Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-22-Speech-4-025"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040422.2.4-025"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, we agree that things are going very badly for Europe. Mrs Randzio-Plath’s excellent report documents how dreadfully bad matters look. That applies particularly to Europe and not to the whole world. It must therefore have something to do with specifically European conditions. I am among those who believe that it has to do with the Stability and Growth Pact and with the policy linked to the Stability and Growth Pact. As long as the pact prevails, there is little help to be found. We have a low level of investment and a lack of growth and dynamism, meaning in actual fact that we have a surplus of capital. This capital then has to leave Europe in order to find more profitable investment opportunities. We also have a tragic surplus of labour in the form of people who are unemployed.
I do not believe we can break this pattern unless we also abandon the Stability and Growth Pact and, instead, begin to think in terms of public investment as practised in the Keynesian tradition. It is nowadays forbidden to talk about Keynes, but I think it incredibly important to begin to debate Keynes and post-Keynesianism. The fact that this is not being done must be due to a kind of ideological block. I cannot see how it could be otherwise.
Our having a sound employment policy does not help much as long as those with education and qualifications are not given jobs. Companies do not want them. We need to pin our hopes on public investment. I believe, above all, that we are concerned here not only with infrastructure but also, to a large extent, with the consumption of public services. This needs to be increased. I also believe – and this is another matter that is not allowed to be discussed – that there is a place for reducing working hours in order to get more people into work. We should then obtain a better balance and be able to increase work productivity. Such measures are needed if we are to get anywhere, but as long as neo-liberal politics dominates, matters will, unfortunately, continue to go badly for Europe."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples