Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-13-Speech-1-029"
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"en.20000313.2.1-029"2
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"Madam President, Mr President-in-Office and Prime Minister of Portugal, the current situation in the Union and in most of the Member States is bound to raise legitimate concerns, in spite of the overall economic recovery. The rate of unemployment has stayed relatively high, long-term unemployment is growing steadily worse and levels of employment are extremely low. To add to this, there is an increasing lack of job security which makes matters even worse. All this reflects a social situation in which women and young people are being particularly badly hit, and which is dramatically highlighted by the approximately 50 million people excluded from society.
On the eve of the Special Council dedicated to this problem, the basic question being asked is whether there is the political will to change this situation or whether, on the other hand, what we have is merely another ineffective initiative to add to the list of plans, strategies and summits in the past that have already been devoted to this issue and none of which has resulted in real change.
It is our opinion that it is not only necessary to change this state of affairs, but that it is also possible to do so. It is necessary because employment, and I mean quality employment with employee rights, is a fundamental right of every human being. It is possible if we attack the real causes, which we feel are inseparable from the drift towards neo-liberalism, which has been shaping underlying trends, specifically in the macroeconomic field. This theory, whose exponents have given priority to the Stability Pact and to the nominal convergence criteria, and who have consequently sidelined social cohesion, generally goes hand in hand with a complete deregulation of employment, with incentives for privatisation, mergers and delocalisation, which as a rule, create unemployment, and with highly restrictive budgetary policies at Community and national level.
We are therefore now witnessing a clear consolidation of the basic core of Thatcherite tendencies, even if they are attenuated by aid measures. Today, they are no longer so much being promoted in line with much vaunted conservative principles, as on the grounds of so-called globalising pragmatism and in the name of competitiveness, which has been elevated to godlike status. An appeal for the coordination of social policies or an insistence on a society based on innovation and knowledge or on information technology will therefore not be enough, however important they may be. It is crucial for us to abandon this monetarist and anti-social approach and put humans at the heart of our priorities and policies.
My Group, which attaches particular importance to social issues, met in Lisbon last week in view of the forthcoming Special Council, precisely in order to examine and discuss this issue. We had an opportunity to listen to and hold discussions with workers’ representatives and with union leaders from Portugal and other parts of Europe. In particular, we met representatives from ABB, from Michelin and also the organisers of job marches. We reached joint conclusions on 14 points, of which we will officially inform the Presidency.
Basically, as far as we are concerned, we need to adopt macroeconomic political measures which are based on stimulating demand, on public investment and on respect for improved public services. These measures should be geared towards full employment and guarantee a rate of employment of around 75% by 2010. We must ensure a redistribution of profit towards labour, ensure that speculative movements of capital are taxed, we must combat tax evasion and fraud, and curb mergers and delocalisation, particularly when they involve redundancies. We must move ahead with reductions in working hours without reducing wages and without downgrading the quality of jobs, and we must reconsider the EU’s Financial Perspectives, give clear support to small and medium-sized enterprises, firmly commit ourselves to an improved education system and more and better professional training and end the discrimination that mainly affects women and young people. We will examine and judge the results of the Lisbon Summit in the light of these factors and in the light of our ability to establish concrete, properly quantified and timetabled objectives in this key area."@en1
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