Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-132"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000301.8.3-132"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I can appreciate that Mr Katiforis has difficulties with the argumentation but, in my view, this is a good report with a sensible analysis. It is said that things are going better for Europe but, when people say this, we must nonetheless be clear about the fact that matters still look extremely different from one individual Member State to another.
Europe’s major problem is still unemployment. In my view, it is simply not on to say that things are going well for Europe when between 16 and 17 million Europeans are without work. Why is the European economy not growing sufficiently? Why is the euro so much weaker than the dollar? I do not think that we ought to derive all our inspiration, without exception, from the United States but I am convinced that we have things to learn from the States, for example, about having fewer rules in the labour market, lower social costs and lower taxes. We also have something to learn regarding the possibility of starting up new companies. There is a different commercial climate in the United States than in Europe. We have heard about the costs and the bureaucracy involved in starting up a new company, about the fact that it costs EUR
1 600 in Europe but only EUR 500 in the United States to do so and about the fact that it takes eleven weeks in the EU but only ten days in the United States. It cannot continue like that. I think Mr Katiforis also appreciates the fact. Europe must become more competitive.
In a very interesting annex to the present report, Mr Richard Layard cites a number of countries as models, namely Great Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark where welfare dependency and unemployment have declined. Mr Layard highlights the difficulties experienced by the long-term unemployed. That is what differentiates us from the United States. In Europe, we pay people for not doing anything. That does not happen in the United States. Europe therefore needs another type of policy, not an American-style policy in every respect but one which takes us away from welfare dependency, which gives people the opportunity of a good education suited to the new jobs in the market, which makes it easier to start up new companies, which improves the commercial climate and which ensures that new techniques and ideas are exploited to the full. As Europeans, we can achieve a lot if we are afforded the opportunity. That opportunity is what I think the present report is giving us."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples