Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-15-Speech-3-255"
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"en.20001115.11.3-255"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights says in its preamble: ‘It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice’, and in its first article it adds: ‘Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected’.
I bring in this quotation from the Charter of Fundamental Rights because some situations described in this magnificent report – I congratulate the rapporteur on it – are probably incompatible with this declaration that has just been willingly adopted by this Parliament.
Compared with these statements, reality is stubborn. Eurostat data tells us that 18% of the population of the European Union live on less than 60% of average national income or, in other words, 65 million Europeans are living in poverty. Naturally the national poverty rates are varied and different, as are the types of poverty: urban, in industrial slums, in isolated rural areas, etc., or the poverty linked to sex or age discrimination – I am referring, of course, to poverty among women and child poverty.
Today’s worlds, the society of globalisation and the world economy, the society of information and technological development, may also have a not very positive influence and create, or help to create, new forms of poverty, on account of the intrinsic difficulties in this kind of society in opening up access to employment – to me this is the fundamental route to social integration and inclusion – and because of the need to improve employment and obtain higher-quality jobs.
Europe has created a lot of employment. In my country, Spain, José María Aznar’s government has made an effort and adopted a commitment: it has succeeded in bringing down a high unemployment rate, and it is still upholding this objective, which is being met, and this commitment. But I do not think we should be satisfied just with what has been achieved.
To achieve a Europe that encourages integration, in the words of the Lisbon European Council, requires joint effort and joint action. This comes through knowing the characteristics and the means that can get everyone involved, in society as a whole and in the various governments, on account of the need to quantify objectives and eradicate child poverty, because child poverty must generate other kinds of poverty and perhaps establish formulae of social exclusion that perpetuate poverty and perhaps even destitution. Therefore, Commissioner, I ask for a special effort to be made to eradicate this child poverty."@en1
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