Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-25-Speech-2-498-000"
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"en.20111025.29.2-498-000"2
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"Madam President, the announcement made by ArcelorMittal on 11 October has hit the Liège region very hard. The steel giant is closing its liquid steel phase and thus laying off hundreds of workers. Two thousand people are going to be affected directly or indirectly. Naturally, our thoughts are with them and, as elected representatives of Europe, with all of the workers involved at Arcelor’s other sites and at Nokia’s sites, too.
It would appear that in Liège, in addition to the essential support measures and measures to redeploy the workers, in addition to the equally essential clean-up of the site – this is very important, in fact – all options are on the table at the moment. It is important to point out that promises should not be made to the workers if they cannot be kept, and I echo Mr Daerden’s question regarding the compatibility of some of the options envisaged (such as temporary regionalisation) with our European Treaty.
As the Commissioner pointed out, the directives on redundancies should be observed, but Europe must also learn from these social tragedies. Parliament must call on the Commission to strive for progress and a change in mentality. Now that we realise that our regions in Europe can no longer depend on a single sector of activity, more than ever it is time for diversification, for specialisation. In the immediate future, therefore, the Union must work with the regional authorities to facilitate the economic regeneration of the Liège basin. For example, there is an obvious need – and I agree with the strong sentiments expressed by Isabelle Durant and even – miracles do happen – by my communist colleague just a moment ago, although he has now left – to preserve the steel units, which have a high added value. It is also vital to invest today – and I am finishing here, Madam President – in jobs for tomorrow, in sectors as varied as biotechnology, agri-foodstuffs and biologistics.
Preparing for the future and ensuring alternative employment are, without doubt, the best responses we can offer our citizens today, in Liège and in the other regions of Europe alike."@en1
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