privacy concerns raised but also the health concerns. i happen to know the tsa look to the health concerns and did an analysis of the exposure to the radio waves but i don't think the public at large knows that so if you could comment on both of those issues

the two officers never overstep so the officer that is with the passenger never sees the image of the passenger in the technology and the officer that is viewing that image is located in a remote viewing room. the standards for the officer few of those images are very high. if they are not permitted to bring cell phones and to the viewing area they are not permitted to take a picture and most importantly, the technology is set up such that the operator cannot store that damage. they cannot copy it. they cannot transmitted electronically to another workstation so we have taken a lot of measures from the privacy standpoint to protect the travelling public.

in addition the passengers are advised its optional if they do not want to go through this technology they can have alternative means of screening. the health and safety aspect of it were also very important from two standpoints. first from the traveling public standpoint for every passenger as well as our officers who would be near the equipment all day long and we had a number of federal agencies including the food and a drug administration, nist, look up the standards the manufacture certifies in terms of health and safety. we also asked johns hopkins university applied physics lab to take an independent but the technology and give independent assessment of its safety. and in essence, for the two different types of technology it is equivalent to less than two minutes of airtime in an airplane at flout to your

exposure or less than 10,000 times your radiation or exposure when you are on your cell phone so it is very minimal. dewitt have to fly i believe the standards 15,000 times a year to be exposed to anything that would reache safety standards. >> thank you. that's very helpful testimony to have. mr. aguilar, i want to first tell you and thank you for the extraordinary service we have had from the agency. he has really added to the knowledge of cbp and we appreciate it. i want to talk to you about the screening computer program that is known as the automated

targeting system. this is intended to identify travelers for additional screening even if they are not on the terrorist watch list. so again, it's part of this leered approach to security. now, following the christmas day attempted attack, dhs started requiring passengers who are citizens of our traveling from one of 14 countries to undergo additional physical screening before boarding a flight to the united states. what worries me about that approach is it seems to me to not really be risk-based and to encourage tourists to travel through other countries or use citizens of countries that are

not on the 14 country list it all i can understand why we would want to put him in for example -- yemen for example on that list. it makes sense. but terrorists are smart, they are adapting constantly, and when we advertise that these 14 countries are going to be subjected to additional screening, we just encourage them to go around that. why instead wouldn't we make increased use of the automated targeting system to identify high-risk travelers rather than doing this blanket approach? >> senator, you hit on something that is an absolutely critical to helping secure this nation and that is what you are referring to is addressing the unknown. when we talk up the watch listing, when we talk about the

biometrics, when we talk about the knowns, that is frankly in our world part of the easy part of the finding that people. what you're referring to is finding the unknowns, taking umar farouk for nitze beckham umar farouk abdulmataalab, had his father not come in with that piece of information he would have been completely unknown to us. but by utilizing the eighteen's system, the targeting system we utilize was taken into account tidbits of information that may or may not be in the tsdb. we've taken to be what might be known travel routes into the united states, origins, things of that nature. so that is managing risk. that is what that system is specifically used for in order to address the unknowns that might be coming into our country. we use that on a constant basis. it has been very successful. now, as to the 14 countries, and i will leave the rationale for

the 14 countries delineated to my partners from the tsa. but after 12:45 we need to do everything possible to ensure that not only the knowns and unknowns and any other gap could have been closed. and that is the rejection reason for the 14. but again, you've got something absolutely critical that we not forget about and that is the unknown trying to get into this country that we have absolutely no idea. we've just tidbits of information. we basically address by focusing our intelligence, buy focusing our efforts on what we do know of the modes, means or rationale as to how they try to get into this country. >> thank you. mr. chairman, just one closing comment if i -- >> go right ahead. i actually have a few more questions so if you want another round -- >> fine. that sounds great. >> okay, good. thank you.

in the last round of questions i asked about the ability to do a google-like search of a similar name were subject to cross all the networks but i wanted to ask all so we talked about this last time with mr. lehder and others who are here and this i didn't understand very well. i know that in the private sector there are some computer programs that don't search for the exact same name but have the capacity to make connections or words or topics. this case part of the frustration as i mentioned in my opening statement we knew from one intelligence source that there was a nigerian training with al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. we had another intercepted suggested something might be happening out around christmas

holidays. we had another intercepted demand only his first two names umar farouk, and then of course we had a father come into the embassy. so the question and the problem we have now is this enormous amount of data that he said the numbers are stunning, 10,000, and essentially new names suggested every day. more data collected primarily by the nsa every day it is in the library of congress. but so this is impossible for humans to sift through in a timely way. to your knowledge, are their systems, software programs that we can or should acquire that can make a stab at not just the same name everywhere bits of information that a quick search might tie together? >> yes, sir and as i mentioned

we are utilizing many tools and are always looking at others. the issue of alternative names is a relatively simple 1i think that probably all of us at this table have capabilities, resident in the department agencies that will deal with cultural differences and spellings and so forth so we've got that one of relatively liked. it does present problems when we are trying to do this on a massive scale and correlate with other data because now you have 100 different spellings of one man and they reach out and touch other data and now you have a false positive? absolutely. >> what about the case we had with umar farouk? is there a computer system that might precede a conceivably have picked out those similarities that i just mentioned, nigerian, umar farouk, then the father comes in and says umar farouk abdulmataalab? >> if your tayler a query

absolutely -- >> give me an example. sprick if you search on umar farouk and nigeria and allow it to use alternative spellings then it's an easy question. it was just as david indicated you know what you're looking for them the query is easy. >> we have the equipment to do that kind of search now the databases? >> that's correct. am i analysts -- am i analysts could have found that linkage if we were to make the queried. there are things, late and semantic indexing that would allow you to generate new knowledge and that is you can pour in many cables and they don't necessarily find a direct linkage but because they cannot learn if we are smart enough to program the algorithms they can connect pieces of information. we are certainly experimenting with that as well and certainly the sort of next generation of analyst notebook kind of things

which make pretty pictures and link people together. frankly any analyst will tell you that that is just the beginning. now you've got a tremendous amount of information and have to borrow down into one correlation between to individual points. >> okay. technology is taking us very rapidly so hopefully we can help to sift through all that information that helps to come on your desk every day to get commissioner aguilar, let me go back to the question about when you get the information about passengers coming on a plane but this business but a lot of times including with abdulmataalab we didn't have the information until he was on the plan. i wonder what you think about creating a rule that we thoroughly screen each flight each flight's passenger manifest against all our data bases at least 24 hours if not longer

before the airplane is set to depart understanding that not everybody will be on a database 24 hours before but most of the passengers probably will be. >> yes, sir. the more information we have available to less quickly is going to enhance our capabilities to affect the intent of anybody trying to board a plane coming towards us. today we use what is known as a passenger name record, the pnr, but as i stated earlier it doesn't give us all the elements we needed. we are working with the civil aviation industry to try and get them to get us the information that will get to us up to 72 hours before so that we can start running the passengers against our systems. prior to the actual wording 30 minutes before we do get the full biological information of the passengers when they sweep their passport or the carrier

provides us the package information that will give us those capabilities. but to the degree we can get more information as quickly as possible it will be a tremendous enhancement to our capabilities to run against all of the databases. scaap i appreciate that. so you are pushing it down to see if you can get the information up to 72 hours before the flight departure. >> yes, sir. the pnr data yes we started 72 hours at 24, eight and one hour before then we get the data for 30 minutes before boarding. spi is it is a question whether you can get the data earlier than 30 minutes before because that is the more healthful data. >> is quick to be the data that gives the full information on the passengers that are going to be on the manifest. yes, sir. >> let us know if there's anything we can do legislatively to expedite the process. that's important. >> we are working closely with the industry right now but we will get to you if that doesn't work one to ask a final question.

it's my understanding and you refer to this somewhat in your opening statement, on christmas day last year shortly after the northwest flight 253 landed in detroit and the authorities began to investigate@@@@r@ @ @ 'd

in other words, given the imperfect information we had at that point about what was going on and the knowledge we had of these attacks being sequence not just one at a time when didn't tsa said those alerts to all aircraft flying into, across or out of the u.s.? >> actually i made the decision. i was on the call in the aftermath as we got word of the flight in detroit and we had the faa on the bridge call with tsa and i made the decision to have faa notified those pilots. as the information was rabid the coming we did a quick assessment of how many flights for the next

eight and a worse for inbound to the united states and 1284 inbound from europe and was my decision to notify those based on the intel we had and based on the fact this particular flight had come from europe and as a part of our process after all of these incidents we do a hogwash and look at what should we do differently, and we've already had it into our critical incident plant that if we were to face another incident like that we would notify additional carriers beyond those that we had an hour window in those eight hours in that specific region and it is one of the lessons learned. >> very important. so in other words, if that, god forbid happens again, you would notify the carriers flying in the u.s. as well. >> right. >> thanks for the initial decision you made and the lessons learned. senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

ms. rossides, do looked as if he wanted to comment when i was having the exchange about the 14 nations that were listed versus the greater use of the ats system. would you like to comment on that issue? >> yes, senator. was actually the tsa's decision to identify those 14 countries in the immediate aftermath of the christmas, and we based the decision most of those 14 countries are listed on the department of state's counterterrorism report. it's the terrorism report from 2008. exactly on the web site and those are reported as identified as state sponsors of terrorism or safe havens for terrorism and that was part of what we look to do. we were looking to do some very immediate things to literally blunt what could have been

another attack. and so we were looking at the that was one of many measures that we put in place in the weeks the early days and hours after the christmas eve and and in the subsequent weeks and it is something that we do all the time and we are now in the process of reviewing that list with the secretary and part of the initiatives that she has to looking at building more of a global information sharing capability. so that is something that we will continue to look at is those countries but it was is blunt measure because we didn't know who else was traveling and where they were traveling from. saxby for. mr. travers, i just want to pose my final question today to you. i was a bit concerned in the discussion you had with the chairman about the data bases across government that he

pointed to policy and privacy reasons why there could and couldn't be a surge across the database rather than technical reasons. and the reason i'm concerned about that is we are trying to get away from the stovepiping. we want that exchange. now, i recognize the concern with the u.s. persons versus foreigners, but we try to break down a lot of those walls when we pass the 2004 landmark law. so my question to you, what are some of the specific policies and privacy standards that prevent you from searching across databases? >> i don't pretend to be a privacy lawyer, but i will tell

you we've been working for many years to get data sets from different departments and agencies. we've had a fair amount of success with getting an analyst needed access. that is they can go in and long to one of those 30 networks and access another department or agency's dss. what gets to be far more complicated is if we want to actively in just a full data set so we can apply the kind of tools we were talking about earlier. that gets harder for departments and agencies because now they are basically giving up control of the data and generally it is not either foreign or u.s. persons increasingly we have data that are combing the lan. we've got both there and so this kind of provides a complicated problem set for the different privacy advocates and lawyers a different agencies about how far they can or should go with respect to allowing individuals like me in a intelligence community officer to be paul sing around the data.

so we have been working with probably 12 or 14 different redds and agencies. we have had some success with some, less success with others. .. we'll continue this discussion, but again, one looking at this

win this review began in the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 legislation, which established the dni and the end ctc and of course we've now been longer to experience the department of homeland security. so where weimar protect it. the american people are more protected than they were on 9/11. that's the good news. but we can do better. and that's part of our job is to continue the oversight committee to push on this. so the changes that you have made, the various ways across the agencies represented here since christmas day our construct to and helpful and increased security. and i look forward to the report and changes in policy on the watch list and of course the secure flight is implemented, it will be even a better situation. but anyway, i thank you for what

you do everyday. please continue to it and will continue to push you. and question are the record will remain open for 15 days on this hearing for additional statement. senator collins, do you want to add anything? thank you very much. the hearing is >> remarks now in u.s. policy concerning amalia pitt really a

rematch of the assistant secretary of state for african affairs in the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. agencies in rome. this is 35 minute. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to the state department. we are here for a special briefing by assistant secretary of state for african affairs thomas johnnie carson. and ambassador air theory and cousin who was ambassador to the world vote program in rome who joins us from rome. they will speak to you today about u.s. policy on somalia. ambassador. >> cordon, thank you very, very much. thank you all for coming today. i want to take this opportunity

to address a number of press reports over the past week characterizing a policy in amalia, specifically regarding our assistance to the transitional federal government. these reports have not accurately reflected or portrayed our policy position and what we are doing in that country. today, i will take a few moments to set the record straight and to place our policy in proper context. u.s. policy in somalia is guided by our support for the djibouti peace process. the djibouti peace process is an african led initiative, which enjoys the support of igad, the intergovernmental authority on development. it also enjoys the support of

the african union and the key states in the region. the djibouti peace process has also been supported by the united nations, the european community, the arab league and the organization of islamic conference. the djibouti peace process recognizes the importance of trying to put together an inclusive somali government and takes into account the importance of the history culture clan and said planning relations that have driven the conflict in somalia for the past 20 years. the transitional federal government led by president sheikh sharif ahmed is that the process made during the establishment of the djibouti peace process. however, extreme elements such as al shabab have chosen to

reject the peace process and have waged a violent campaign against the tsg in the people is amalia in order to impose their own vision for the future in that country. the united states and the international community, the u.n., the ague and our european allies among others have chosen to stand with those seeking an inclusive piece for somalia. we have provided limited military support to the transitional federal government. we do so in the firm belief that the tfg 61 the violence in somalia that is caused by al shabab another extremist organizations. however, the united states does not plan -- does not direct and does not coordinate military operations of the tfg and we

have not and will not be providing direct support for any potential military offensive. further, we are not providing or paying for military advisers for the tfg. there is no desire to americanize the conflict in somalia. we are also aware of the reporting on the somali american groups concerns about the diversion of food and assistance in somalia. the state department has received a draft report and we are reviewing it carefully. i will not comment on that report because we have a representative from our bureau of international organizations who can answer those questions. and that we are concerned about the troubling allegations that are contained in that document. the somali people have suffered tremendously throughout more

than 20 years of conflict and somalia's turmoil destabilizes not only that country, but the region and also some aspects of the international community. u.s. recognizes that any >> thank you very much, ambassador carson. i'd also like to thank the members of the press for your

interest in covering this important issues related to somalia. as johnnie carson stated, the somali people have suffered tremendously during the more than 20 years of conflict in the country. this somalia monitoring group, more commonly known as the smg submitted their report to the u.n. security council sanctions committee this past week. this smg report, the smg reports directly to the security council on implementation to the somali and eritrea regimes. we take a work of this somalia monitoring group very seriously and we are setting its recommendations. next week the security council will meet and received regular 120 day report from the chair of the somalia sanctions committee that will include a briefing on the committee's discussion of

the smg's final report. the somali monitoring group contains a number of recommendations, including those regarding the work of the world food program in somalia. we at the u.s. mission in rome are active members of the executive board of the world program. this board regularly examines the work of the world food program and the perils it's dedicated staff face around the world, particularly in places like somalia. in december 2009, world food program presented a briefing on the somalia program to the program executive word. after the december board meeting, wsb did take internal measures to address the concerns raised in this internal report. some of the same types of allegations were raised in this

somalia monitoring report. so this morning, the executive board recognize that regardless of the process mandated by the smg, the board has a the responsibility for oversight and governance of the wfp operations. consensus was reached by the board to ensure that all practices of the wfp -- wfp team in somalia are implying that the organizations policies and procedures. we will continue to work to ensure that the generous contributions of the american people to support the work of the world food program are managed in an accountable and transparent manner. we express our gratitude to the wfp staff for their commitments to meet humanitarian needs in the most difficult of circumstances. the united states remains strongly committed to meeting

the humanitarian needs of the people of somalia. we continue to seek ways to ensure that the somali and people receive the assistance they require. i'll end here, assistant secretary and look forward to any questions from the media. thank you. >> i would like to make a correction for the record i described -- [inaudible] as we calling you, please identify yourself and which ambassador you would like to speak to. matt. >> mably with ap. you mentioned at the very top you are taking a number of recent press reports. can you be specific about what this report said. you don't need to identify whatever organization, but what

did they say? what is wrong -- what was wrong with them? secondly, you said that the djibouti process was supported by igad, the ague and all the countries of the region. that's not entirely true if it? and then, very briefly on the military aid that you talked about, the several tons of weapons that have been provided to the tfg. are there any concerns that those weapons may be leaking out in the same way that the food aid was described as leaking out to insurgents? >> then they say the most prominent article was limited. a week ago in "the new york times" written by jeff gettleman anything co-authored by one of his colleagues. which asserted or carry the assertion that the u.s.

government had military advisers assisting and aiding the tfg that the u.s. government was in fact helping to coordinate the strategic offensive that is apparently underway now or maybe underway now in mogadishu and that we were in effect guiding a hand in the operations of the tfg military. all of those are incorrect. all of those do not reflect the accuracy of our policy and all of those need to be refuted very strongly. i think my statement clearly outlines what we are doing and why we are doing it.

you indicated that one state in the region has not joined in and that is absolutely true. that is eritrea. the eritrea in fact stand alone. what statement said was that the whole key state in the region, all the important states in the region and i was clued among them kenya, ethiopia, uganda and some other members of a god -- >> you're not planning to meet up with the president any more argue? whenever an opportunity presents itself to engage president ics to a government of peace and cessation of eritrea support for spoilers in the region i will do so. with respect to military

weapons, we try as best we possibly can to ensure through a number of mechanisms that any assistants, any assistance that we give to the tfg directly or indirectly discounted for and audited through mechanisms that we believe are very good. >> are you aware of any concerns that weapons have -- may have gone to insurgents? >> there are allegations out there. but let me say that because of two decades of conflict and instability in somalia, the country is awash with arms and in fact is in an international arms bazaar. weapons can be acquired very easily on the black market and they can be sold very easily on

the black market. we undertake through a number of mechanisms, including one that we have intentionally put in place to monitor any support we give to ensure that every possible effort is maintained over the handling of any assistance we provide. >> andrew quinn from workers. i have one question for ambassador cousin. i was hoping you could talk a little bit about what the practical results will be at the conference as he spoke love with regard to the wfp activity in the u.s. role in providing some of the food a day. is that going to -- if it stops, is it going to resume? what happens now? and for ambassador courson, i was wondering and you were talking about inclusive, hoping for an inclusive resolution to the situation. as the u.s. for c. or encourage a sort of afghanistan style reintegration effort reaching out to members of all shabbat

and bringing them back on board with the tfg or other elements. in second link, does the u.s. have a position in a use calls for u.n. peacekeepers in somalia? where do we stand on that? >> ambassador cousin, please. >> thank you. the board will continue to work with wfp to ensure that all the policies and procedures of wfp are followed in somalia just as they are in other countries where wfp partners with u.s. and other countries. we be united eighth as well as the board continue to be committed to supporting the food security needs of the people of somalia. >> on the issue of inclusiveness , we believe that the long-term -- the long-term solution for somalia's conflict

is to be found in a political reconciliation. we believe that it is important for the tfg to reach out to broaden its base as much as possible, to bring in as many claim and sub clan groups as possible to include among its rank other moderate islamist groups and somalis who were not a part of that group. i would think that any moderate islamist who were seeking peace, who are denouncing al shabab and you want to be a part of the peace process should in fact be considered for inclusion in a tfg government. with respect to the code by the

ague 48 u.n. peacekeeping force in somalia, i think that it is important at this point that amisom, who do the job that it has committed itself to do, that more african countries stepped up to participate in the amisom forest along with the ugandan, burundian, integration troops who are all ready on the ground. the force for amisom was originally supposed to be 8000 men. it is only slightly over 5000. we hope other african nations will come forward to make contributions to the effort in

somalia. the africans, as i've indicated, have recognized the importance of stabilizing that country. this has been recognized in igad and 80 resolution and the commitment by african countries themselves to put troops on the ground. this is essentially an african effort, an african led effort to does deserve the support of the international community. it's important that amisom to the primary work of trying to establish peace in that country. >> thank you. we'll go back to the third row and then we'll come to the second row. >> have three small questions. the first one is i know you stated very clearly that the united states is not coordinating or involving an any impending military offense by the tfg. but as the tfg requested any military assistance, specifically aerials and

military strikes, from the united states government? and if so, what was your response for your reply to them? and the other question is, have there been any military advisers from the united states government or any sort of covert military presence in somalia, in mogadishu, during the past few months because in mogadishu, the talk is that there is a very strong feeling that there are some sort of military advisers from the united states government in mogadishu. so can you confirm whether there has been any visits, any sort of visit from the united states government, military advisers to somalia? and the third and final question, as you said, you do not want to americanize the somali tfg military operations, but in september 2009, we know

that an operation by the united states government killed one of the al qaeda leaders in east africa in somalia. so how does these two arguments go@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @

support. but we have not received any. i have not received any. my office has not received any request for airstrike or air support for people on the ground to assist the tfg in its operations. the tfg operations are responsibility of the tfg government. i will reiterate what i said in my statement. we do not have any american u.s. military advisers on the ground assisting the tfg and its operations. it should be very clear. we do not have any american u.s. military advisers on the ground. we are not planning, coordinating any of the tfg military operations. it is for the tfg leadership to

determine how its military operates on the ground. finally, the issue of americanization of this, this is not an american conflict. this is a conflict among somalis that africans are members of the international community recognize it being extremely important for somalia, for the region and for the international community. it will be up to the somalis to ultimately resolve this conflict. the u.s. along with others in the international community can contribute in a supporting role, which we do and acknowledge, but not to become directly engaged

in any of the conflict on the ground there. >> just to follow-up on that, the somali government itself is faint at the conflict is not a somali conflict anymore. there is the clear affiliation by al shabab with al qaeda and the other u.s. military operation last year in the south of somalia. and in 2000, there were at least three other airstrikes. so it's not a somali conflict anymore. do you take on with that? >> that is a misreading of somalia's history, its culture and its long period of internets and conflict inside the country as well as in the region at cells. somalia has been torn apart by

internal strife for more than two decades. that two decades supersedes many other terrorist activities and events that you would like to associate with somalia. somalia's problems are the result and absent of a central government, constant tensions between various regions and among the five major clans and many sub clans that exist. ..

affiliated no either directly or indirectly with international terrorist groups. some would like to be even more affiliated but it's important to

recognize that he's carrying out activities in that country he is not a homogeneous monolithic group that is comprised of individuals who completely share the same political philosophy from top to bottom. >> to follow up on that because certainly it's not an american problem, you understand when you're sitting there but there are very significant american interest involved given that he is actively recruiting americans of sue moly descent in this country to change in the camps and just this week said he it's not afraid of the american intervention in that country. >> of the young somalis recruited in this country to go back to somalia to fight went

back to fight against the ethiopian incursion that occurred in that country. they did not go back to protest or fight against any kind of a u.s. policy in that country, and it's very clear that they went back for the somali nationalistic reasons. they went back to fight ethiopians -- >> we were backing the ethiopians. wasn't there -- >> they went back to fight against the ethiopians. united states was not in somalia. >> charlie wilson from cbs. can you give a dollar figure of how much aid to the ambassador

how much has the u.s. defense for this effort if the lesson -- food side orderly? >> i will the ambassador cousin speak to the judiciary but with respect to the u.s. support for amisom, the united states as a member of the contact group and as a member of the international community has provided something in the neighborhood of one under $85 million over the last 18 or 19 months. and that is in support of the amisom peacekeeping effort. ugonda primero but djibouti as well funding going to the tfg from the united states has been

substantially smaller and at that number is approximately $12 million over the last fiscal year's. so the money that we are talking about or what to flee small. i will let ambassador cousin speak to the food issue. >> thank you. our food assistance budget for somalia is approximately $150 million. but at this time, the wfp is not operating in the southern region of somalia, and our operational and food aid support to somalia is limited to the northern region of somalia only. >> charley, and david and a team that is all we will have time for. >> charlie keyes, cnn. you've spoken several times about what the u.s. military

assistance is not what u.s. military assistance with somalia is. >> let me say the united states government in support of amisom largely through programs run by the department of state have in fact provided assistance to amisom. we have supported the acquisition of nonlethal equipment to the governments of burundi and ugonda. we have provided them with military equipment and this ranges from everything from communications gear to uniforms. we have supported the training of the tfg forces outside of

somalia, mostly in the ugonda but also in djibouti. we have paid for the transportation of the troops back from their training places abroad into the country. we have also paid for specialized training given by egon vince to the djiboutians to deal with such things as improvised explosive devices, training for the protection of ports and airports. but this has been done by the ugonda in some -- ugondans, not by any u.s. government military officials. so those are some of the things. and everything that we have done we have reported as required, to

the u.n. sanctions committee. >> dave from voice of america. you keep reading that a the transitional government controls a matter of blocks that it's very weekend threatened. what is your take on its survivability? >> i think the tfg has demonstrated an enormous capacity to survive. when sharif took office as the head of the tfg approximately 16 months ago there were individuals who predicted that his government would fall within a matter of months and that he would not be able to reside in govern from there.

and this had not been true almost a year ago in may of last year al-shabaab mounted an enormously large offensive designed to break the back of the tfg and the will of amisom. they failed to do so. the fact that if a tfg in the remains standing is a reflection of its results and commitment of its leaders to stand up against al-shabaab. and they've been demonstrated the capacity to do so. there is no doubt that the tfg is still fighting hard to regain control over most of mogadishu. reports that it controls only three, four, five city blocks and erroneous. what the tfg does control is the

lone port to mogadishu. the two main airports and all of the central government buildings. it has clear control over one-third of the city and probably two-thirds of the city some of which is controlled by al-shabaab remains largely contested territory. we hope that as the tfg builds up its military forces that will be able to provide more security and exert more control over the city and demonstrate its capacity to protect the citizens of the country. we also hope that it will be more inclusive and reach out to other plans and so plans and to expand its political influence

and also to be able to deliver services. but again i want to emphasize these are the responsibilities of the tfg. this is a somali problem primarily that has affected the region and to a certain extent the international community, the united states believes that the somalis and africans should in fact remain in the lead. this is not an american problem and we do not seek to americanize the conflict here. >> secretary carson, thank you. ambassador, thank you for appearing before us today. thank you, ladies and gentlemen that concludes today's briefing. please stand by d half ? members

focus on humanitarian rights. this plenary meeting took place in strasbourg france. it's about one hour and ten minutes. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the first question from mr. joseph dole from epp. the floor is yours. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: president, president barroso, if my group and others here have worked here in order to get the list in treaty through and see it coming to affect that's something we can experience now the last three months. we need to have a policy that is worth its name in the international arena, and i think we should be on the right track but i would ask you that,

president, how can we say that 500 million europeans have their rights defended? it's up to the european union to live up to its ideals and values. the action surface has provided for by the lisbon treaty should be coming into the light of day soon and we will be involved in its inception. now, the european parliament with council and commission will act as a code decider. the financial regulation and other issues. my group is very keen on the fact the european service for externals action takes full responsibility in terms of budgets and policy. i look forward to your comments. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you to read to the creation of the

common external service is one of the most important innovations of the lisbon treaty. the service will assure that the coherence of our foreign policy through the hi representative. it will allow member states to participate more and be more and more involved in the area of common, foreign and security policy. so it's not putting this in the intergovernmental arena. quite the contrary. an agreement was given to the creation of the surface by the parliament. we had a -- we will have a meeting at the college next thursday. we would like to have a strong european service that will be a strategic coordinating instrument that will allow @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ e greek government you or any

office is in your commission had

already been informed about the correct figures, and second can you confirm that the director general had considerable doubt as early as 2004 and 2005 which he reported in relation to the data from athens. what did you do to support the data and third is it correct that the informed you they had considerable doubts about athens data? >> thank you very much. it is precisely because we had doubts against regarding the greek figures. namely commissioner armenia was leaving over five years with great competence and impartiality and object to be

that not only we made the point several times with the greek authorities but in fact have put forward a regulation in the council to give the powers and unfortunately this was rejected by the member states. they did not want to give the european commissioners more power to go in debt in the account of greece. i'm pleased to tell you the first decision of the commission was to put forth a game and my information is that this time at least some of the countries that voted against regulation this time they told me already there will vote for transparency. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you very much, president. on behalf of the group --

>> yes, please. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you. i've understood that mr. armenia was responsible but i was asking about your intervention perhaps you can tell me what you yourself did plead i understand properly mr. barroso, that the blame lies with member states for the greek crisis because they refused to all your proposals and will you tell us please which heads of state and government were involved? >> first call to ask me about the blame i don't use that name but first realize the greek authorities. it is because of this we have a huge problem. regarding the commission, commissioner armenia with my support perform its job and a competent way to the council of greece was several times at rest regarding the least of the

member states that voted against this matter i cannot by heart tell you but germany voted and it was germany that told me this time they are going to vote for it. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you very much. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: mr. president, today there is a consensus to say that we need strong economic governance in the e.u. and that is a huge change in the past few years. last sunday he stated that he was favorable to a european monetary fund. there are other proposals, other options flexible the creation of a european debt agency eurobond or perhaps eight european accrediting agency.

so mr. barroso, we see that things are moving quickly at least for the time being so i have three very specific questions. is it true the commission is currently working on a proposal to create this european monetary fund and secondly is it true as mrs. merkel states, i have my doubts but it's necessary to trade and dee dee to change the treaty to do so. third, do you agree this fund could run only be a first step towards the treasury will need in order to sustain this monetary union. >> regarding the proposal of the imf it was made put forth by the minister of finance of germany without leaving any details of such an institution. it seems however an instinct to the current debate about the

area that esf is already a larger proposal which might require the change in the treaty we are preparing counter surveillance. we cannot exactly tell what will be the format of this. of course generally speaking as you said was part of reading that goes in favor of increased economic government that we have to see the details and make the proposal of the right time. having said this the issue of the emf could not solve the urgent issue of greece. it's a separate issue that requires more analysis and is for a longer term. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: first i would like to thank the president of

the commission. i would agree the fund as such cannot solve the problems right away and that is why i asked in the commission's reflection there should be various options but on the table. you've got the emf that's a long-term project. he's got your bonds, another idea that can actually help in degrees case did you have the credit rating agencies. of course we've been working with foreign agencies but we could have it be to the european debt agency and put all these ideas together to come up with a coherent idea from the commission rather than the member states. >> yes. it's specifically to avoid what is happening now. everybody is proposing different ideas. sometimes within the same

government and its for this reason we don't want to be hasty. we want to prepare this. the commissioner stated this already we will be working on the basis on a communication and coordination of economic strength and economic policy and surveillance country by country within the context of the euro and perhaps also within the general context of the european union. that is what we are preparing right now and we don't want to work with the new proposals every day. we want to work an object of and responsible way and i think it is in this manner that we will be to get the best results. >> thank you. >> translator: president, in view of the situation in the european union there is no market or demand for the cultivation of the potatoes for

which there are alternatives. i would like to ask you what you lobbied so hard to insure that the potatoes were fast attracted the authorization procedure. i would like to have an explanation when there was no need what encouraged the new health commission simply to ignore the tests, why didn't you wait until they had presented its new directive which is just being written on risk appraisal in terms of risks by diversity and in general rising from the gm of why the contamination level for food potatoes were raised to support of 9%? this is a risky strategy which

will will find acceptance among our citizens. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: i would like to thank you. we have seen your protest. thank you very much. [applause] >> mr. president. the commission decided unanimously to move ahead with authorization of these in accordance with the provision of the european law. we have an institutional setting that we have to respect and we have to take a position yes or no. the time has elapsed since it was launched and that is because the authorization are subject to scrutiny of our independent agency in terms of security. he wanted all concerns regarding the presence of resistance marked to be assessed. after an extensive and complete

review of the spinning funds it was clear there were no new scientific issues that merited further assessments based on the opinion of our competent agency that is independent from the commission. so we believe that all scientific issues have been fully addressed and i was expecting from you a word of congratulations. [laughter] because i have announced we of intention to propose to give the member states the possibility if you want or not to cultivate the gm of. this is i think a reasonable position when we know that there are a few differences among the member states some very much in favor and some very much against >> i got no answer to the

question about the need for this genetic potato which is supposed to be supplied in industry. there are alternatives why take the risk and what about the contamination level? wind .9%? previously we discussed the evidence threshold i think for food and feed stuff when it comes to man resistant potato this is a significant rescue didn't address this and i would like to know whether additional authorizations before the directive is in place for example imported royce what is the time? >> thank you. [applause] the enthusiasm of your grew by one to congratulate you for the

manifestation. you have a strong position against any gmo. i don't have any position in favor or against. it depends on the opinion given to me by experts. i don't have any presence in favor or against the gmo and the commission as a position that is to follow in those matters. i don't see the commissioner not discussing ideological about its gmo what they should do regarding each one. the commission takes the position based on the independent assessment making to us not because the gmo is necessary but if there is not evidence that it is risky for public health for the environment in that case we feel obliged according also to the obligations which ended up with

ngo if there is nothing that prevents us scientifically from doing so. we respect very much -- >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: european conservatism's reform, please. >> i promise you that following the gmo my question is going to be more simple. i believe one of the things that we should talk about is the economics, that is right, and i'm sure that the european union citizens are far more interested in employment and jobs the and in a gmo potatoes.

some people in this cycle r for strong government. on the other hand, i represent the ecr curve and i don't think strong governments create jobs or in plymouth, i think businesses are responsible for the creation of new@ @ @ @ @ @ b

diversity of the states. that's why the european 2020 strategy we are making that point very clear. we address the issue precisely what instruments like the social and economic commission policies so the situation as not the same. at the same time, we need as said earlier, a stronger economic governance because it makes no sense in the european union and the cause of the member states alone do the policies certainly they will not have the leverage to discuss for instance the great challenges. the united states or china are an equal footing so we needed the same time to have a common approach but then to design specific measures for different member states. regarding the issue with ethnicity of burden that has been a very important point in my action made we believe we should pursue seeing

pragmatically where the legislation is needed and avoid the regulation when simply is not needed. >> [speaking in native tongue] transnet thank you very much. united left. >> translator: mr. barroso, last week he made a proposal for an economic strategy it there are a number of very important objectives of the overall framework. greece has had a savings program imposed which i think really is asking the impossible because here we are talking about a level of gdp 3% and so on. but in fact you're looking against this as a backdrop of the field stability growth impact. the same time several of the states are turning to the imf. now or you in your 2020 proposal going to rework the 2020

proposal to somehow integrate the monetary fund? what about tax dumping and so on? how is that going to be tackled? are you going to adopt measures with member states to put a stop to this speculation against the banks that have been just been bailed out with taxpayers' money? >> thank you very much. we believe greece has taken the necessary measures to reduce the debt this year and these measures show the good government to tackle the problems. at the same time, we are doing what is necessary to secure the financial stability of the areas. the commissioner has been working with the states to design a mechanism which greece could use in case of need. such a mechanism would be with the current treaty but not by a loud applause. it would include stringent

