Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-14-Speech-2-314"

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"en.20020514.13.2-314"2
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"Mr President, the interdependence between macropolicy and full employment is evident. If we are to achieve full employment and raise the employment rate to the level of other regions of the world, we need growth over and above growth in productivity. We also need full employment to step up internal demand and to achieve gross income from the EU Member States. This is a prerequisite if we are to achieve sustainable growth at a high level over a substantial period, and a prerequisite that needs to be expressed more clearly in the broad guidelines for economic policies and which needs to be made clearer in the guidelines for Member States. The present guidelines are still too much geared towards structural reforms. But such reforms have only limited scope for acting as an engine for growth and employment. No doubt the implementation of the financial action plan will partly close the gap in productivity between the EU and the USA, but only partly. That is why we need to aim for a higher level of investment. Increases in investment of 4% were possible in the USA during the 1990s, with a significant impact on growth and employment. So why not in the EU? There is not enough emphasis in the broad guidelines for economic policies on investment. I am not denying that it represents progress that all the EU Member States intend to invest 3% of their GDP in research and development, and that they also intend to invest more in human resources. After all, human resources are Europe's raw material. However, more needs to be invested in education and training if the knowledge-based society is to become a reality in Europe. Investment would need to rise from 21% to 25%. This applies primarily to private investment needed to create production capacity and jobs which would make this sustainable growth possible in the longer term, but which would also promote technological progress and thus contribute in turn to increased demand. But public-sector investment also needs to increase. In this field we chiefly need investment in infrastructure, which was particularly hit because of the consolidation process in 2001, with a level of 2.3% of GDP. A target of 3% needs to be introduced for stability programmes here. I think that is worth considering. By way of conclusion I would like to mention that the Commission is quite right to touch on the need for the coordination of fiscal policies. We know that companies are now critical of the fact that there is no scope for planning in the EU in relation to taxation and above all in relation to cross-border economic activity, something we would like to see. As much provision as possible should therefore be made in the broad guidelines for economic policies to ensure coordination where there are disruptions in the functioning of the internal market."@en1

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