Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-06-Speech-3-390"
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"en.20000906.17.3-390"2
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"Mr President, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mrs Glase for her report, which is extremely efficient. It is a very complex report which I described in committee as cautious in parts: cautious for reasons of necessity, if we consider that employment policy concerns the Member States, and therefore does not afford the European Parliament, or, by extension, Europe, genuine, practical competence in this matter. So we are faced with a real, substantial difficulty to overcome.
As Mrs Jöns has just said, what we now need to do is develop a new strategy which looks at the entire question of work and employment from a global viewpoint, and calls upon the Member States first of all to make their situation public with regard to employment and undeclared work.
So far, we do not have detailed documentation for all the States; that is, we do not know the extent of the problem in all the Member States. We do not know the extent of the problem in the States which are hoping to join the European Union either.
It is a complex issue: the percentage is increasing every year in line with the gross domestic product; we have a remarkably high average of 15% across the countries of the European Union. This figure should make us think.
In any case, for all of us, illegal and undeclared work constitutes, by definition, an abuse of those who need to work, not least in terms of the tax burden which should ensure solidarity. This is, therefore, a crime against society, which we as legislators must address, within the limits of our direct competence in this field.
However, there are specific recommendations in the report, for example specific procedures which could be implemented in order to fight the scourge of illegal or undeclared work.
I tabled some amendments, which have already been accepted by the rapporteur, and I will therefore not dwell on them. I would just like to use the rest of the time available to mention an amendment which is particularly important to me and which I believe people found difficult to assess objectively: the amendment on illegal child labour, which I will summarise now.
It is claimed that child labour does not exist in Europe, but that it might exist – as has been stated – in Italy and southern countries. This is not true! Child labour exists everywhere: among immigrants or third-country nationals, among all those young people who drop out of education before they reach the age of majority, who are exploited, underpaid and untrained, thereby constituting a serious problem of exploitation and undeclared work because they do not have a qualification which can be used to ensure that they are adequately paid. Lastly, the issue of illegal work also concerns children under 15 years old!
So let us not pretend that this problem does not exist in Europe, because it does exist, and Parliament should speak out resolutely on this matter too, in order to confirm the social, democratic and political maturity of this House."@en1
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