Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-04-Speech-4-026"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020704.2.4-026"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am taking the floor this morning as a new and very recent non-attached Member, having been expelled from the Group of the Party of European Socialists at the request of French Socialist Party. Incidentally, and everyone is well aware of this, as I take the floor to speak on a subject which I believe to be crucially important, that of employment, I am still a man of the Left and a Socialist in the broadest sense of the word.
First of all, I would like to thank the European Commission for its communication which, despite not being revolutionary, contains firm proposals, which are capable of moving things forward in the right direction. In an ultra-liberal world, this is a very important sign. I would of course also like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Herman Schmid, on the high quality of his work and for the interest and the relevance of many of his proposals to which I subscribe and which have my very strong support. Since this is the case, I would also like to reiterate just as firmly that, in addition to the firm proposals made by the Commission and those by the rapporteur, the important, essential, even vital thing to do is to put employment back at the heart of everything, and at each and every level.
Whilst employment provides all citizens with a purpose, unemployment, on the other hand, can be devastating, isolating and very often destructive. In a world where employment is too often considered to be “an adjustment variable of so-called efficiency and of the very real quest for profit”, it is high time that we re-established our priorities and reaffirmed at all levels that full employment is our number-one goal.
From now on, and because, naturally, there is no miracle cure in the field of employment and since words alone are not enough, we must combine, increase and diversify the initiatives we take at all levels in order to achieve this goal. What we must do, of course, is take initiatives and introduce regulations at world level. At European level, we need to pursue an innovative industrial policy, a research policy and a strong social policy. We must also implement national social policies which put employment above all other considerations. And developments in recent months have meant that many European countries are further away from reaching this goal. We must, at long last, devise local policies that involve businesses, local government, associations, trade unions and citizens. These policies will allow new jobs to be created that are as close to the ground as possible. They will allow jobs to be created for people who are often on the margins of society or in difficulty. They will, lastly, allow us to combine jobs, salaries, services and quality of life.
The European Commission and the rapporteur are moving forward along this path by making firm proposals. I repeat that I subscribe to them and support them, and that we must implement them swiftly now, whilst resisting the temptation to believe that everything can be resolved at local level. The fight against a rampant form of globalisation, a Europe that is purely liberal and national policies subjected to stock market and finance injunctions affects the success of local employment policies. I am sure that the rapporteur is aware of these issues, but I wanted to use my speaking time this morning to repeat these very clearly."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples