Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-15-Speech-3-135"
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"en.20000315.3.3-135"2
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"Portugal holds the presidency of the European Union for the first half of the year 2000. It has therefore decided to organise at the end of this month, in Lisbon, a Special European Council on the following problem: ‘Employment, Economic Reforms and Social Cohesion – towards a Europe based on innovation and knowledge’.
This initiative is to be congratulated. Unemployment and the resulting poverty and social exclusion are scourges which we must tackle head-on. The preparation of a coherent and coordinated strategy involving all the Member States is therefore essential. We must firstly set ambitious objectives. Those indicated in the Portuguese presidency’s document are the return to full employment, stable growth, a genuine process of social cohesion, equal opportunities and the fight against poverty.
As underlined by the President-in-Office of the Council, Mr Guterres, we were able to coordinate our economic policies to launch the euro. The European Union must now accept the challenge and proceed in a similar fashion by proposing guidelines for the policy on employment and social inclusion.
I also welcome the idea of setting quantified objectives and benchmarks, in particular an annual average growth rate in the EU of 3% and a level of employment of 70%. To complement this, a transparent benchmarking system must be established in order to assess the progress made by Member States in achieving these objectives. This requires an open system of paired assessment and coordination.
The presidency’s document also stresses the necessary reinforcement of social convergence and the modernisation of our social protection systems. The essential condition is clearly to guarantee a high level of employment. This requires the creation of jobs, not just any jobs, but quality jobs, particularly in the service sector. It also involves keeping jobs in Europe, given that the recent trend has been mass and systematic redundancies. This means that the workforce has to adapt to the new information technologies.
I therefore broadly support this programme. I hope these objectives will lead, during the Lisbon Summit, to specific and ambitious measures which can meet the legitimate expectations of the male and female citizens of Europe."@en1
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