Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-04-Speech-3-041"
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"en.20010404.2.3-041"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have the impression that those who are keen to emphasise the fact that Stockholm was only a half-hearted attempt at a summit, with a great deal of rhetoric and little in the way of results, would very much like to make us overlook the fact that, in Stockholm, a number of vital steps were taken in order to bring the European policy we have pursued back on track, both socially and ecologically. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, you made reference to the Spanish Presidency in your introduction a moment ago. I would, in turn, like to refer to the Belgian Presidency, for Stockholm has given this Belgian Presidency a number of very essential and firm mandates. First and foremost, it was given the mandate to formulate goals with a view to taking up the fight against poverty and social exclusion in concrete terms at European level. This is a very important mandate in my view. In fact, I hope – and this hope is shared by my Group – that the opportunity will arise to discuss once again a poverty standard and a proper income for all citizens of this Union as part of the agenda.
Secondly, demographic development, to which you yourself have already referred. I am pleased that the European pensions debate is at long last no longer held among the Finance Ministers within the framework of healthy government finance, but also among the Social Affairs Ministers with a view to guaranteeing everyone a proper pension. Solidarity between the different generations, solidarity among the older generation and hence, the priority of guaranteeing the quality of pension schemes, will form an essential task and responsibility of the Belgian Presidency, admittedly after the homework in Gothenburg has been handed in. In this framework, my Group is, in fact, giving its unqualified support to the decision to start formulating concrete goals on employment for older employees. However, Mr President-in-Office, ladies and gentlemen, choices must be made in these areas too. It is quite clear to me: this choice is not about brazenly discontinuing early retirement schemes or increasing the pensionable age, but rather about choosing to introduce flexible end-of-career schemes and to improve the quality of work.
This brings me to my final point, Mr President-in-Office: the quality of work. Here too, we expect a great deal from the Council and the Commission, which has to provide us with indicators so as to, thanks to this open coordination, secure us not just more, but also better jobs. Ladies and gentlemen, the quality of work, however, is not just a question of indicators and open coordination. It is also a question of legislation. We therefore expect an extra effort, both from the Commission and from the Council, to provide us with a revised directive on European works councils, within the framework of restructuring – which we are now experiencing once again – and to make a start on the directive on information and advice as a matter of urgency. These too will help guarantee the quality of work, and we are relying on the Swedish and Belgian Presidencies to do their bit."@en1
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