Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-19-Speech-3-324"

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"Mr President, I would like to take some time to talk about the social and employment aspects of EU 2020 and the Commission’s efforts in this connection. I am sure it is no secret that the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance would have liked to have seen a much more ambitious 2020 plan than is currently on the table, with a genuine desire to define how Europe is to support itself in future and with a desire to set high social and employment targets. However, right now we have a situation in which the Member States had no intention of developing the plan that the Commission put forward. Instead they are moving backwards. Firstly, with regard to combating poverty: many Member States have questioned whether the EU actually has the competence to combat poverty and to set specific poverty targets. To this, I would simply say that there is a legal basis for this in numerous places in the new Treaty of Lisbon, for example, in Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union and Articles 9 and 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It is therefore simply a matter of getting started. Secondly, other Member States, including my own, Denmark, have criticised the definition of poverty. Of course we need to come up with a good definition. However, these arguments cannot hide the fact that this is about one thing: whether we actually want to combat poverty in Europe. That is what the real debate is about. Do we want to reduce the number of poor people in Europe, which currently stands at 84 million? Do we want to reduce the number of poor workers, of which there are nearly 17 million? Do we not only want everyone to have jobs, but to also have good and proper jobs? Do we want young people to have access to the labour market? Yes, of course we do, and that is precisely why we need specific objectives with regard to social matters and in the area of employment. Europe is currently in the midst of an economic crisis, but we must not allow it to give us a mental block and make us afraid to set ambitious targets in these areas. If we do not have the courage to do this now, it will undermine the economic situation in Europe, as well as our social cohesion. Therefore, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, I would say to you that it is the political will that will be crucial. I hope that Parliament and the Commission will take the lead and urge those Member States that are hesitating to instead commit to a social Europe in 2020. I hope that, as Commissioners, you are prepared to do this."@en1
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