Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-19-Speech-2-234"
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"en.20080219.30.2-234"2
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"Mr President, one of the key recommendations of the European Parliament is to combat protectionism both within and outside the EU.
I firmly believe that protectionism undermines, rather than defends, citizens’ rights, but that Europe should be looking at its own backyard first. Our highest priority should now be the removal of protectionist barriers within the EU. In order to make the European single market a reality we need to enhance the four fundamental freedoms of the common market, especially the free movement of workers. Our report acknowledges that many labour markets remain segmented and that worker mobility is still low. How surprising! Have we forgotten that most citizens of the new Member States still need a permit to work in other EU countries?
Four years after the ‘big bang’ enlargement we have seen no major disruption of labour markets in the older Member States, and no influx to justify the transitional restrictions. On the contrary, the proliferation of complex national quotas and qualitative restrictions in Member States is undermining the Lisbon Strategy, which aims to ensure flexible markets and a mobile labour force.
We have only two years left to become the world’s most competitive economy, and to boost competitiveness and create more jobs and growth, but I am hopeful. In Romania, my country, the average economic growth rate has been about 6% over the past five years, and the unemployment rate is down to 4%. We are now starting to have concerns about the lack of labour.
Opening frontiers to third-country workers is necessary, but our top priority should be to lift the EU’s internal barriers first. Workers from the 12 new Member States should be granted priority to go and work in any other EU Member State, and the transitional arrangements should be removed. One cannot possibly justify calling for external workers while restrictions still apply to our citizens.
Restrictions are unjustifiable and incompatible with the Lisbon Strategy, and removing them is the only way to achieve a competitive and innovative Europe."@en1
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