Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-13-Speech-1-030"
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"en.20000313.2.1-030"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr President-in-Office of the Council and Prime Minister of Portugal, as we have been paying close attention to employment-related issues, we must note the Portuguese Presidency’s initiative to put the future of the European social model on the European political agenda once again. Nevertheless, before I discuss this matter, I would like to mention some aspects of the path that Europe has already taken over the last ten years, so that we can approach the next ten years in a realistic way, as the Portuguese Presidency has proposed.
Nevertheless, and with this I will conclude, we do not want the Lisbon Summit to restrict itself to being the kind of summit where the emphasis is on the analysis and diagnosis of social problems and where conclusions are not followed up with action. The peoples of the EU’s Member States expect answers and want action, rather than conclusions and empty words. Our hope is that the Portuguese Presidency will understand the political significance of this distinction.
Around ten years ago, when the single currency and nominal convergence were being discussed, some people, in various decision-making and discussion forums, warned of the need to give priority to the issues of employment, the real convergence of economies, and economic and social cohesion. Many of us raised doubts at that time and proposed alternatives to the direction which had been outlined, so that the challenges we are facing today could be confronted in good time. Nevertheless, the supporters of the single currency focused their attention, almost to the exclusion of everything else, on seeing it adopted, in the belief that with the single currency, with the euro, we had found the right course of action and also the opportunity to resolve social problems and development problems with which the EU, and particularly some of its Member States with weaker economies, were constantly wrestling.
As time passed, the Heads of State and Government, who were aware that the single currency alone would not create more jobs, were forced to state their position. In Luxembourg, they decided to lay down guidelines so that the Member States could develop their own national employment plans that they would have to present to Community institutions. These plans were soon being discussed and a new summit was soon being called for to create an employment pact. This summit was held in Cologne without time even being allowed for assessing the practical consequences of what had been decided in Luxembourg. In the meantime, the Cardiff process was also adopted. In other words, a whole course of action was followed, not always in a very well coordinated way, and we should bear this in mind, as it will give us a clearer perspective when we consider the essential changes of direction that must lie ahead.
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I have carefully read the Portuguese Presidency’s document for the Lisbon Summit, which goes far beyond employment issues and which trumpets an information society and social cohesion. We are not, of course, questioning the strategic objective of making Europe into a world-class economic area based on innovation and knowledge, a more dynamic and more competitive area, with a view to increasing economic growth rates, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.
Let it not be said, however, that this strategic objective is new, because it is not. It is even worth pointing out that it is hard to understand why many governments in the EU have remained so passive in the face of America’s experience, which has been to make use of new technologies as a factor for economic growth and job creation. It is also hard to understand why these governments have done so little in particular to support the many small and medium-sized enterprises that have experienced difficulties in adapting to the new state of affairs and in taking advantage of information technology.
On the other hand, I would also like to say quite clearly that we support the European social model as opposed to certain other social models from around the world, but we support it on the assumption that it remains to be perfected and implemented in a participatory way. Indeed, we do not see the Lisbon Summit as just another meeting full of words which sound impressive but which are in fact merely for show and which lack any responsibility.
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, whilst there are still disparities of 400% between minimum wage levels within the Union, the real Europe has not yet been built. As long as there are rates of unemployment in double figures, or genuine pockets of hidden unemployment in the EU, the real Europe has not yet been built. As long the family is not generally acknowledged as the essential core of human and social development, the real Europe has not yet been built. As long as the poor and the socially excluded, who are increasingly visible in the Union, are not given priority by public authorities and by society, then the real Europe has not yet been built. Until we launch a head-on attack on the EU’s demographic problem, which will bring our social systems to crisis point as well as create a “fourth age” of the very elderly who need special care, the real Europe has not yet been built. Whilst there are such disparities between the quality of social protection systems and particularly the retirement pensions of one Member State in relation to those of another Member State of the European Union, the real Europe has not yet been built. Lastly, until we have real convergence, until economic and social cohesion is a reality for everyone and until the European social model is developed, the real Europe, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, has not yet been built.
We do not expect all of these issues to be resolved at this Lisbon Summit. We say this with the realism of people who know – and who want this situation to continue – that social policy and its application should remain a matter for the Member States. Given these circumstances, coordination is the path we should follow in order to obtain the maximum common benefit from various interlocking institutional processes designed to develop the social policies that the EU already has."@en1
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