Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-09-Speech-4-046"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050609.7.4-046"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to start by thanking our colleague, Mr Őry, for his excellent report. I would remind the House that the report he has drafted on social inclusion in the new EU Member States, which we are today discussing together, was approved by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs by a majority of 32 votes to 4. The result of the vote is, then, a clear demonstration that we all, across the political spectrum, recognise and acknowledge the urgency of problems relating to social exclusion.
Nonetheless, we are not unfamiliar with this finding. We all know that representatives of European governments and countries came to the same conclusions at the Lisbon summit in 2000, when the war on poverty and social exclusion was made one of the central topics and conditions for modernising the European social model. Despite certain hesitations, this view was also confirmed at this year’s spring summit in Brussels.
Looking at the results achieved during the last five years, it is clear that the war on poverty and social exclusion is nowhere near over, and that considerable efforts and resolve will be needed even after 2010.
The European Commission has undertaken a truly difficult task in comparing the state of social exclusion in the 10 new Member States. These countries differ not only from each other; fundamental differences also exist between the regions within them. Although there is still room for elaborating and harmonising common indicators that would most faithfully reflect the actual situation in these countries and, at the same time, enable us to discover examples of new practices, this action by the European Commission is undoubtedly a step forward. I would like to use this occasion to call on its representatives to cooperate as closely as possible in the future and to make use of the resources and knowledge of non-governmental organisations and social partners.
I would also like to mention the fact that although the report that we have before us today describes and endeavours to compare the situations in the 10 new Member States, we must not forget that the threat of poverty and social exclusion is faced by every EU Member State, albeit not to the same degree.
The opinion is often expressed that social partners, and in particular trade union organisations, should be closely involved in all measures in order to help solve the problem of social exclusion; indeed, the question of whether they should take over the functions of state and local authority has even been considered. Such opinions are no more than an illusion, however, at least in the meantime. The restructured trade unions in the new Member States are in a difficult situation; they are subject to pressure, they lack the necessary structures and they do not have effective tools available to them. Mr Őry is well aware of this, as am I, since we have both worked in trade unions."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples