Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-02-Speech-2-059"
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"en.20080902.4.2-059"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank Commissioner Špidla for the fact that we have a social package at all because, as I have said many times before, his task in the Barroso Commission cannot be easy.
The package itself actually illustrates the tensions inside the Barroso Commission, between those, on the one hand, who want to stick to the neoliberal agenda come hell or high water, and those on the other who see an urgent need to make Europe matter to its citizens.
Our people need to be assured that Europe is part of the solution, and not part of the problem, when it comes to tackling the issues raised by globalisation, demographic change, climate change and other global challenges.
If that is what we need to do, I am sad to say that this package simply is not up to the task. It is a grudging package of too little, too late. Even the good elements are spoiled by the knowledge of just how grudgingly they were included. The horizontal directive to combat discrimination is a good example. It is in the package, but we all know just how bitterly President Barroso opposed its inclusion, right up to the 11th hour.
The European works council directive proposal is another example. The content is extremely weak when compared to the earlier communication from the Commission to the social partners. I think that the neoliberal forces in the Commission and their allies here need to wake up and recognise the reality we face. Many millions of our citizens are living in fear, poverty and exclusion, and more and more have joined them during the Barroso years.
All in all, I see this as a belated attempt by President Barroso to persuade the Left here that he has a social conscience, and that he is worthy of support for a second term as Commission President.
Well I am not fooled, and many of my colleagues are not fooled either. As I have said, it is much too little and much too late – much too late, in fact, to guarantee safe passage of the sparse worthwhile elements before the election next year.
President Barroso is insulting the intelligence not only of the Left in this House but also of the millions of citizens out there who deserve better."@en1
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