Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-19-Speech-3-298"

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"Mr President, Commissioner, firstly, I do nonetheless wonder for a moment about our programming and our ability to organise our debates. I am very happy to share this debate with all these European Parliament initiatives, but I do feel as though I am in a melting pot which I am not sure offers an exact definition of the European Parliament’s vision for the EU 2020 strategy. Perhaps I am being too demanding, though. This is why, faced with this challenge, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the authorities to be aware of how public investment might be reduced in these fields, at the very time when weak growth and reduced private investment cannot take up the slack and, therefore, ensure the recovery of public finances in the short term. This is a crucially important timetabling issue, and we cannot but regret that the Ministers for Economic and Monetary Affairs were able to argue for a withdrawal of non-conventional employment support and unemployment reduction measures, when the Ministers for Social Affairs had not been consulted in what we know is a tragic employment and social affairs situation in our European Union. On the other hand, I hope that you share my concern, Mr President, because, on behalf of this House, you raised an extremely important question with President Van Rompuy, on 10 May, which relates to the following. With regard to the adoption of the employment guidelines, this year – dare I say it, as an exceptional measure – as part of a special partnership between the Commission and the European Parliament, and in a spirit of good cooperation with the Council, bearing in mind the somewhat revised timetable – the employment guidelines are normally published at the end of the previous year; this year, they were published in April and, even though they commit us to a long cycle for the years to come, we will have to deliberate them before the spring European Council – you kindly supported, on behalf of us all, the request we sent to President Van Rompuy calling for the European Council to grant the European Parliament the right to exercise its powers under the Treaty of Lisbon itself. Clearly, neither the Commission nor the Council has any intention of considering this request and they therefore consciously intend to violate the treaty. I think that the authorities in this House will have to shoulder their responsibilities and learn lessons from this. As regards the challenge of these employment guidelines, which will be a factor in the implementation of the 2020 strategy, we must draw the attention of the authorities to their importance at a time when 17% of Europeans are living below the poverty line – I would point out that these figures are taken from 2007, that is to say, from even before the start of the crisis – and when 23 million of our fellow citizens are going to end up unemployed. There is currently great concern within the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs about two issues. Firstly, about the poverty reduction target, which I think was the initiative of Commissioner Andor; this target was included in the 2020 strategy, and we welcome that. We do not understand how this issue can be the subject of discussions, hesitations and the calling into question of the Union’s competences within the Council, when the treaty clearly indicates that this is an area in which the EU also has responsibilities. Then, the other issue relates to the relationship and consistency between the various policies, because the Commission clearly tells us that it has fundamentally changed things in this 2020 strategy, since it has reduced the number of targets. I believe that fundamental change must be about much more than simply reducing the number of targets. However, what we are convinced about is that the 2020 strategy must take account of the reality of the situation in the EU. The reality is that those who are currently suffering the most as a result of the crisis, those who will be hardest hit, are the ones who actually create the EU’s wealth. The fact is, we are seeing debates starting up here and there which are liable to go against Europeans’ very interests, because they would lead to a reduction in investment just when it is needed the most, in other words, in our long-term capital: education, training and health."@en1
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