Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-03-Speech-3-062"
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"en.19991103.6.3-062"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, by way of introduction, I would first of all like, on behalf of our group, to put it on record that we regard the macroeconomic dialogue as a welcome innovation, because for the first time it obliges all the key players in European economic policy to participate in a direct exchange of views with each other about the overall economic situation. At the same time, we are delighted that Parliament has received this information so soon after the first meeting, although that should go without saying in my view.
Secondly, I must add, however, as an Austrian, that this dialogue between social partners, between political institutions, between fiscal policy and those with a political mandate has been going on in a similar way for years in my homeland, Austria, and has made an important contribution to Austria’s present position as an economically successful and socially secure country with a high employment rate and lower jobless figures than others can boast. That should encourage us to take heart for this dialogue. There are a lot of things that we too need to reform and there is some room for improvement.
The previous speaker touched upon this – the dialogue can only prepare, accompany and supplement. It is no substitute for policies. It does not relieve those in positions of responsibility from their specific obligations. The dialogue is a supplementary component of the many and various measures for growth and employment. And for precisely that reason I would also like to point out that this debate fits into the overall framework of these two plenary sittings. Our debates during these two days include the Smet report on working time and the Menrad reports on employment policy in the Member States in 1999 and 2000. And tomorrow’s agenda includes a debate on Mrs Palacio Vallelersundi’s question about the strategy for the European internal market, while last week in Strasbourg, in connection with the ECB report, there was a debate about how the macroeconomic dialogue with Parliament could be deepened and reinforced. That request has been taken on board in our report.
I do not think that anyone would argue that comprehensive and coherent strategies are needed for growth and employment, and I am glad that the term growth and employment itself deals with the prejudice we so often hear from the left to the effect that growth can be set against employment, and that currency values and price stability can be set against employment measures. The dialogue and the name of this dialogue show that we are all in the same boat. It is a question of being willing to take an overall view and to accept overall responsibility.
The macroeconomic dialogue is a constructive way of tackling urgent problems. I therefore call on everyone involved to take part in this macroeconomic dialogue in a responsible manner and to accept this responsibility for the economic and employment policy future of Europe. We must eliminate constraints on growth and on business start-ups. We must fight the mood of pessimism and deliberate scare-mongering with a new intellectual, innovative, up-beat approach, and I hope that this dialogue will help us do what is needed at the right time, in an open and responsible fashion, and that it does not mean that mundane political opportunism or legitimate group interests will result in our obstructing each other."@en1
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