Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-15-Speech-2-052"
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"en.20000215.3.2-052"2
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"Madam President, the Commission communication is well written but sufficiently vague to allow any interpretation whatsoever. On one hand, there are the words and, on the other, their real political meaning.
We Socialists applaud the Commission for wanting to fight against social exclusion and poverty. Yet how can the gulf between political rhetoric and reality be filled? What is meant by the Commission’s declared objective of ‘economic reform’ in the labour market? Does this mean more flexibility, insecurity and fixed-term contracts? Everyone knows that quality of life and full and better employment depend on sustainable economic growth. The Union is currently restricted to a policy of stability which is certainly necessary but insufficient. We Socialists desperately want a European pact for growth and employment. The ingredients of this policy are well known. They are the stimulation of public and private investment, increased investment in research, education and training and the promotion of the spirit of enterprise. In this respect, the e-Europe initiative is to be welcomed. In the world of new technologies, the main danger remains that access to information will be easier the richer you are.
The gulfs which are opening up everywhere are the main problem for our era. On one hand we have the exuberance of the financial markets and the explosion of wealth and, on the other, more widespread exclusion. We are asking workers to be flexible, innovative and ever more productive, yet the fruits of this productivity increasingly benefit the shareholders alone. The European Central Bank is keeping very quiet about the staggering rates of return on financial assets, yet it never misses an opportunity to remind us that any wage increase should remain below the rate of increase in productivity. How do we explain to workers who fall victim to the rationalisations of the worldwide Monopoly game that they must be prepared to change career several times in their working lives when the captains of industry, having lost the gamble of a take-over, leave with compensation of EUR 30 million?
For years we have been told over and over that the economy must be liberalised. The sectors which have been liberalised are experiencing an avalanche of mergers and acquisitions, leading inevitably to monopoly situations. All these stock market battles are based solely on forecast increases in profit of 15%, 20% or 25% which are unrealistic in the long term. The unfettered rise in prices of financial assets and property means that the risks are on the increase. The main danger awaiting us in the medium term is not inflation but deflation caused by the collapse of the speculative bubbles on the international financial markets.
To conclude, the next five years will be crucial. We need new rules to regulate globalisation and we need investment in the real economy and in people. We need the Member States and the Commission to ensure the social dimension of the market economy in a visible manner.
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