article in the Treaty provides for a possible increase in the powers of the European Court in this sense .
I would like to be assured that the Commission will consider very carefully the virtues of such an approach , because I suspect a proliferation of jurisdictions may , in the end , fragment our legal systems .
What measures does the Commission plan to take to ensure that Member States which have not yet done so set up Community trade mark courts ?
I thank Mr Berenguer Fuster for making such a strong plea to the Commission .
Commissioner , I have to confess that you have not enlightened me , or rather you have not told me anything which I did not know already , because this accusation was laid at the Commission 's door a year ago .
I would like to thank the Commissioner for his reply .
The diploma is then British .
Question No 49 by ( H-0912 / 00 )
At present we are looking for other more profitable ships and service operators to take the place of those that have now discontinued service , and the intention would be to combine passenger and freight traffic .
President , I welcome this initiative from the Commission .
Therefore it is necessary to shorten the implementation of the programme and it also enables this programme to have a much greater impact owing to the commitment of more money in shorter timescales .
I should like to know what will be included under the heading of ' content ' .
There are no restrictions , as there were previously , to the supply of digital information .
The PPE-DE Group will endorse Mrs Gill 's suggestions , for which I thank her , and we too shall vote for an increased contribution , and I hope that our agreement with the Liberals and the other groups will be honoured and that we shall make a really massive effort to ensure that these budgetary priorities actually receive the volume of additional funding that we have proposed .
The much-vaunted cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe is indeed a frequent barrier , especially in the context of the single market .
The programme and the report are therefore very important and , in connection with these , I want to thank the Commission and Commissioner Liikanen , as well as Mrs Gill .
We have to ensure that there is an environment conducive to these changes in Europe .
The remaining 11 are not directly compatible with the objectives of this specific programme , or would stretch its mandate beyond what can be achieved with the financial means associated with it .
What I would like to say to the PPE-DE Group is that it should at least not stand in the way of tonight ' s discussions .
( Referral back of the report to committee was rejected )
Subsidiarity - as will soon transpire from the debate - is an important element which the Environmental Committee would like to honour .
Now that environmental noise has gone through the roof , increased mobility being one of the specific causes , the number of people facing this problem has also increased greatly .
The rapporteur has now quoted far higher percentages , but the fact is that ambient noise is a serious and a major environmental problem .
The rapporteur has shown great creativity in bringing forward framework directives , daughter directives and noise maps to be made available to the public .
This directive contains a number of sound and important proposals : harmonisation , the use of common indicators and parameters , software and such like .
In Spain and in many Mediterranean countries , the normal day extends considerably later than the 7.00 p . m . indicated in the directive .
We will have to progress down that road but the present proposal by the rapporteur goes too far in that direction at the moment .
The first thing we need for this is a framework directive which prescribes measuring procedures and action plans , thereby establishing the basis for a general standardisation of noise-abatement policies .
I would like to know what the bottom line actually was .
We will consider what these standards needs to be once we have the evidence from strategic noise maps .
The Commission can accept Amendments Nos 1 to 3 , 14 , 18 , 27 , 30 , 34 , 35 and 43 .
It seems that treatment with alginate may mislead the consumer , since the food may appear fresher than it really is .
I think that this would be of benefit to public health without causing any damage at all to industry .
Secondly , where is the preparedness of industry to come forward and accept that some of the many additives we have can be struck off ?
Official inspections in the field of animal nutrition
During the trialogue , it became clear that the Council did not intend to shift from this position .
But how can guarantees be given if inspections have not taken place ?
We must be careful not to take a top-down approach to what has to be a bottom-up initiative .
The small town / village renewal programme is an integral part of rural development .
Indeed , the concept of sustainable development , particularly in the case of cities and towns , is not , and cannot be , limited solely to the environmental aspect , but also embraces social and economic aspects .
Better knowledge and new technology provides the opportunity for a better environment in Europe 's towns and cities .
It will enable and encourage towns and cities throughout Europe and beyond to come together and learn from each other 's experiences , help them to tackle environmental problems and challenges and to work towards sustainability .
