Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-29-Speech-3-125"
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"en.20061129.15.3-125"2
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"Mr President, with 4 000 workers laid off at Volkswagen in Vorst and at least another 2 000 jobs lost among the suppliers, these are truly dark times in my country for the affected workers and their families.
The initial response of the Belgian Government under Prime Minister Verhofstadt has been to do what it always does, for, when there are economic successes, they are quite happy to consider them as yet another feather in their political cap, but when there are problems or setbacks, then someone else is always to blame.
In a rather xenophobic reaction, Prime Minister Verhofstadt even blamed the Germans for pursuing a kind of ‘own people first’ policy, which is, in my politically correct country, about the worst accusation anyone can make – ignoring the fact that in Germany, 20 000 jobs are being lost and that we, with the social tragedy at Vorst, are actually experiencing the worst so far of an enormous crisis that is enveloping the European automobile industry.
Let us be honest; nobody has a miracle cure for the tragedy that is unfolding in Europe at the moment. Before blaming others, though, our governments, and the Belgian Government in particular, should ask itself whether it has done everything in its power to rescue as many jobs as possible, today in Vorst, but previously at Renault in Vilvoorde, at DHL, Sabena and elsewhere.
Nearly eight years after my country gained a government that promised it would make this problem a priority, Belgium is still facing a wage handicap of some 10% compared to its neighbouring countries. This wage imbalance is the result of the huge tax burden.
This is not the only cause, but it is one of the reasons why the Belgian Government is to blame. I do mean the Belgian Government, for Flanders has for some time now shown the political will to use a cocktail of economic measures to make our country attractive again for investors and thus to create employment.
We, too, are in favour of the efficient use of European funds in this area, but this is not a miracle cure, and the proposals that are being made for more European bureaucracy are, in my view, counterproductive.
It is high time we all realised that our material wealth and our employment will not persist for ever of their own accord, that international competition will only intensify and that we, by being more flexible, reducing costs and creating an employer-friendly climate, really have to fight for each and every job. We must, above all, think about ways of improving the competitiveness of our businesses, also in respect of businesses from countries that enjoy hardly any, or no, social protection."@en1
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