Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-11-Speech-4-014"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040311.2.4-014"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, I too should like to express my condolences with Spain. It is difficult after such an incident to return to business as usual, but we have to do this all the same.
I have listened to a number of fellow Members here, and they assume that the proposal is an improvement on the current situation. What is certain is that this is a very complex issue. I have also listened carefully to Mr Solbes, who particularly envisages an improvement for people who are disabled or partially disabled. I share Mrs Smet's view that there will be problems that will need to be overcome in more than one country. I am not familiar with the situation in all of them, Commissioner, but as far as the Netherlands is concerned, I can tell you that the situation is deteriorating for people who are unable to participate in the labour market, those who probably never have been and never will be again. In their case, it is true that they are not entitled to contribution-based benefits, but this right should nevertheless be exportable, in my view.
To those fellow MEPs who take the view that the discussion should be reduced to contributory versus non-contributory entitlements, I should like to press home the fact that there is also such a thing as social justice. I cannot see a need for housing costs to be exportable to another country, because these are related to the duration of housing. However, this specific case is about people, including people in the Netherlands, who are unlikely to ever be able to enter the labour market again. I would ask you to consider seriously whether other rules should not apply here. We wax lyrical about the free movement of persons, while at this moment in time, 1 300 people from the Netherlands live elsewhere in Europe and will lose the benefit they are currently drawing. I will therefore examine which premiums or proposals will receive my backing in order to haul in as much as we can, but I hope you will allow me to ask the fellow members and the Commission to consider this very carefully.
Commissioner, I am very anxious about the future of Regulation No 1408/71. Can a committee be set up to examine carefully what the restrictions are? The fact is that, as a result of enlargement, major debates on the exportability of social security are anticipated right across Europe. I would urge you to set up a committee which follows all the problems, looks for solutions and also consults with the Member States in earnest in order to eliminate injustices of this kind in one way or another. I am not saying that this is the answer to all our problems, but I think that the derogation that the Netherlands has requested affects the weakest and least protected. The benefit in question will be exported to third countries, but on the basis of Regulation No 1408/71, it will no longer be exported within Europe, and that is a huge injustice."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples