Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-02-Speech-2-163"
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"en.20030902.7.2-163"2
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"Madam President, I should like to extend a warm thanks to the rapporteur for the work she has done. I have often thought that this report was going to outlast her mandate, for that is nearly how long it has been on the table. This was not due to a lack of diligence on her part, for that was, in fact, immense, but rather due to insufficient diligence on the part of the Council. Mrs Oomen-Ruijten rightly pointed out that it was not as a result of any lack of diligence on the part of the Commission. This suggests that we are dealing with a very difficult issue politically speaking. Why? Because a great deal of money is involved. That is the first reason.
My second point is that, in everyday life, the Member States do not for one moment consider the people that might break out of their own mould from time to time. They actually assume that everyone remains in their own country, from the day they were born until they die. They, in fact, find it highly inconvenient if that status quo is upset when people move abroad. They may be prepared to take certain measures, but as few and as little as possible, and they then try to snatch back as much as they can. If there is any bother with the budget, then those are the people who are tackled first. That is why the Regulation is also used to limit rights rather than to increase them. Anyone who would like to study this more in-depth should come and have a look at what has happened in the Netherlands and Belgium on this score, where neither country is particularly blameless.
Finally, I should like to raise another matter, which is the issue over which there is still a difference of opinion, namely the issue of tax and social security. In fact, I think that Mrs Jensen has already made a very valid point on this matter. She also gave one of the best examples in Denmark, because all social security over there is covered by taxes. What is annoying is that in some cases, people pay taxes in one country and social security contributions in another. As, for example, social security contributions are relatively high in Belgium and non-existent in Denmark, at least in the form of contributions, you are extremely unfortunate if you pay tax in Denmark and social security in Belgium. If the reverse is true, of course, you are extremely fortunate. You then pay relatively little in taxes in Belgium and receive an awful lot of social benefits in Denmark. That is therefore a matter which needs re-addressing and which remains an issue. This is not harmonisation, but it is important that the two types of taxes should be treated in the same way, at least in one and the same country, and this is an issue which really deserves an all-out effort on our part. If we do not solve it, we will never bring about a sound labour market in Europe."@en1
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