Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-238"
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"en.20050412.28.2-238"2
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".
I shall endeavour to answer the question relating to early retirement. Given that the ageing of the population will result in millions of people dropping out of the workforce, it appears to me to be quite clear that the supply of workers must be increased, and that a greater proportion of the population must participate in the labour market.
Something else that is quite clear, and which is a problem that all employment policies have come up against, is that early retirement has not proved to be a useful weapon in the fight against unemployment. Instead, early retirement has played a major role in the collapse of welfare systems, in particular the pensions system. This would make it extremely difficult for us to guarantee stable living conditions in retirement for future generations, even though there can be no doubt that everyone is entitled to such conditions after a life spent working.
I should like to quote a few figures that make it clear how grave the situation is. The average person is only ready to start work after approximately 22 years, and is unable to work for around 5 years of his working life. He then spends between 20 and 22 years of his life in retirement. The end result of this is that 50 years of our lives are spent out of employment, which is untenable in the long run. This is a further reason why the supply of workers must be increased and it must be made easier for older people to remain in the workforce, in order to ensure the overall stability of our welfare systems.
It was also asked why the integrated package does not deal more explicitly with social policy. The answer to this question is to be found in the overall structure of our legal system, as the Commission is not competent to present a document of the kind the Member wishes. The Treaty sets out the only alternatives open to us with regard to the guidelines, which cover economic policy and, in a separate section, employment policy; this is the legal framework within which we must operate, and there are no other alternative means by which a document on social policy could be presented. Gender mainstreaming is used to address the issue of equal opportunities in all policies and all recommendations on employment policy, including those that seek to make it possible for a greater number of women to work, those that introduce the concept of a new balance between employment and family duties, and those that endeavour to reduce the gender gap in wages. In my opinion, it is quite clear that the principle of mainstreaming is rigorously implemented in these directives and guidelines, or in other words that equal opportunities feature in all EU policies. There is no question that this applies particularly, although not exclusively, to employment policy."@en1
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