conditionality. the condition is ready to propose european framework for the coordinated assistance which would require the support of the area member states. this is what i can tell you about greece it about the response for the area's stability. regarding the proposals of 2020 you don't see any need to change. we've put them forward, those proposals. they are going to be discussed by the european council also by the european parliament and we hope it will be a very fruitful discussion. >> thank you. >> i'm not entirely satisfied the question is taxpayers' money is being used to engage in speculation against greek states. this money comes in part from

german banks and nothing is happening. we're just hearing talk about other measures are going to be adopted. i'm disappointed by the fact so little is being done. to prevent, to ban things from happening in the e.u. to put a stop to the speculation so that we can concentrate on growth. >> regarding speculation let's be clear they were not caused by speculation. it is mainly caused by overspending and not respecting the european framework in terms of stimulating the impact. manly the access of the debt but of course afterwards it may happen that speculator stacked against the sovereign debt of the country. this show is also the importance of fundamental reform derivatives market and the relevance of the action already taken by the commission. of the 20th of october, 2005 the commission began a program of action in favor of efficient

solid derivative markets. the legislative proposals that the commissioner presented before the summer and also those concerning the the market abuse directive that the commissioner presented before the end of the year will increase market transparency limit risks. the of the systemic response the new reflection is needed on credit to default swaps regarding sovereign debt. the problem of the naked practices needs political attention in this context. it is not justified by insurance and on seen interventions on the risks, on the purely speak to this basis. on the short term we must achieve this record mission to make sure states act in coordinated but for next practices in this context the commission will examine the relevance of banning purely spec collective credit to default swaths of sovereign debt. at the same time we will push for international coordination because these markets are very opaque. we will be in the position to

the g20 and we also have to raise some of these issues by actual context particularly with the united states. 64. did it disturb you because it was important elsewhere of course. while the specific questions this time there was slightly longer. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you, president. the question i wanted to ask has already been opposed as a greek member i wanted to make the point to you that greece will get through this stuff period of testing and we are responsible for this. it is a test of endurance and disciplined for greece.

i'm very happy to hear you speak of the g20 as a group in which the question of swaps will be debated. on top of the grease we have been hard hit by market speculation increase and i would like to hear you say a little more about that in fudgy 20 context. are you going to put forward any initiatives to establish clear rules with respect to uncovered purchasing, naked purchasing of credit-default swaps. >> it's important to say it comes from excessive debt. there will probably speak to that attacks but because they saw an opportunity. now, we have to support the increase. greece has announced very important measures and we fully support those measures.

at the same time we have to look to the broader issue. we will examine closely the relevance of banning purely speculative credits redefault swaps of sovereign debt. the question of transparency between regulators particularly on access to information on these practices also deserves to be raised. also in the g20 and another bilaterally. last friday the commission organized in brussels a meeting with national regulators to see what we can know about the action of some of these speculators against sovereign debt and we need to proceed on the in-depth analysis on the credit swaps market so as to better determine how these markets function and if they are the subject of questionable practices. if needed the commission will use the powers it has also in that matter. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you very

much. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: president, is there any kind of timetable with respect to this mechanism providing speculation? i would like to hear if so that way we will have some idea about borrowing capital on the international markets. >> the commissioner will present before the summer some legislative proposals regarding the directive on part of the bids and concerning the market abuse directed. the commissioner will present before the end of the year also a proposal. we believe this proposal will increase market transparency handling its risks. handling of the credit-default swaps we put in the june 20. it is in june.

>> mr. daniel please. >> mr. barroso, openness and transparency our fundamental values of every self respecting democracy. if people in administration can have their expenditure not uttered by citizens, then a senior of self and richmond can occur. we seen the last few years in the u.k.. in the dutch press it has been mentioned that mr. barroso in 2009 and declared 30,000 churros. that isn't just ludicrous large amount but quite a feat. imagine declaring 2000 year rose per day hat's off to you mr. barroso. but on a more serious note, space scrutiny of these declarations is something that really has to be dealt with because of internal audit is occurring and then people are getting their seal of approval. so i would ask mr. barroso and the commission as a whole to move away from this culture of

secrecy and publish their declarations often transparently on the internet so that all we european citizens can see what it says in them. i would appreciate a response. >> i am somewhat surprised by this kind of comment in fact the so called representational expenses we make the service of the european union namely truffle of the members of the commission, myself and the other members of the commission, and in fact if you compare these amounts with what is spent by government you will find that these are very small compared to those expenditures. the budget for the colleges fixed by the budget authority and you are part of debt and the budget has remained the same for five years. regarding the expenditures they are reasonable for the public goods detroit to serve and we

are scores using full transparency. we are presenting to the budget authority to the court of auditors all elements that have been requested from us. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you, mr. president. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: apparently the parliament does give access but that's nonsense. everything happens behind closed doors. everything in secrecy. if he doesn't show responsibility then he should make all of this public and if he doesn't want to then he should at least at the opening honestly but if you are following all the rules, then why can't these declarations be put on the internet and need your afraid of the reaction of the citizens. just make them public. >> thank you. in a system of law we respect the rules.

[inaudible] >> mr. president barroso will give an answer. mr. president, please start. >> in the system of law we respect the rules of law and to make analysis of the intention of people is at least on a fair. we cannot attribute to me or the commission any intention behind what is the respect of the rule of law. once again, i think we have to make a distinction between what are the obligations of the european commission or any public body regarding will fall or what is to give up some demagogic attacks to the european institutions. in fact in the commission, the institutions in general have the highest standard in terms of transparency and so i do not accept this kind of easy criticism populist demagogic

will. [applause] >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you mr. president for your answers. we've completed the first round of questions to the president of the commission of a general nature. now we should focus on one topic that is the implementation of the new treaty and the basic@@@)

[inaudible] for the period between 2009 to 2013 billions of years for helping. now don't mr. beatty to whether mr. speed is familiar how the money will be spent but i would appreciate if mr. speed could talk about his attitude towards the state because very often when you talk about countries with the government you don't mention so i would like to hear what mr. barroso thinks of the state of eritrea. thank you. >> thank you for the fundamental rights. of course we defend and we defend not only in the european union but also in our relations. it does not mean we can only have relations with countries that respect fundamental rights. unfortunately there are many countries in the world that do not respect fundamental rights and we have to keep relations

with those countries. it is in fact a case that raises concerns in terms of respect for fundamental rights also because of the situation in which the state exists it to be considered according to some commentators as a field state. a state where there is not rule of order because of civilian conflict because of widespread violence because of back many areas of the country the authorities cannot exercise a space power so we are in fact following the situation in all countries that can pose a problem to the fundamental rights. >> jean? [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: mr. president, ladies and gentlemen, within the context of the date i would like to draw your attention to the

body scanners in the european airports. one of the principles of the european policy is the protection of health and safety and fundamental freedoms of the citizens of europe so we must not agree to a situation in which the feeling of three of the security and safety. we are so easily waiving the right to the protection of privacy. i have a feeling that the situation with the scanners is similar to the one which we lived through during the five new flu pandemic. we have invested a lot of money into the vaccines which were not needed and we know that today. we believe we are also trying to force the situation in order to use body scanners here. mr. president i would like to hear on this issue. are you for or against the body scanners? thank you.

