Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-04-Speech-4-019"
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"en.19991104.2.4-019"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Commission’s Joint Employment Report clearly shows that the European employment strategy is slowly paying off. Good progress has been made especially in cases where the Member States have reached clear-cut and common agreements. But there is certainly no cause for resting on our laurels for the time being. There are still too many long-term unemployed with no real prospect of finding jobs. Women and the elderly often do not fare well in that same job market. Jobs are still badly distributed and investment into services is still very much lacking for example.
What is more, there are alarming signs that the process which has been in place since Luxembourg is now grinding to a halt due to a lack of European convergence strategy. Not all Member States have expressed the same enthusiasm to continue with this process. We were therefore disappointed, Commissioner, to see how the proposals with regard to the new employment guidelines 2000 put forward by the previous Commission were lacking in ambition. There has been no added pressure in this respect but perhaps we need it.
My group is not asking for new guidelines either. What we do need is to add substance by setting clear goals in the existing guidelines.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the rapporteur for his cooperation. It was hard work. We had to work fast but I should add that I regret that my group failed to reach agreement on a number of our high-priority points within the Committee and that we have therefore decided, Mr Pronk, to resubmit these amendments as we consider them to be essential. I think my group is entitled to this.
I would like to point a few things out. Firstly, under no circumstances should we restrict the European employment strategy to mere following-up of what is happening within the employment policy at national level. As far as we are concerned, the European Union should take the matter into its own hands and push for change. This is why we would like to see greater substance added to the employment guidelines by setting specific, measurable benchmarks at European level. We noticed that a great deal of progress has been made in cases where the Member States had agreed on joint benchmarks, for example with regard to the integration of the young unemployed. Consequently, my group would propose three new European objectives for the next couple of years.
First of all, it seems important to us that we should reach an employment level of 65%. This was the gist of Jacques Delors’ White Paper and it was, in fact, also the text of the previous Commission in 1997 before the Committee on Censorship apparently took action.
Secondly, we would also welcome benchmarks for the long-term unemployed and for halving the gender divide. Both long-term unemployment and the gender divide between men and women should be halved within the next five years.
A third important remark regarding our employment strategy is that we should be careful not to fall into the American trap where work and social security are played off against one another. We are therefore hoping to create a link within the employment guidelines between creating new chances for the unemployed and new jobs on the one hand and the quality of those jobs and social protection on the other. As is the case with European Economic and Monetary Union and, in fact, as is now the case with employment, we are of the opinion that the Member States should be guided by the three most successful Member States. So in actual fact we would like a social convergence strategy in addition to the employment strategy. In so doing, we would like to make the fight against poverty our priority. I have to say, it strikes me as almost incredible that this proposal to set up a Luxembourg process for social security has also been rejected by members of the PPE in the Committee, especially in view of the fact that it formed the very core of the Pronk report which we voted on in the previous Parliament. In my opinion, those who take the employment and social security issues seriously should perhaps finally take a stance on the matter.
Parliament got involved in the process exceptionally late this year. This was on account of the elections and the appointment of the new Commission. But still, we have made some progress because, as the rapporteur has already pointed out, this year the Council officially asked us for advice for the very first time. I urge us not to miss this opportunity of reinforcing the European employment guidelines and at the same of setting up a process of securing quality jobs and good social protection."@en1
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