Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-04-Speech-4-024"
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"en.19991104.2.4-024"2
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"Mr President, the employment policy is an issue with regard to which the European Union does not issue any binding legislation. And this should remain so. Indeed, the serious problem of unemployment justifies an approach which creates optimum impact. As such, the policy will need to focus on the local or regional job market.
This approach requires the guidelines to be broadly-based so as to give the Member States sufficient free rein in terms of policy. The Commission’s plans to monitor the policy efforts and policy results at national level more closely are well-intended but will probably have the opposite effect, especially if this is done by means of a quantitative approach: counting the number of measures, aid schemes and employment projects. Adding the numbers up in this way tells us nothing about the extent, quality and inventiveness of the policy measures. Peer pressure amongst the Member States is better addressed by consultation on matters of content, exchange of good practices and focused recommendations which are really what the Member States need.
Could the representative of the Council explain how the guidelines fit in with other EU policy. Just before the summer, the Council turned down a regulation to increase the tax burden with regard to energy and to decrease that with regard to employment. However, recommendation no 14 in the present guidelines recommends this very thing to the Member States. Why do we have this conflicting approach?
Finally, I welcome the insistence on a more family-friendly policy in view of the individualistic tendencies which seem to pervade our modern society. At the same time, I fear that as long as our culture adopts the idea that you only count as a human being if you have a paid job, we will be left fighting a running battle. The emphasis on economisation within society and the introduction of market forces into virtually all social fields, in particular, have a family-unfriendly impact and put humanity under pressure. I would ask the European Commission and Member States to undertake a radical overhaul of their policy."@en1
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