Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-05-Speech-2-263"
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"en.20090505.23.2-263"2
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"Mr President, as the shadow rapporteur on the active inclusion report, I shall concentrate mainly on that one. I would like to congratulate Jean Lambert, the rapporteur on that report. She has brought forward an excellent report. I am delighted that most of my amendments got through the committee, particularly those on anti-discrimination. As you know, it is something dear to my heart.
People are excluded from the labour market for many reasons, but it seems to me absolutely incredible that it is still happening on the grounds of disability, age, religion or belief, or sexual orientation – despite the Employment Directive of 2000. The problem is that it is not being properly implemented across all Member States and we must be even more vigilant in making sure that we are monitoring it properly.
I am also pleased that my amendment on mandatory retirement age was accepted. It has always seemed wrong to me that someone reaches a certain age and is then thrown on the scrapheap. However, even if people are not excluded from work but cannot get to work because they cannot get the access they need, that leads to exclusion as well. That is why I am pleased that my amendment welcoming a new comprehensive anti-discrimination directive was also accepted by the committee.
I regret, however, that the PPE-DE Group has tabled an alternative resolution. I believe this has been done mainly to remove any reference to a new directive on anti-discrimination, as I know most of them are opposed to it. It seems amazing to me that anyone would wish to deny people their basic rights at EU level just because of their age, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation.
The other areas I sought to address were the blurring of economic migration with asylum-seeking and of economic migration and asylum-seeking with illegal immigration – all distinct, separate issues which must be dealt with differently. I believe that asylum-seekers, for instance, should be allowed to work while they are waiting for their asylum application to be processed. This would take away from their reliance on benefits. We also need to do more to integrate people with mental health problems and those who have alcohol or drug problems.
Finally, a quick word on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. I am glad we have had a speedy conclusion on this. It is important that the remit of this fund is widened to include workers who were made redundant through the economic downturn, not just globalisation, and that the number of redundancies needed would be 500 instead of 1 000. This is extremely important for people in my West Midlands constituency, as elsewhere in the UK."@en1
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