The second issue relates to commitology .
Mr President , Commissioner , ladies and gentlemen , it is certainly late for us to be tackling the celebrated precautionary principle .
The text produced by the Committee on the Environment , Public Health and Consumer Policy is the result of an ongoing search for a compromise or , rather , a balance between the maximalist and minimalist tendencies which were expressed in the course of our discussions , both of which result in excesses .
We must ensure that this report echoes public demands for a high level of protection for health and the environment .
Prudence is called for in situations where the risks are known .
So I am pleased to see that the final report reflects the need for further elaboration of the concept .
This proposes that a reversed burden of proof be applied regarding products with no prior approval , that is to say that producers must prove that the product is safe and not transfer the risks and the cost to consumers .
As everyone should know , our whole lives are fraught with risks and uncertainties .
Yet the way the European Union itself uses it is both unclear and even irrational .
But there are more examples than mad cow disease alone , examples which are perhaps not as spectacular , but where it is just as important to make decisions .
An analysis of the pros and cons is an absurd concept bearing in mind the idea behind the precautionary principle , namely to be able to react to a product before we fully know all the advantages and disadvantages .
The precautionary principle was also discussed at the Nice Summit , which took note of a resolution adopted by the General Affairs Council .
It is important to stress that it is for the decision-makers to define the level of protection .
It firmly condemns ETA ' s crimes in Spain and invites the institutions of the European Union to adopt effective weapons to combat terrorism .
( Loud and sustained applause )
Non-nationalist elected officials are murdered , as well as businesspeople , journalists , members of the security forces or private individuals who have expressed themselves in any way against the project to impose independence .
But I do depend , of course , on the assistance of our services .
We shall restore your name as author of this amendment .
before the vote on Amendment No 51
( Parliament adopted the resolution )
I am not at all convinced by the fact that large Swiss environmental organisations have been sweet-talked into this with the argument that the revenue from levies will benefit the expansion of rail .
We are delighted that this has now been acknowledged .
According to his plan , Luxembourg will continue to house no more than a handful of technical services such as the print shop and the translation service .
The budget for 2001 is largely based on a compromise between Parliament , the Council and the Commission , which we support .
The European Union is thereby now conceding , admittedly rather late in the day , the importance of substantial aid to the Republic of Yugoslavia , which is at a low ebb , and of doing so whilst respecting its borders .
This is a conspicuously weak conclusion .
By gradually deregulating the European market postal services can be made more efficient and the level of service to the customer raised .
How will the postal sector emerge from this period in which contradictions and controversies have been used to prop up the arguments , which are nevertheless often technical , that have been put together in the context of opening it up to competition ?
the price and weight limits are set at reasonable levels , with weights of up to 150 grams remaining the sole preserve of the universal service , linked with a price ceiling of four times the public tariff .
The Commission ' s proposal regarding postal services embodies an unrestrained desire to liberalise , threatening an essential public service along with the companies that provide it and the workers that perform it .
Parliament is thus sending the Commission a strong signal regarding its reservations on the total liberalisation of the postal market .
I do not feel that this is the right way to be spending the European Union 's funds .
We do not wish to favour either the big sharks of the banana industry or the smaller sharks from the area under Europe ' s protection .
In this context , the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms forms a framework delineating the content for the sake of consumer protection .
The eContent programme is intended to encourage the development and the use of European digital content in the global networks and to promote linguistic diversity in the information society .
In the field of digital information , the linguistic vehicle holds a competitive advantage , a style of reasoning and a legal position that favour those in whose mother tongue it appears .
On the other hand , I hope that the Intergovernmental Conference announced for 2004 , which seems to me to be the only positive outcome of Nice , will deal once and for all with the distribution of competences between the European Union and the governments of the Member States .
There was one positive aspect to the Nice European Council : by declaring a new weighting of votes and a new distribution of Members of the European Parliament that includes all of the candidate countries from the East , a powerful signal was given to these countries that we want to welcome them into the Union soon .
