Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-28-Speech-3-065"
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"en.20071128.15.3-065"2
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Mr President, I thought you were asking me to make a final speech on the Charter debate, a speech which I do not have prepared, hence the reason for my confusion.
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the issue of flexicurity is now a key item on the European agenda and is essential for the future of Europe’s economic and social models. It is a complex issue involving the capacity to manage change and promote employment and social security reform in a rapidly changing global context which requires responses to the challenges of global competition, technological innovation and population ageing. We need more flexible markets, but this also means that we must ensure better conditions, better instruments and more security for our citizens so that they can handle this change positively. That is the challenge facing us.
For our part, the Portuguese Presidency has tried to contribute actively to the search for integrated and balanced solutions in this area. Following the Commission communication presented in June, we were responsible for conducting a process aimed at carrying out the European Council mandate and achieving consensus on the common principles of flexicurity. The Commission communication naturally formed an excellent starting point for this work as it helped us to develop the concept and increase discussion of the solutions that could serve as a common platform for the various lines which each Member State will have to follow.
Bearing in mind that the starting points and situations are different, the solutions will also have to differ. In order to create the conditions for progress in this area, we developed various initiatives with the main actors at European level, including a Conference on the challenges of flexicurity. This was politically well-attended and discussed the developments in this respect and also future prospects. We also sought to analyse the experience gained in countries where models have been applied with good results and to identify which elements of these models can be used in other contexts. We also obtained the opinions of expert committees on employment and social welfare and also the Committee of the Regions. In addition we tried to encourage the social partners in this area to become involved as we are aware that this new model requires firm commitment from all the stakeholders, yet it also requires that everyone’s interests be taken into account.
In this context, the understanding that we reached with the social partners at the Tripartite Social Summit held on 18 October in Lisbon gave important impetus to this debate. Social dialogue at various levels and the involvement of the social partners are decisive in ensuring the success of any strategy to reform the labour markets. The involvement of everyone in this process is key to finding successful solutions and we need a climate of trust between social partners and with the institutions. We all have to be prepared to accept and take responsibility for the change. I want to highlight the quality of the debate and interventions at all stages, both in technical and academic terms and also in terms of the discussion on the political content and on the process.
As a result of all this work that I have mentioned, during which we were always able to count on the assistance of the Commission, the Council is now able to endorse a set of common principles on flexicurity which we hope to formally adopt at the meeting on 5 and 6 December. These common principles on which we are all agreed include, in particular, taking account of the diversity of national situations which will require different approaches and solutions, the need to overcome labour market segmentation, the various dimensions of flexicurity – labour legislation, education, training, social welfare – recognising the relevance of social dialogue in this context, promoting social inclusion, non-discrimination, equality and reconciliation of work and family life, and also defending the need to ensure the compatibility of policies with the solidity and sustainability of public finances. I want to stress that, in essence, there is broad agreement with this House. I must underline the excellent work that we have done and that this House has done in this area.
Once adopted, the common principles shall form an essential instrument for implementing the next cycle of the Lisbon Strategy. The Member States will be invited to take account of these principles when defining and implementing their national policies, by developing their own mechanisms and approaches depending on their specific situations which will be monitored in the framework of national reform programmes. Social partners at all levels will also be encouraged to help define and implement the flexicurity measures and also to use the common principles as a reference. We feel it is essential to invest in the social mobilisation of our citizens within this strategy and, in this context, I must mention the vital importance of this House’s involvement. Given who it represents politically and its proximity to the people, this House can make an excellent contribution to ensuring better understanding of the flexicurity concept. The key principle is that flexibility and security must be seen as mutually supporting and reinforcing elements, rather than as opposing elements, and this must be fully understood by our citizens."@en1
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