Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-04-Speech-4-055"
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"en.19991104.4.4-055"2
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"Mr President, for years the European Parliament has been putting considerable pressure on the Member States. We are tired of woolly declarations of intent where tough decisions are called for. Now, just before the turn of the Millennium, we are reaping the harvest that we sowed at the Luxembourg Employment Summit in 1997. Under Christian Democrat leadership we were successful in persuading political, economic and social actors to join the practical battle against unemployment and for new work structures. The group pressure predicted actually materialised. Who would want to be one of the ones who have not done their homework? Furthermore, there is added value at European level if the two sides of industry can also learn from each other how to develop new concepts and to implement pilot schemes.
It was absolutely right to nominate Winfried Menrad as rapporteur of the 2000 report. All three committees that I belong to concur with much of his excellent work, which was produced under considerable time pressure. That certainly applies to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and, with perhaps a few reservations, to the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities, where the maxim “less would have been more” applies.
The report indicates that much of the progress will not be sustainable. In one case there is a lack of macroeconomic thinking, in another a failure to implement structural reforms, and in the third a lack of coordination between economic and employment policy.
There has obviously been an increase in preventive measures such as integrating the long-term unemployed into the labour market, and in active measures such as incentives to seek work or create jobs. But what is lacking is retraining leading to qualifications, and training facilities for young unemployed people. There is also a lack of part-time work models for older employees who are capable of work and keen to do it.
We must not forget young people, who need access to practical experience with computers and the Internet. In this case the Member States are responsible for providing knowledge about information technology. Also, we must not forget those late developers who we need to give a second chance to by opening doors to our education and training systems. I am pleased to say that the biggest progress has been with small and medium-sized companies, which are now working in an improved environment for new start-ups, as various administrative burdens have been lifted. But we need action on access to risk capital and worker participation in production capital. In short, the four pillars of employability, entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility and equal opportunities are stable components of a framework to provide secure jobs in the future. My amendment, which has been accepted, seeks to ensure that we firmly adhere to the annual cycle for reviewing the guidelines, so that Member States do not let up in actively promoting employment."@en1
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