Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-436"
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"en.20080220.17.3-436"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, let me emphasise once more the high quality of Mrs Castex’s report, as it clearly provided the platform for a wide-ranging debate, which touched on almost all the fundamental issues.
It would be very difficult to try to respond to all the issues raised, so allow me just to state briefly that the European Commission’s fundamental principle, which is reflected in all our documents, is based on equal opportunities; in none of our documents would you find the idea that demographic development is a problem for one gender only. It is quite clear that it is an issue of equal opportunities and equal rights for men and women. It is also evident that one of the answers to this problem is creating an active society, which means a society with the highest possible level of social inclusion, a society that can offer opportunities of active employment to as many individual members as possible.
Let me also say that as a result of earlier debates a more stable and constant platform has been established, including the demography forum and the Alliance for Families. I would also like to point out that the Commission has been working with the social partners on assessing the possibilities of legislative initiatives in the area of work/life balance. The Commission is focusing, too, on immigration with a view to the gradual development of a more cohesive European policy, including, for example, the Blue Card proposal.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to say that, regardless of the fact that – as in all debates – this debate has encompassed some extreme opinions, we are starting to see a general consensus and, in my view, this consensus sits very well with the basic recommendations that the Commission presented at the beginning of this demographic debate.
As I have said, a stable platform has been established and I therefore expect this debate to continue, because I believe, as almost all of you do, that Europe’s demographic development is one of the basic components that will determine our future both in the medium and long term."@en1
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