Despite a slight increase in the threshold for qualified majority voting , the scope of which remains to be seen , this extension is bound to mean that the gap will increase further still between the European institutions and national democracies .
A number of members of the European Parliament argued in very strong terms for the agenda to be expanded .
We still have a few months to work on this until the end of 2003 in order to save the European project .
Despite the successful efforts of the Nice Summit in this area , the resolution expresses dissatisfaction with the new extension of the scope of qualified majority .
On the contrary , the people of Europe and their Parliament have experienced a ' regression from Amsterdam ' .
In fact , no other summit has ever had to face the prospect of such a vast expansion as this .
No steps are being taken to make the EU more democratic or to increase the power of the national parliaments .
We pensioners often travel and , to tell the truth , train and car journeys are tiring : for us , aeroplanes are a dream come true .
' Okay , I 'll walk . '
This approach should have our support , because the gap between developed and backward regions is far greater in terms of technological development than in terms of Gross Domestic Product .
Mr President , I should like to comment in a very favourable light on Mr Markov 's report and to congratulate him on putting such a constructive report before the House .
Therefore , innovative factors like this one , however humble , must not be undervalued by anyone .
This very technology , on the other hand , presents them with a means of making up the leeway , provided that the economic players in the regions are capable of using innovative measures to grasp the opportunities available to them .
Of course , if we want to be consistent , this call needs to be accompanied by a restriction on tiresome bureaucracy , Commissioner , at all stages of the procedure for including and implementing programmes .
One especially good feature of this initiative is that it has enabled women in particular to familiarise themselves with new information technology and its applications .
If the Berlin reform for the 7 years dealt with by Agenda 2000 , that is to say for the period 2000 - 2006 , reduced the budgetary contributions for these actions by half in comparison with the previous period and , to that , we add the inevitable slowness with which we adopt decisions at a Community level , as a result of our complex institutional structure , it is not surprising that we are in a situation where we have not even been able to spend the budget laid down for the current year for innovative regional policy measures , and this is an example of political irresponsibility .
Compared with the priority topics which were selected and which I wanted to present personally to the Committee on Regional Policy on 11 September , I should like to remind you that these innovative measures are first and foremost a regional development instrument .
We have taken certain aspects on board in order to help SMEs find ways of meeting their needs for staff with computing skills .
I must be content , as must you , with the funds provided in the Berlin guidelines and the Agenda 2000 package .
South Korea has received more than 40 % of all the shipbuilding orders that have been placed in the year 2000 , according to the Commission report ; it has been able to do this on the basis of loans from South Korean banks , some of which are state-owned , by virtue of state guarantees which are tantamount to subsidisation .
I hope that the timing of the presentation of that report to Parliament was not a ploy to encourage us to take this item off the agenda .
More importantly , we have also taken note of the Council 's conclusions of 5 December , a Council which agreed to safeguard the future by standing its ground with South Korea and not dismissing the possibility of reintroducing shipbuilding aid in May for the specific market segments hardest hit by Korean competition .
It is true that Europe is suffering from unfair competition because in Korea , above all , very low salaries are paid and workers are forced to endure abysmal working conditions and , under these circumstances , European workers have no way of competing with them .
This transparent form of support discourages European yards from applying all kinds of reduction or marketing methods which do not conform to the market .
There , these days , what were once shipyards are now concert halls , maritime museums etc . In these shipyards , 4 000 people once worked , and now just a couple of doormen work in each place , and that is what is happening in the European countries .
Mr President , I would like to start by congratulating Mr Langen on the quality of his report .
As a result of this failure , a complaint by industry under the trade barrier regulation has been launched in October this year and Commissioner Lamy announced on 4 December the Commission 's decision to open an investigation .
This would be proposed if a satisfactory agreement with Korea cannot be achieved during the course of the investigation procedure under the trade barriers regulation .
He was a worker and , like those who accompanied us yesterday when we awarded the Sakharov Prize , he was a private citizen who served the democratic system which the Spanish have chosen .