>> if the member states agree because i think it should be and normalization of the rules of security and safety in our airports. what happens now is some of the member states are introducing body scanners in the report's authors are not. so as you know the commission has presented some time ago a proposal for body scanners that was refused. we believe of course this raises some concerns but we should try to find if possible a position regarding any security and the european airports. if not we can have a kind of discrimination of the evaluation of the security and our airports >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the treaty

respects the rights of local authorities and regions across europe and this will be an important factor for example when you start discussions on the future of the policy. i wonder if you could tell us why you start those discussions on the upper region report that he would assure us that you will have those discussions with local authorities regions on the policy and of course with this parliament. >> yes, this is not for the fundamental rights but of course we will discuss these issues with local and regional authorities. it is for us a social and economic and territorial commission. this is now recognized by the lisbon treaty as one of the goals of the european union. in the new 2020 strategy that i presented some time ago we make it clear that the collision will remain a central feature of our

proposals and we want to have all the time and consideration of the policies. and this is part of the dialogue with the regional and policy authorities. i also mentioned in the document i just referred to i also mentioned the need to consult for instance the region's. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: -- before, mr. president. i would like to raise a piece of the metal will expedite recently visited scotland and perched a boy who wants to raise [inaudible] this relates to the first speaker was saying about eritrea. the family martyred eritrea for being christian, the persecution of christians is a subject of a lawyer familiar with. he managed to escape to italy and in scotland where allison

and robert took her and cared for her and looked after her as their own daughter. she is now 17. she is facing deportation back to italy where she first sought asylum and we are doing all that we can to raise her case to appeal to all those that can help her if she requires to remain in the loving care of allison and robert. her case is raised by civil society human rights organizations and churches across scotland. it was even mentioned on the fall for the day radio scotland yesterday. what can the commission to to protect her fundamental rights? thank you. ..

>> translator: thank you president. the fifth of march, the president of italy signed a decree into law, and interpretation, which allows for the ground rules to be changed in the election campaign and on his own site, the presidential palace site, it says in a meeting on thursday, the text produced by the internal

ministry was endorsed by me. in article lvii the italian constitution it says the president shell promulgate laws and legal acts and they cannot themselves be involved in the drafting of legislation or legal decrees and mr. champy says that this is a distortion of her democratic systems. and this decree changed the electoral ground rules as undemocratic and those who broke the law can do so for electoral advantage. i wonder why this parliament is always happy to act on its own laws but won't do anything -- my. >> one minute questions. please, keep this rule. it is very important.

>> madam, once again, don't ask me to get involved in an internal political issue. the commission has a responsibility in the area of fundamental rights when we are talking about executing european legislation either on the european or national level but this is not the application of a community law that is in question here but from what i can gather from your contribution, this is more of an internal issue in your country. perhaps it does have a dimension that links into the legalities, but we really can't get involved in the issues of political personalities. >> thank you. >> thank you. president barroso, the

fundamental rights are thus far the only international document that talks about discrimination on the basis of orientation and bands that form of discrimination. now, europe has made in achievement here. listening to the e.u., there were three countries, the u.k., poland and the czech republic which have not incorporated the fundamental rights, so i would like to know about what you intend to do in the commission to protect the rights of and transsexual people to defend their rights. here, we have got directives on employment legislation and we want to stop discrimination. we want people to be able to

debate their love lives without fear. >> there are two questions there. don't know if i can respond to them in one minute. first of all regarding discrimination on sexual orientation, the previous commission directed against any form of discrimination including based on sexual orientation outside also of an employment. we are committed in legislation and member states measures fully respect the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. they are the principles as you know are not enshrined in european union charter of rights. regarding poland and the united kingdom, the protocol for the application of the charter and that the united kingdom and the ability within these member states. it states in particular the charter does not extend the

ability of the court of justice or any court or tribunal or of the united kingdom to find the laws are provisions practices or actions of the united states are fundamental rights freedoms and principles. so we have to see still what is going to be the way. the european court of justice will make the interpretation of the protocol of those two member states. >> thank you. mr. ashley fox please. >> countries around the world have finally worded ills of rights in their constitutions. rather fewer of for genuine protection to their citizens. do you agree that what matters is not the structure of protection of rights but rather how that protection is practiced. in the united kingdom, we face a general election within three months. if elected the conservative party will repeal the human rights act and replace it with

their own bill of rights. this would mean that the european convention of human rights would no longer be directly applicable in the u.k. domestic law. esther president, will you explain to what extent plans for the e.u. to sign the european convention of human rights will take into account the different positions of member states? i party also seeks a treaty change to guarantee the charter fundamental rights does not affect u.k.. how will you ensure that the e.u. doesn't interfere with the u.k.'s right to opt out of those structures we don't wish to participate in? thank you. >> i partly already answered the question when answering the previous question. the united kingdom and other countries have a protocol regarding the charter of fundamental rights. and it has the rights. they were negotiated and we had an intergovernmental treaty that recognizes this. having said this i prefer all

member states to accept the charter of fundamental rights because i believe this charter is a fundamental comp is for all european@@@@ rbrb@ @ @ @ @ @ @ >> thank you very much. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thank you very much, president of the commission.

women's rights is a basic fundamental human right and we need to champion that in the european union that we see that there are huge inequalities that exist and are actually becoming worse, including salary differences between gender. we also have more poverty and more precarious work among women thomas so it is not enough to pay lipservice to women's rights it is not enough to do that unless we have a full discussion with organizations who work with women, and i am wondering if the commission is available to give it a priority to this subject with two measures for example by drawing up a strategy in favor

of the quality of the european parliament is drawing up a report on the strategy. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: last friday, commissioner redding and i presented a document in this area and we reaffirmed our commitment to work in this area in september. the document in question will be followed up through a strategy in favor of equality, so we do have a broad framework for the commission to work under, to provide more equality between the genders, so we are very much in line with what mrs. ichiro said because we do have to guarantee these rights. the letter was published to

celebrate the 15th anniversary of the beijing summit, and the commission and various committees of the european parliament are working in this area. tomorrow we will be having another meeting, so this won't be the first one. >> thank you are a much. >> president barroso, the question i would like to race today concerns the financial situation in greece. article cxxi of the lisbon treaty is for the first time being used to push through structural reforms in that country. the good people of greece now find themselves that between iraq and a hard place and it becomes very clear that the country-- does this mean you are sending your officials to sort out the financial situation that you can now redress but only as the governor of greece? if the measures your officials putting greece don't work, do you have a plan b? if so, if it agrees to use the

eurozone and friendly cert you intend to send in your officials to other countries suffering hardship, for example portugal, spain and italy? thank you. >> thank you very much but i would like to explain to our topic is implementation of the new treaty and respect the fundamental rights. so, please keep to this topic. are you ready to give an answer? >> i try to be always ready at her request of members of of the parliament mr. president. your question mr. distinguished member of parliament, comes out of an assumption that is not correct. that is because greece is having some problems. in fact, we have countries outside of the euro area that have similar problems. in fact in some cases even more

