Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-12-Speech-1-163"
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"en.20051212.19.1-163"2
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".
Mr President, there are no institutional barriers separating one group from another, and there is nothing to prevent anyone from demonstrating their worth and being rewarded for it. Specific systems, in the form of examinations and competitions leading to qualifications, have been set up to assess the aptitude of each individual. Access to the highest offices is, in principle, open to all, without distinction.
We want you to make a firm commitment, Commissioner. We listened to what you had to say just now. We were happy with it, but you will understand that we will be keeping a close eye on how it is put into practice, and I will conclude by reminding you that, on 28 August 1963, in Washington, in his famous speech ‘I have a dream’, Martin Luther King evocatively expressed the hope, the dream of a world of freedom and justice for all. ‘I have a dream’, he said, ‘that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’.
Let us have a common dream that, by the end of the decade, we will finally have a Union without discrimination, a Union that gives every child a chance. Let us have a common dream, Commissioner.
However, although people are equal in the eyes of the law, they are not always equal in reality. At the very least, we do not seem to have achieved equality of opportunity. Despite a few examples of spectacular social advancement, cited with particular smugness given that they are such exceptional cases, people do not have equal chances of success, and a society that does not allow all its members to demonstrate their capabilities harbours the seeds of serious frustrations and tensions. Neither effectiveness nor justice benefit from this state of affairs.
If that is indeed the situation, around two centuries after the publication of the Declaration on the Rights of Man, we need to understand why. Should we conclude that we have no prospect of success? Are our democratic principles merely a mirage, an ideal that recedes as fast as we can approach it? We refuse to accept this.
It is true that inequalities tend to mount up. The children of poor families are, on average, less likely to reach a high level of education. People with a poor level of education are less likely to achieve a high social standing or to have a well-paid career. The number of women in high-level positions, of whatever kind, is still very limited, if not infinitesimal. Power still remains, in general, the privilege of men. Disabled people still do not have the right to a proper place in our societies. Homosexuals still suffer discrimination far too often, and some still consider this to be a normal state of affairs. Many men, women and children are left by the wayside because of their skin colour or ethnic origin.
Do we have the right to put up with this situation? Do we have the right to conclude that nothing can be done to bring reality closer to the democratic ideal? The obstacles may seem huge, an inherent part of society itself. But denying their existence will not help us to overcome them. We need to face the facts and condemn them. For example, discrimination often forces people into unskilled labour and insecure jobs that almost always provide poor pay and therefore a poor standard of living.
People suffering such discrimination find it very difficult to access decent accommodation and healthcare. They have virtually no chance of promotion via continuing vocational training, and they have few leisure opportunities.
Under such conditions, their children’s education is mortgaged right from the start. They are deprived of the material conditions, relationships and emotional environment that they need in order to plan their lives. And there is a considerable risk that they will end up in the same situation as their parents.
In short, one disadvantage engenders another. Someone who suffers from one aspect of the effects of social inequality is at serious risk of suffering from other aspects. Although we can intuitively recognise this phenomenon of the accumulation of disadvantages, it has not yet been extensively studied.
I would therefore like to call on the Council and the Commission to make a firm commitment to combat all forms of discrimination in all countries of the Union, particularly as part of the Year of Equal Opportunities for All."@en1
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