Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-28-Speech-3-056"
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"en.20070328.12.3-056"2
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"Mr President, in looking to the future development of Europe, the Berlin Declaration quite rightly underlines the importance of solidarity and social cohesion in a European model combining economic success and social responsibility. It reminded me of another declaration entitled ‘Enhancing Social Europe’, adopted by nine EU governments shortly before the Spring Summit this year. That declaration is aimed at rebalancing the policy mix in favour of action in the employment and social fields.
In response, the Spring Summit conclusions included a clear reference to decent work, workers’ rights and participation, equal opportunities, safety and health protection at work and the need for a family-friendly organisation of work. The importance of social cohesion was also underlined and stress placed on the need to fight poverty, particularly child poverty. The importance of the social dimension was therefore highlighted in the clearest terms.
The conclusions also recalled the Treaty’s social provisions, in particular its attachment to the improvement of employment and of living and working conditions. That is part of Article 136 of the Treaty, which was celebrated on Sunday and serves as a preamble to the very clear legal bases available to the Commission to make proposals to improve employment and living and working conditions.
I think it is a timely reminder from Berlin and from the Spring Summit that the Commission needs to relaunch a social agenda with content because, looking at the Commission’s work programme at the moment, it seems to have forgotten that it has any legal bases to allow it to act at all.
We want the Commission to respond as a matter of urgency. It could make a start by giving substance to the current game of smoke and mirrors around the subject of flexicurity. Let us have fresh legislative proposals to tackle exploitative forms of atypical work. Let us see flexicurity being given positive meaning for the millions of workers who currently see it as a cloak for exploitation.
Finally, I hope the German Presidency will keep social Europe centre stage in the approach to, and beyond, the June Summit. In that way, the Berlin Declaration will retain credibility."@en1
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