Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-187"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040114.4.3-187"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I wish to begin by congratulating both the Commission and the rapporteur on a really excellent report on a very important subject.
Without doubt, there is a lot of xenophobia and racism in our societies or, in any case, a fear of that which comes from outside. There is extensive mistrust. It is believed that people from other countries will come and take our jobs when, in reality, the situation is quite the opposite. Those who come from other countries have, to the greatest degree, contributed, and go on contributing, to the prosperity we enjoy. I can speak from my own experience. I was born after the war and grew up on a housing estate whose residents mainly came from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Approximately half of my neighbours had arrived as immigrants from other countries. They contributed to Swedish prosperity, just like everyone else. We should not have had the prosperity we enjoy today if these people, together with the rest of us, had not contributed to it.
We are now in another position. We have, firstly, a refugee policy and, secondly, an immigration policy. We must develop the refugee policy together, and it must be based upon international conventions. Europe must be a refuge for people being persecuted and in danger of being killed in other countries. We must have a humane refugee policy for which we take joint responsibility.
Immigration policy is something else. It concerns people who are not in danger of being killed in their own countries but who would like to come to Europe, both to obtain a better life for themselves and to contribute to our societies, as they, in actual fact, do. It is something they do already, and there will be a greater need for them to do so in the future. We know how demographic developments look, and we need growth, employment and prosperity in Europe. We need to increase employment in the future, and we need people to employ if we are to be able to cope with health care and the care of the elderly. We need people, including people from other countries, together with those who are already here. Unfortunately, the fact is that people who at present come from other countries become, in large measure, unemployed, and that is something we naturally should do something about.
I am convinced that we need an immigration policy. Immigrants must be integrated as soon as possible. Integration policy is important, and employment comes with education. That applies especially to women, as Mrs Dybkjaer mentioned. It is important both for women’s own sake and in order that the next generation might be integrated into society.
Allow me also to say one thing about the issue that has created some kerfuffle, namely voting rights. I have experience of the euro vote in Sweden where we applied the same rules as in local elections; that is to say, people from other countries were allowed to vote. They went to the polls in very large numbers. If they had been able to decide the outcome of the Swedish vote, Sweden would today have had the euro as a currency. They were supporters of the euro and were more European than other Swedes. Thank you."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples