Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-186"
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"en.20040114.4.3-186"2
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"Mr President, I should like to begin by congratulating both the European Commission and Mr Moraes. It is time that Europe stopped focusing exclusively on ways to limit flows of refugees and started making positive noises for once. Positive noises are necessary, because we already have a great many migrants in our countries.
The last speaker rightly pointed out the extremely high unemployment among migrants. Looking at the EU figures for 2002, I see that the unemployment rate among citizens of the European Union is 7.1%, but is more than double that for non-EU citizens living in the EU: almost 16%. If I then look at my own country, the figure is 33.5%. That means that a third of immigrants are out of work.
Looking at the government of those countries – and here it is not my intention to enter into controversy, but I should just like to say it, because the other side frequently enters into controversy – I see that countries with a left-wing government are by no means doing any better than those with a right-wing government. Incidentally, the same goes for the right to vote. I am always dumbfounded by the ideology that some people propagate in this Parliament, whilst in their own country, where they hold administrative power, they are unable to translate that same ideology into policy. The right to vote is not granted in any of those countries: you can put it in your memoranda or your documents as much as you want, but your governments do not want to grant the right to vote and nor do your parties. It is very easy, therefore, to come here and advocate it, no strings attached. I say this because I have tried, in a moderate way, to ensure that reference is made in the text to political rights without making a direct link with the right to vote. That is evidently still not enough for a large number of people whose countries have left-wing governments, although they cannot push it through in their own countries.
Why am I now speaking specifically about employment? I am doing so because work is the best means of integration. All the rest follows from this. I think that the European Union and our countries are paying too little attention to this. Those with a job have an income, can seek better accommodation and usually obtain legal status. They learn the language at work and can put their children through the education system in these countries in the normal way. Work is thus one of the most important possibilities for integration. Sadly, we note that the European Union is defaulting in that regard.
I support the solution that is being proposed for the future, that is to say, that we manage migration on the basis of the work we are able to offer. That implies, of course, also giving the present migrants work and gearing this management not only towards future migrants. Looking at the EU figures, much remains to be done in this respect.
I should also like to draw attention to another point. When it comes to highly qualified migrants – and here I am not especially talking about migrants from African countries, but those from the United States, for example – we never ask that they speak our language, because they end up in companies where the language of communication is English. That is so easy: it is assumed that highly trained people will know the language of the company. We make a great many requirements of less-skilled workers – soon they will have to take exams, too – making things very difficult for them."@en1
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