Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-391"
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the debate we are continuing this evening began within these walls several years ago. It will not end with the adoption of this report, which still leaves some questions unanswered, and which we will undoubtedly have to come back to in the near future. In any case, I would like to thank the Commission for the quality of its communication, which has enriched the debate, and we have benefited from it in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.
The last point I would like to mention quickly is of course the use of immigration. There is much discussion of it making up for the drop in the active population, but immigration also stirs up a great deal of tension, as you know. For this reason I recommend a clear and reasoned approach to this issue. Immigration is not a new phenomenon in the European Union and, with a positive balance of two million immigrants per year – a figure that has been stable for several years – legal immigration contributes to the composition of the active population of the European Union, just as it contributes to the composition of European society.
We need to maintain this flow of immigrants and guarantee a legal status in our Member States for those we welcome, in particular fighting illegal immigration and the exploitation of illegal workers. The human dimension of immigration must govern our policies on the subject and family integration should not disappear from our guidelines.
In a provisional conclusion to this presentation, I would like to recall that, behind the average birth rates, the age pyramids and the ratios lie the issues of birth, motherhood, the place of women in society, the care we give to our elderly and the way we ourselves wish to end our lives. That is the reason why this debate is as interesting as it is impassioned, and I would also like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for taking as much interest in this as I have.
In my report, I develop the consequences of demographic change, i.e. the shrinking of the active population, the growing number of elderly people, and the demographic imbalances between different regions of Europe. Is this to say it is impossible to act on the causes? I would first like to remind you that the 20th century saw two vast changes.
Firstly, women gained access to education and training on the same footing as men. Secondly, women gained control over their reproductive lives through contraception. These are two factors of women’s emancipation. They mark great, and I hope irreversible, progress for humanity.
However, to have all the information for analysis at hand, two other things need to be added as well. All the studies show that European citizens would like more children than they actually have, and secondly, in Member States where the employment rate among women is high, the birth rate is also high. An active working life therefore does not prevent people from having children, provided that there is reconciliation of work life and family life for everyone, men and women alike. There is still a lot of progress to be made in this area, in all Member States.
Another point arose during our discussions, one that nobody essentially disputes. Economic insecurity and fear of the future are important factors behind the drop in the birth rate. When it is difficult to plan for the future, people hesitate to have children. This is a key point, and I think that the drop in birth rate recorded in the European Union is a serious warning from this point of view. To regain confidence in the future, our citizens need their job security and dignified living conditions restored. Enough of the causes, what about the consequences?
The main consequence is a reduction in the active population, falling from 331 million in 2010 to around 268 million by 2050. How can we maintain Europe’s growth and competitiveness with a tiny active population? This is where the title of the communication takes on real meaning, Commissioner, and real force: turning a challenge into an opportunity. Europe still has some very high unemployment rates today, and the margin for progress in the employment of women, young people and older people, for whom the employment rate drops dramatically from the age of 52-55 years, remains great.
Is not the real opportunity of this demographic challenge, the objective of full employment, which is finally realistic, finally achievable and finally necessary? To achieve it we must implement a genuine human resources management policy and a real lifelong training policy. I say lifelong with reason, for that also means for employees over 50 who, along with other types of discrimination, also have to face discrimination on training and on promotion at work.
In my report, I put forward the concept of the active life-cycle to stress the need to consider a period of active life of around forty years – though it is up to the Member States to decide – of continuous employment, training, requalification, potential promotion, from the beginning to the end of a person’s active life. Before considering raising the retirement age, it is necessary to make sure that everyone below that age is able to work, to exploit their skills and professional experience.
It is because there is a legal retirement age that people can think of going beyond it, depending on the arrangements defined by each Member State in line with its traditions of dialogue and consultation. On this point, the debate remains open."@en1
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