Once upon a time there was a British nuclear submarine called the Tireless .
I am not being alarmist .
In both , we ask the Commission to examine the possibilities contained in the current Treaties to ascertain what opportunities it has to contribute to this issue .
So , over these months , we have been on a wild goose chase .
She regrets that she cannot be here to answer the questions in person because she is engaged in meetings in Brussels to prepare for next week 's important ministerial meeting on climate change .
In reply to whether an intervention plan exists for the area of Gibraltar and the port of Gibraltar , the British authorities have drawn the Commission 's attention to the existence of the Gibraltar public safety scheme , known as " Gibpubsafe " , which is the intervention plan for Gibraltar .
The first point I would like to make is that the repairs to the cooling system of this submarine are already under way .
This problem with the submarine has to be settled calmly and with full cooperation between all interested , relevant authorities .
Maybe the incident is serious , maybe it is not .
For him it is cause for complaint , to us it is cause for satisfaction : that is the only difference between us .
There is no way that this situation can be treated as a bilateral affair between two Member States which belong to a political union .
The interests of the people of Gibraltar and southern Spain are identical in this regard .
The Spanish Government , from the outset , has held a position based on two points : the need for transparent information , based on technical and scientific criteria , in order to assess the scope of the repairs and their potential risk ; and also , the view that any decision , either on its repair in Gibraltar or on its removal to a naval base in the British Isles , be taken in accordance with rigorous technical principles .
B5 - 0901 / 2000 by Sylla and others , on behalf of the GUE / NGL Group ;
The real reason is not so much the anniversary as it is the UN refugee organisation ' s current plight .
That is not enough , however : we must give our determined support to the UNHCR , both in political and economic terms , to ensure there is a balance between the issues of predictability , flexibility and geographical location .
Anyone who was at the recent exhibition in the European Parliament and who studied the pictures and the script dealing with the work of the UNHCR in the world at the moment I think would agree that it is one of the saddest exhibitions that we have ever had the misfortune to see in our Parliament .
These meetings should help the Commission provide the more predictable and transparent funding that UNHCR requests and has long called for , while at the same time assisting UNHCR in rendering a better service to those in need .
B5 - 0902 / 2000 by Morgantini and Frahm , on behalf of the GUE / NGL Group ;
That is the second problem .
The new political leadership in Serbia must act in such a way , and I would like to point this out , Mr President , so that the former president and dictator Milosevic , together with his partners in crime , can be brought before the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague .
We either expect a clear amnesty law in the short term with specific details or , and preferably in combination with , a concrete date for the release of the political prisoners .
So much has changed since the autumn : the new authorities in Belgrade have moved fast , for example to restore international contacts ; they have moved fast to enable the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to take its place at the United Nations and , as well , to take its place in the OSCE .
B5 - 0911 / 2000 by Grossetête , on behalf of the PPE-DE Group ;
Human Rights in Tunisia- B5 - 0905 / 2000 by Boudjenah and others , on behalf of the GUE / NGL Group ;
And , on one occasion , General Pinochet decided to come to Europe and , as soon as he set foot here , the European judicial authorities set out to ensure that General Pinochet took responsibility for his actions .
I also express the support of our Group for the amendment from the Confederal Group of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left on the non-interference of military powers in the process .
The peaceful and democratic pursuit of political ends is not just a means to an end ; it is intrinsic in any worthwhile end itself .
So long as this situation prevails the country cannot be considered for membership negotiations with the European Union .
I am pleased because I think that , when it is not a vulgar sham , a hunger strike is a suicidal undertaking which my personal beliefs forbid me from encouraging .
Some , such as Béchir Habid , are in a critical condition .
Even if a few passports have been returned , even if President Ben Ali delivered a speech on the freedom of the press and improved prison conditions on the anniversary of his taking power , there has been a marked deterioration in the human rights situation in Tunisia .
At least 1 000 people are still imprisoned for the sake of their views .
The young student Béchir Habid has been on hunger strike since 18 October .
I witnessed powers being handed over within the human rights league a week before it was placed in official receivership .
