Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-14-Speech-3-053"
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"Madam President, we have just discussed the future of Europe. It is really a new Europe, a new Union, which is in the process of being formed. The greatest change is naturally expansion – the EU is now forging a path for the historic reunification of Europe. Furthermore, we have just begun the debate on the future and are asking the question of what kind of Europe we want.
Thirdly in Stockholm, we must address the demographic development of Europe. Low birth rates and an increasing proportion of elderly people threaten to greatly increase the support burden for those of working age from around 2010 onwards. We therefore need a wider-ranging overview of pension systems and a discussion of the design of childcare and possibly also health care and care of the elderly. The social insurance systems must make it easier for people to combine work and family life. We also need measures for increased participation in the labour market, greater equality and lifelong learning, to address the demographic challenges.
Fourthly in Stockholm, we should facilitate new technology with the aim of creating growth and improving the lives of citizens. We want to develop the opportunity for creating better drugs with the help of biotechnology, naturally taking moral and ethical dimensions into account. We want to develop
Europe and combat the digital divide so that IT benefits everyone. Talking of the previous debate, I can state that it is the Commission which is responsible for the website. You can therefore contact them with your comments.
Fifthly in Stockholm, we must include the ecological point of view which was lacking in the Lisbon strategy and build a bridge to the summit in Gothenburg. We would like environmentally-friendly technology to also be seen as an important factor for growth and employment, and we would highlight the importance of the efficient use of resources. The Councils of Ministers are now investigating how the candidate countries can be linked to this process on all these issues.
I would also like to emphasise the importance of the successful development of Economic and Monetary Union. In its presidency, Sweden will actively work to ensure that the introduction of euro notes and coins, which is to take place in the currency union in early 2002, is an unqualified success. This is in our common interest.
I would also like to state that President Putin of Russia will visit Stockholm in connection with the summit on 23 March for an informal working lunch with the Heads of State and Heads of Government of the EU. We assume that the discussion will primarily focus on financial and social issues.
As usual, the European Council will also discuss current issues in foreign policy, such as the Middle East, the western Balkans and the Korean peninsula.
Madam President, employment and welfare are the most important issues for the citizens of Europe. If we fail, we face, besides increasing unemployment, xenophobia and greater divisions in society, a crisis of confidence in the Union. The Lisbon Process is therefore a prerequisite, not only for sustainable growth, full employment and social cohesion in Europe, but also for confidence in European cooperation.
The European Parliament has constantly been a driving force in all these issues and, through its combination of a popular mandate and Europe-wide responsibility, will also play a central role in the work for the future. I look forward to hearing your opinions.
Now, however, we will be discussing the third large process of change, namely the modernisation of the European model, in which the European Council in Stockholm on 23 – 24 March will play a central role. It is about full employment within the EU. It is about quality of work and lifelong learning. It is about social and economic reforms.
Last year in Lisbon, the Union made an historic choice in addressing these questions. They are vital to the citizens and thus also for the political legitimacy of the Union. 14 million people in Europe are still unemployed – a
waste of financial resources and an insult to human knowledge and ambitions. Having a job and being able to earn a living creates a feeling of participation, security and dignity, while unemployment leads to uncertainty, exclusion and xenophobia.
The road to full employment and increased competitiveness encompasses financial and social reforms such as increased education and lifelong learning, greater equality and modernised social security, strong welfare and quality at work. It demands open and functioning markets, a healthy macroeconomic policy and a commercial climate which facilitates investment and the establishment of new businesses, especially within growing areas such as IT and biotechnology.
We need a balance between social and economic reforms. All these areas are dependent on each other if the Union is to achieve its high targets by 2010: creating the world’s leading knowledge-based economy, creating 20 million new jobs and combining competitiveness and greater social cohesion.
The meeting of the European Council in Stockholm is the first in a series of summits this spring in which we will openly and self-critically asses the progress which has been made and make new strides. The work will be carried out both with community law and the new open coordination method. It is important to focus our measures within the framework of the Lisbon Process, something emphasised by many people in Parliament. We must not undermine this process by adding far too many new questions. We do not need any new processes. Instead, we should point out certain prioritised areas.
In Stockholm, we will firstly further reinforce the ambitious employment targets of 70% of the entire labour force and 60% of women by 2010. We should consider setting up targets for as early as 2005 and add special targets for the employment of the elderly, a group with enormous potential – only 38% of those aged 55 – 64 are currently in work. As people are living longer and longer and becoming even healthier, many older people feel unwelcome in the labour market – this situation is slightly absurd. We will seek to establish a number of important social objectives for equal opportunities, diversity and participation in the workplace. “Quality of work” – developing quality in working life – is both a welfare issue and the best way of making use of the capacity of employees. We will seek to confirm the central role of lifelong learning, both for individual development and for European competitiveness, and invite the Commission to also draw up objectives for lifelong learning.
Secondly in Stockholm, we expect that important strides will be made in terms of modernising the European economy. We will seek to forge ahead with the reform of the financial markets and achieve a common market for financial services by 2005 at the latest and for risk capital by 2003 at the latest. Achieving this, as Baron Lamfalussy points out in his report, requires a more efficient decision-making process. We hope that agreement on this will be achieved at the summit.
We also need to continue work on opening up the electricity, gas and postal markets, as well as rail and air traffic. Opening up product and capital markets is not just an aim in itself. We are not only doing this for the sake of growth and increased employment, but also because it is good for consumers. It means lower prices and a wider range and better quality of goods and services. In this context, external trade policy is also important – free and fair world trade is in the interest of European consumers."@en1
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