Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-05-Speech-2-126"
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"en.20000905.10.2-126"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, let me say how delighted I am to be speaking here, discovering these acoustics, as this is in fact the first time I have spoken in this Chamber. First, I must present apologies from Martine Aubry who very much regrets not being here personally.
The European monitoring centre for industrial change may respond to this problem if its tasks and structure are defined in that way. The centre should identify and collect information relating to economic, technological, and labour market developments. It should also identify and disseminate positive practical solutions to be implemented at various levels and promote exchange of experience on the evolution of and adaptation to change. These tasks should respond to the needs of the European institutions, the social partners at all levels, the national and regional institutions and business.
There remains the question of how this monitoring function should be organised. It is useful and necessary to remember that this centre should be a tool, not a place for political decision-making and industrial negotiations, and should be available to the publics I mentioned earlier. It must be organised so as to fulfil its missions, and in our opinion that means a light, flexible structure. For logistics it could rely on the existing European institutions.
In our opinion, European social partners and the Commission should naturally be involved in the management of the centre in appropriate ways. A scientific council could determine the main guidelines and underwrite the work done.
A proposal that this European monitoring centre and the Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Dublin should be close together makes sense and would receive our support. In fact, the experience of that institution, its scope, the results of its work and its tripartite management, represent solid foundations for launching the centre.
In the view of the French Presidency, that proposal for a foundation should facilitate the rapid establishment of the centre. France will do everything possible to ensure that it can be in place before the end of this presidency.
Madam President, I have not forgotten how precious time is in this institution, so I have made a point of respecting my speaking time.
I want to thank the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and the parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists for the draft resolution to be debated, and the rapporteur, Mr Hughes.
I very much hope that our debate will contribute to progress on setting up European arrangements for monitoring industrial change, something the French Presidency takes a particular interest in. You will note, Commissioner, that I said European arrangements, and I am deliberately non-specific about the name, because it is the principle that is important.
Before talking about the arrangements themselves, I think it is useful to give a brief review of the context in which this proposal was born. The Special European Council in Luxembourg on 21 and 22 November 1997 tasked a high level group of experts with analysing industrial change in the European Union and looking at ways of anticipating and managing change as well as its economic and social repercussions.
The closure of the Renault Vilvorde plant is still a vivid memory. All of us, in our own countries, are experiencing the radicalisation of certain social conflicts reflecting despair – I do mean despair – and incomprehension before the challenges of globalisation.
In its final report to the European Commission, the group of experts drew up an inventory and made recommendations. These include the interesting proposal to the Commission to create a European monitoring centre for industrial change. This centre would be a tool to help identify and analyse change in order to anticipate its consequences and ensure positive management of those developments.
This recommendation was received without comment as to the principle, the monitoring centre being perceived as a tool to assist restructuring, but debate arose around the work on its creation. I believe there was also debate in the Commission and amongst both sides of industry. I am now being told that positions have moved very close together on both on the tasks and on the structure of the centre, and I think that is a highly important factor.
Recognising this, and with your help, ladies and gentlemen, we need to create the conditions for rapid establishment of the European monitoring centre for industrial change. The acceleration of the process of mergers and acquisitions in Europe is forever prompting us to think about the social and legal aspects of the issues raised. The emergence of new information and communication technologies in the organisation of relations between the great principals and their sub-contractors – I am thinking of aeronautics, the motor industry – is bringing in its wake new ways of organising work liable to alter the industrial fabric substantially and promote the arrival of new territorial systems going beyond national frameworks.
As regards the future of employment, we need clarification to be able to make real forecasts successfully. But clarification is also needed for developing vocational training both for learning a trade and for lifelong learning, which should become a right for everyone. I very much hope, as the draft resolution underlines, that this will be included in the Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The nature and importance of the social dialogue accompanying these transformations goes hand in hand with the extent of restructuring or technological evolution."@en1
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