( The President cut the speaker off )
Public declarations were made after these events deploring the use of violence and supporting measures to bring to justice those found to be responsible for it .
On the financial front , and this responds directly to the important point made by the honourable Member and it is an area where we have some experience in other countries , Commission representatives in Tunis are stepping up their efforts to launch very soon two programmes : one in support of journalists and the other in support of non-governmental organisations .
If this policy continues , there will be a bloodbath , just like the bloodbaths we have seen in other countries .
Let us hope that they will have the courage to take it up and we shall spare no effort in helping them do so .
In order for the elections to really unblock the current situation , we first need to create the conditions for those elections to be held in a climate of civil peace and reconciliation .
Mr Ouattara is not Ivorian and it is perfectly normal , as it would be in each of our own countries , for Côte d 'Ivoire to refuse to allow people who are not Ivorian citizens to hold office .
During the debate on the British submarine in Gibraltar you indicated that the Gibraltar Public Safety scheme document would be made available to colleagues of the House .
Mr President , I wish to follow the example of Mr Wurtz and formally withdraw our motion for a resolution as well .
I sense that we are going to have a whole new debate on the issue .
I shall take your speech as an appeal for more assiduous attendance .
Indeed , as we are aware , health does not last forever .
It is set against the background of the ' International Year of Older Persons ' , as proclaimed by the UN , and it is also very important that attention has been focused in various places on how the situation of the elderly will develop in the future , for example , in the countries of the European Union .
Those were the exception to the rule , for the large majority of people died at a relatively young age due to adverse conditions .
In this area of policy , European institutions hardly have any authority .
People need each other ' s care and attention ; they rely on each other .
The years go by : our work causes us to fall ill , we pay pension contributions and national insurance contributions ; we pay rates and taxes .
However , extensive early retirement and various graduated terms of retirement presuppose a massive revision of these policies because not all of them are socially inspired .
That reminds me of the debate in the sixties about keeping us women out of the labour market .
Mr President , like the rapporteur , whom I must congratulate , I too shall take as my starting point the obvious statement that , in terms of the population pyramid , Europe is an ageing continent .
As a member of the Friday Club - which admittedly is not an official group but in practice does exist - I am one of the hosts of the Members present today , as you are , and I hope that we will also manage this next year .
Anyone who is satisfied with the average will never embark on the adventure of a committed life .
It is crucial that we develop concrete policies and specific programmes for the various categories of elderly people .
We are certainly facing tremendous challenges .
Not everyone can or should retire voluntarily from working life .
( Laughter and applause )
It would therefore be appropriate to set as the date of entry into force of the regulation the date of adoption of the implementing regulation , so as not to lose the appropriations available in 2001 .
Firstly , it should be pointed out how good agricultural products , such as fruit , milk etc . are for you .
We want to stay healthy , and food is the overall basis for healthy living .
From this point of view , campaigns for information provision and promotion , cofinanced by the European Union and the Member States , are essential both to help restore the somewhat tarnished image of agriculture in the eyes of consumers and , moreover , to bring about recognition of the excellent quality of the very great majority of our agricultural products .
Or what about when people say that we have a shortage of protein ?
It cannot reasonably be the taxpayers ' and the European Union ' s business to finance advertising campaigns to encourage people , for example , to buy tulips or eat more apples .
Spending under the last programme actually fell between 1997 and 1998 .
Mr Mulder is right when he said that the common agriculture policy is designed not only for food but also for the social objective of keeping the maximum number of people in rural areas .
The final group of amendments which the Commission cannot accept are amendments which are at odds with the proposal , those which could have unwelcome consequences and those in which administrative procedures are proposed which are not customary practice .
Because it is actually true that it is certainly necessary , but also right , to promote the European model of agriculture .
In those times , the Rule of Saint Benedict required monks to drink one ' hemina ' , or about half a pint , of wine before meals in order to awaken the spirit and aid digestion .
I find this really quite dreadful : it contradicts the letter of the Treaty , and I hope that it will not happen .