Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-06-Speech-3-142"
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"en.20101006.13.3-142"2
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"Mr President, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of Mrs Onkelinx, the Deputy Prime Minister, on the various new perspectives on social matters offered by the Treaty of Lisbon.
In addition, the financial crisis is still recent, and the economic recovery is slow in making itself felt. As such, we must make sure that fiscal consolidation does not have a negative impact on employment and social policies. The EU 2020 growth strategy must be sustainable and inclusive. It must not be characterised by growth without jobs; it must show a desire to combat job insecurity. Thus, the fight against poverty really has to be a major concern of ours.
In the Council, the Belgian Presidency is working hard to make this dynamic work, but it is also sensitive to the role that the Commission must play in this context. We would genuinely urge the Commission to be dynamic on this matter. I am thinking here of the flagship initiatives that it needs to adopt, especially the platform for combating poverty and social exclusion, which must offer a broader perspective on the social challenges which Europe faces.
Among other things, the Commission must use this method to propose ways for us to specifically implement the new horizontal social clause in Article 9 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
As you can see, the Belgian Presidency has a great deal of ambition, but I truly believe that it will meet the needs and demands of our fellow citizens. Without a social dimension, the European project is doomed to failure. Here too, you have your role to play in continuing the debate concerning this strategy, not only at European level, but also by highlighting the social dimension in your respective countries.
I truly believe that we have to look at the social advances in European law. Thus, Article 9 of the treaty provides for a horizontal social protection clause which obliges the European institutions to take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health.
This requirement follows the statement in Article 3(3) of the treaty that the internal market shall be constructed through policies based on a social market economy which is highly competitive and which tends towards full employment and social progress.
Article 9 accordingly calls for the social dimension to be taken into account from now on in the definition of all European policies. This is about restoring a fair balance between aspects that we will have to realise in practice. This is a priority cross-cutting objective of the Belgian Presidency.
In future, then, we will have to pay much more attention to the social impact of policies developed at European level. While we need to maximise economic growth within the European Union, we must also encourage the fair and just distribution across the board of the fruits of this growth, and we must take particular interest in the fate of the most vulnerable people.
We must also take the social dimension into account in the Europe 2020 strategy, which, as you know, was adopted by the European Union during the June European Council. This strategy, which is targeted at employment and growth, incorporates the economic, social, employment and environmental dimensions. It is based on a limited number of quantified objectives and some guidelines.
Of the five fixed objectives, one is specifically dedicated to the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It sets the objective of taking at least 20 million people in the European Union out of poverty by 2020. Along with guideline 10, it constitutes the social pillar of the strategy.
Although we may be disappointed by its lack of ambition, it nevertheless shows a desire to attain a specific and clearly identifiable objective, which is new in this area, and it introduces a new dynamic of which we need to take advantage. The Member States will have to report each year, in their National Reform Programmes (NRPs), on the progress made in implementing this objective.
It has always been my view that we must maximise the benefit of this social dimension of EU 2020. I want to make the Belgian Presidency a social presidency
. In this context, the Europe 2020 strategy provides an opportunity for visibility: a European social policy. This will be a genuine challenge, because the Member States are busy defining their reform plans, and therefore their policies for achieving the quantified objectives, and, at the same time, they are busy working on their national budgets, which limit their financial freedom."@en1
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