Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-04-Speech-4-015"
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"en.19991104.2.4-015"2
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"Mr President, Parliament originally gave me the job of preparing a report on the proposed Guidelines for Member States’ Employment Policies 2000. The wide-ranging debate and the many suggestions raised in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on employment policy in general encouraged me to divide my draft report in two, with conclusions and a legislative part concentrating on the proposals for guidelines for the year 2000, which the Council of Ministers must adopt in December 1999.
Here in Parliament we should try to focus on the essentials, so that the Council’s response is not “less would be more”. On the day after the vote was taken in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Council also formally asked Parliament for an opinion. A simple consultation was therefore necessary. This means that legislative amendments may only be adopted without general conclusions. So for procedural reasons it became necessary to present two reports today, one on the Guidelines for Member States’ Employment Policies 2000 and on establishing an Employment Committee, and the other on the 1999 Joint Employment Report, which contains the conclusions adopted in committee. This second report begins with a positive message. The Community created 1.8 million additional jobs in 1998 by means of its employment-policy initiatives. However, youth and long-term unemployment are still at an unacceptably high level in most Member States, and, in any case, every single unemployed person is one too many.
I do not want to look at the conclusions in detail now, but bearing in mind the debate at yesterday’s sitting on the macroeconomic dialogue, I would like to make one point: the European Parliament needs to be more closely involved in preparing and implementing the European Employment Pact. We regret that at the Cologne Summit the word “Parliament” was not mentioned in the paper on employment. That is really not on! We represent the public and are therefore the most important institution of the European Union.
The opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities are attached to this second report on today’s agenda. Both opinions significantly enhanced the work of the Employment Committee. I would like to thank the draftspersons of the opinions, Mrs Theorin and Mr Grosch, for their excellent work. Many of their suggestions have found their way into both Employment Committee reports
but in order to keep things tight, we have had to make a selection. This means that the chances of their being accepted by the Council of Ministers are greater.
The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities worked very hard on the employment-policy guidelines, and we are now looking at the legislative section, that is at the first report on today’s agenda. It in turn consists of two parts, the first on the proposal for a Council decision establishing the Employment Committee, and the second on the Commission’s proposal for Guidelines for Member States’ Employment Policies 2000. The Employment Committee is intended to play a consultative role in assisting the Member States’ coordination of employment and labour market policy. I have already mentioned the thrust of my report on the employment-policy guidelines: to concentrate on the essentials. It would be wrong to increase the number of guidelines any further. Instead, I would like to see practical implementation and verifiability of the guidelines and of the national action plans, based on concrete criteria. Simply increasing the number of guidelines will not create one single job. Quality not quantity should be the motto of modern employment policy.
With regard to combating long-term and youth unemployment, effective and continued participation in the labour market can be achieved by switching from passive to active measures. Specifically, the percentage of the unemployed offered initial and further training or retraining is to be increased. We are seeking a target of 25% instead of the 20% in the Commission’s proposal. We need the most modern vocational training available. In this case, the existing guidelines need to be adjusted to the changing requirements of the labour market, especially as regards equipping schools with computers and Internet access. We need to pay special attention to female pupils and students here.
A second requirement is access to the capital market, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which create the bulk of new jobs through innovation. Promoting voluntary share ownership models for employees in conjunction with a clear reduction in administrative effort and a determined attack on the black economy could give a boost to job creation. Non-wage labour costs need to be lowered, because they have a direct impact on the competitiveness of medium-sized companies.
Existing or new models for taxes on energy consumption should, however, be checked to see whether they are appropriate for maintaining balanced social security systems in the long run. Another means of combating unemployment named in the report is greater flexibility on the part of companies, which involves ensuring that they are provided with information and consulted at the appropriate time, thus enabling them to adapt to change. One way of achieving this is through minimum standards.
Flexibility is also needed in working hours. We need intelligent labour models, such as the “breathing factory” concept, in which working time is adjusted in line with the level of activity. Working time is generally – but not always – reduced, instead of introducing a unilateral reduction in working hours without cuts in payment. That is no way to create new jobs, it just puts existing ones at risk. In the Commission’s draft, the four pillars of the guidelines are kept intact. The fourth pillar becomes the most important. It involves strengthening measures to promote equal opportunities for men and women. Coordination of European employment policy, especially by means of the employment-policy guidelines, should lead to a longer-term strategy of tapping the potential in society for creativity, innovation, entrepreneurialism, willingness to invest and a “can-do” attitude. Reforms aimed at promoting dynamic competition and flexibility need to be coordinated with the need to maintain but also modernise the social security system. That is how I see the European model. On that note, I ask you to vote for these two reports."@en1
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