Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-14-Speech-3-049"
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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great interest that I take part in the debate on Mr Bullmann’s report on the preparations ahead of the Stockholm European Council and on the report from Mr Gasòliba i Böhm on the significance of deregulation and economic reforms on economic growth in the European Union.
However, opening up the product and capital markets is not an end in itself. Instead, there are two reasons for this action: it is a tool for growth and increased employment. It is also a tool for increased consumer benefit – lower prices and a greater range and better quality of goods and services. In this context, we are also aware that external trade policy has a role to play, and we hope to be able to shed light on this issue too in Stockholm.
The Stockholm Summit should also emphasise the significance of new technology by developing the action plan for
Europe and removing obstacles to the growth of biotechnology and its significance for innovation and growth. However, we must also take into account the moral and ethical dimension of biotechnology.
Expected demographic development in Europe poses a growing challenge. Low birth rates and an increasing proportion of older people threatens to considerably increase the maintenance burden for people of working age from around 2010 onwards. Demographic development must be tackled on a broad political front right now. This will require an extensive review of pension systems and systems for health care and care of the elderly. It will also require measures to increase participation in the labour market. The significance of improved conditions for families with children, increased equality and lifelong learning should be highlighted more clearly as means of meeting the demographic challenges. As more people take up employment, the focus on working conditions increases. The aim in Stockholm is to be able to agree on a definition of the concept of quality at work and its significance for growth and employment.
I would also like to stress the vital importance which the successful development of economic and monetary union has for stability and welfare in Europe. The Swedish Presidency will be actively working to ensure that the introduction of notes and coins in euros in the currency union at the start of 2002 is an unqualified success. This is in the interests of us all.
I have listened with particular interest to Mr Bullmann’s report on Parliament’s contribution to the Stockholm Summit and would particularly like to welcome the holistic approach of the report, namely that all parts of the agenda floated in Lisbon must be implemented if Europe is to achieve the ambitious target which we drew up, i.e. for Europe within ten years to be the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, with the opportunity of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and increased social cohesion. Full employment must constitute a fundamental aim for EU economic and social policy. The strategy adopted in Lisbon is an important milestone in the development of the EU.
With regard to the employment targets in the Lisbon strategy, the Council agrees with the Bullmann report’s proposal for intermediate targets. We hope that the Council will be able to decide on this in Stockholm.
Today’s Europe is better equipped than it has been for a long time to extend the opportunity to work to everyone who wants to, and is able to, work. The outlook for the European economy is still good. Public finances are strong. Prices are stable. Reforms of the product and capital markets are well underway across Europe. However, there is no room for complacency, as 14 million people in Europe are still out of work. Unemployment is a massive waste of economic resources and – what is worse – of people’s skills and ambitions. Having a job means the chance of providing for oneself and, in the long term, is the best way to achieve a society in which everyone can feel they are taking part.
The Stockholm European Council on 23–24 March will be the first in a series of spring summits aimed at encouraging development towards the strategic aims established in Lisbon. In Stockholm we should openly and critically assess the progress made in the last year. We intend to move the work forward both through Community legislation and what is known as the new open method of coordination.
The Swedish Presidency will work on not letting the Lisbon strategy be derailed by adding too many new issues. Nor do we need any new processes. Instead, the Stockholm European Council should highlight certain prioritised areas. Full employment and increased competitiveness will be achieved through economic reform and open and functioning markets, combined with a healthy macro-economic policy which stimulates growth and employment.
I was interested in what the report from Mr Gasòliba i Böhm had to say on economic reform and growth and agree that the role a policy on economic reform has to play in growth and employment must not be underestimated. However, I would like to stress that economic reform must take place in conjunction with investment in training, a modernised social security system and improved welfare. This also requires a commercial climate which facilitates investment and the establishment of new growth companies.
I want us in Stockholm to highlight the directions for further progress in these areas. Let me name a few.
In Stockholm we expect to be able to establish the timetable for liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets. We aim to push on with reform of the financial markets, with regard to which the important Lamfalussy report will provide the foundation for discussions in Stockholm. Furthermore, we need to continue work on opening up the transport markets."@en1
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