serious. in the european union, for instance iceland i am asking to join the european union precisely-- [inaudible] in fact it is a complete mistake to think that the problems of greece are a result of greece being in the euro. it is precisely because greece has not respected the rules of respect that greece is now facing difficulties and that there is a difficult adjustment it has to make her co. >> thank you very much. >> mr. president, thank you. could i just ask it perez question with respect to the storage of data which the german constitutional court has ruled on early in the month saying that it was nolan voigt to store

code medications data but it is still unclear to what extent unsupervised data storage and accessing data is compatible with human rights. e.u. directives on the storage of data. or the catalog of fundamental rights in the e.u. treaty must come into force there. should we not check whether the catalog of fundamental rights in the treaty is correct with respect to provisions? >> thank you her co. >> first of all it is a fundamental right in article viii of the european charter of fundamental rights. thanks to lisbon treaty we can now establish a copper has a framework for the protection of personal data are co-this is essential to protect the privacy of our citizens to insure a common approach to all data

processing activities within the european union and the european parliament of course has reform of the current legal framework since the decision procedure also applies for the former third pillar areas. we must also ensure that fundamental rights continue to be protected when personal data and agreement on personal protection for a person that could be important and we are working for this. we are currently the technical-- to ensure transparency and collects the use of stakeholders and citizens. the commission plans to make a draft recommendation to authorize with the united states her co-. >> mr. president during the last decade international cooperation

with counterterrorism has been made more difficult egos of humans rights concerns including the practices of the u.s. administration. we had hoped to put that behind us with the obama administration. sadly we have learned that unfair military commissions and indefinite detention without trial will carry on even if guantánamo is closed. these departures from international and domestic legal norms make transatlantic data sharing projects even more problematic then they would otherwise be. what representation does the commission make to the u.s. administration in order to uphold fair trials and warning that their absence will prejudice cooperation? i hope that nowadays, unlike the past, there is no danger of the e.u. or its member states colluding with gross breaches of fundamental rights and counterterrorism.

>> of being the first as far as i remember to raise the issue. with the united states president, former united states resident of the need to respect the fundamental rights and look law also in dealing with terrorism regarding the issue of guantánamo. myself and then president of the european council, then prime minister abbas or raise the issue and the matter has always been an issue of dialogue with our american partners. so you may be sure that this is going to be in the agenda. re: regarding protection, we believe that we should work also with the united states for a framework or gorgeous mention that in a previous response. at the same time we need to have a framework to combat terrorism together so the question is to find the right way of responding to two needs that are important, the need to freedom, respect and protection and the need of

security because without security there is not the possibility of freedom. >> thank you. one minute please. >> one of the key issues in the new lisbon treaty is the increased drawer of european union in the world. with this new strengthen foreign-policy we as a union must be more active in the promotion and defense of human rights from fundamental rights in third countries. my question to you is what are you and mr. ashton planning to do to strengthen the e.u. promotion of democracy policy? second question, but you'd be supporting greater funding for the european instruments for the democracy and human rights in the next budget? human rights always seem to take second and third place in our dialogues. i think we need to spend more time and money in the promotion

and bh or european endowment for democracy. i would like to hear your opinion on these issues. thank you. >> up her vision of the treaty promotes rights throughout the world. european union has adopted guidelines on human rights and issues from death penalty to be support for human rights defenders. under these guidelines the european union ranging from diplomatic-- i myself the in raising the issues of human rights and summits with heads of government from countries. just recently in the dialogue we have made the point on fundamental rights, precisely in the last sum it, the summit we had just last week her co-of european union has established human rights dialogues with

partnering countries around the world would serve as a form for detailed discussions. the commission programs around 150 million each year to support human rights across the globe. and we try to insert the humans rights clause in every framework we conclude with a country. >> thank you very much mr. president. >> thank you resident. one of the fundamental principles is freedom of movement. on the night of the issue between libya and switzerland, hundreds of e.u. citizens, workers that cannot answer libya to work. my question is what is the european commission doing to seek a solution to this issue

urgently? it is acceptable that one country such as switzerland takes eight in the latter role decision that affects all citizens and in particular the workers that would like to work in libya to earn their daily bread? >> we are very concerned with this case. the commission has expressed suspension by libya of visits to the areas. in addition the situations are current with the positive trend of relations between libya and the european union. intense efforts are ongoing to find a solution to the crisis. one of the two-- justice members have discussed it respectively and have supported the continuation of diplomatic efforts. i believe it is essential to keep the dialogue open and make

effort of understanding its party's positions with a view to finding a solution as soon as possible. speak thank you for giving me the floor. now that we have had the ratification of the treaty and lisbon respect for fundamental human rights has been enhanced. if you look at a number of decisions passed by the court of justice we do have to do something about strengthening these rights even further. in the luxembourg case, in fact, this has had implications for human rights. here we are talking about equal treatment to people earning wages in respect of their nationality and here we are talking about workers being given the same pay and similar working conditions to domestic

workers, workers from the country concerned. now i think that we have to look at what mr. barroso said in the past before he was reelected as president of the commission. when can we expect, this is my question to put forward a legislative proposal to solve this problem which has come into being after the court's ruling? can the commission president already today give us assurance? >> when these rulings were made public, we expressed our position very clearly. myself and then commissioner responsible for employment and social affairs making it clear that in our understanding those rulings could not put in question the fundamental rights like the right to strike, to write a trade unions, like the specificities of some mechanisms

of labor relations in our countries. we are working on some proposals to address these issues. i cannot give you concrete states. i am sorry because i was not expecting this question now but as i have said before, the election of this commission by the responsible commissioner is an issue we will address shortly. >> translator: thank you chairman. i would like to ask fundamental rights, the new treaty and external action. according to the budget committee, there have then 43 deficient financial transactions. how does the treaty, our

engagement for fundamental rights and enhance the reduction of the number of errors in the budget, its performance and they are reporting 43%. that is a sample showing the level of financial error. >> as you know we have been working over the years to redeem financial ayers and the accounts of the european union. many of those errors as you know are the responsibility of the member states and an implementation of many european programs. i am encouraged by the recent opinion given by the european court of law that is recognizing the progress made so far but i believe in this area we should not be complacent and we are ready to work to diminish all kinds of errors in implementation of the european union budgets.

>> translator: thank you resident. yes the treaty does speak about how we are to safeguard fundamental human rights, and those countries that wish to become members of the e.u. must conform with what the e.u. is requesting as well as other countries that became members with us. with regards to the president's beliefs, or regards to fundamental human rights, turkey must do a lot and what is the commission doing to ensure that before the turkish economy is stable, but for turkey is what we are requested, fundamental human rights are the most important aspects and i am sorry to say that these are inexistent

>> i will not say not exist and frankly speaking. in fact we don't believe that it is still compatible, the standard of respect the fundamental rights and the rule of law, compatible with european standards and this is precisely part of the work we have been developing with turkey over the years and each year, because turkey is a candidate country to the european commission, the european union reforms and all matters related to fundamental rights. there is progress in some areas, to be fair. there are others where we are requesting more efforts from a turkish authorities and i believe the way of keeping these dialogs and in fact these negotiations is indeed the right way to have progress in the matters of respect to

fundamental rights and generally speaking the rule of law and democratic reform in turkey. >> thank you very much for a very interesting debate.