Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-04-Speech-4-019"
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I am pleased that we have received another communication from the Commission on developing the local dimension in the European Employment Strategy. I believe this to be extraordinarily important and have tried to develop these approaches in my report.
In Amendment No 2, I advocate quantitative guidelines for education policy, about which, not surprisingly, opinion may be divided. I have no objections to Amendment No 3, but am happy to support it.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the other political groups for their excellent cooperation in the committee with regard to this important area.
There is an unfortunate tradition within employment policy which involves thinking in national terms, i.e. in terms of national labour markets and economies, and viewing the labour market as one single market. However, this ignores the local labour markets, the differences between them and their significance. There is also a tendency for local labour markets to become a kind of leftover concept referring to rural areas or weak sections of the economy and the social economy.
In my report, I use a different definition of local labour markets, i.e. labour markets producing goods and services which are consumed locally. This covers care staff and craftsmen, people who work in transport and technical services, local businessmen, small businesses, local public services, etc., and also includes vital infrastructure in the form of education, etc. These are therefore important elements we are talking about, including in economic terms.
The area is also interesting due to its having a kind of counter-cyclical economic significance. Local labour markets are affected to a lesser extent by the fluctuating fortunes of the world market. This means that during a period like the present one, with a sluggish world economy, local markets manage best, relatively speaking. If the economy is to bring itself out of the current decline, it is particularly important for local labour markets to be functioning well, as they constitute the bed from which new companies will grow and new activities can be developed.
I would also like to emphasise the importance of these local labour markets. In my report, I point out that they constitute at least 30% of total employment. This proportion may be higher, depending on how one calculates the figure. As such, it is not a question of marginal problems, but of an economically extremely large, significant and important element of the overall employment policy.
I must also stress that these local labour markets are incredibly important for quality of life and social welfare in various ways. These labour markets are dominated by women, which is extremely important in terms of employment: if we are to promote and increase employment, employment of women, in particular, must be improved. Furthermore, these are, more often than not, the labour markets onto which young people first come after finishing their schooling and the labour markets generally most easily accessed by those who are new to the labour market. The local labour market therefore has an important function as a bridge to other parts of the labour market.
Finally, the local labour market is vital to the establishment of major industrial companies, perhaps even multinational companies, in the local social structure, contributing high-quality staff to those companies which need to compete at international level. As you can see, there are many strong social and economic reasons for focusing more on local labour markets.
Within EU Member States, there is a great deal of regional and local variation, which suggests that there is much that can be done. I would like to stress that this is as much a question of city and urban areas as of other areas. In the large cities, one can see major local differences between poor immigrant districts and the districts of the rich and between the labour markets linked to these. Many of the social problems which arise are reflected in the employment situation.
Finally, I would like to comment on the three amendments which have been submitted. I have proposed local partnerships which are open to many different types of actor. The proposers of Amendment No 1 wish to remove a number of these actors, which is something I do not understand. Perhaps I will receive an explanation later in this debate."@en1
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