Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-14-Speech-2-031"
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"en.20041214.5.2-031"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, a great discrepancy is becoming apparent in Europe, and we all have to deal with it, although it is of course the Commission that has to do something about making it less glaring. On the one hand, the European Union appeals to the outside world – consider Ukraine, the Southern Caucasus, Turkey, to which reference has just been made, but also the migration that is going on, the fact that Europe is a destination for all, or many, states or individuals. On the other hand, we find ill-feeling, disappointment, and a bad atmosphere in Europe itself. In many cases, it will be for the Vice-President of the Commission and her public relations work to deal with that, but the Commission as a whole, along with Parliament, must work at resolving this contradiction. This does of course tie in with what previous speakers have already mentioned, namely the fact that many members of the public believe that nothing positive is being done about reinforcing and modernising the European model – which is what we wanted to express in the resolution on which we will be voting – but rather that it is being dismantled.
Whether that actually is the case, I do not propose to consider, but people feel that social rights are being reduced, that social options are being cut back, and that there are also not enough jobs for people to earn enough money and amass sufficient financial resources to keep themselves and their families. I believe that the public’s perception that the social model or the European model are in danger imperils the European Union as a whole. Even where it is globalisation or new forms of competition, which actually have no direct connection with the European Union, that are bringing this situation about, and threatening people’s living conditions, it is often the European Union that is blamed, and that is why we must do everything in our power to really make a success of Lisbon, so that the people can identify with the European model. We are not dealing here with abstract concepts, but with things that are very real.
As reference has already been made to the Services Directive, let me say that I think that it, in the form in which it has been presented, may well be an example of how ordinary people can come to believe what they do. A lot of people are afraid not only that their social rights or their rights as employees are now being eroded, but also that the same thing is happening to their rights as consumers, quite simply because the principle has gained acceptance that, in future, the lowest consumer standards should prevail and become normative across Europe instead of higher, or perhaps even the highest, consumer standards.
So, even though it is now for us to work on it, I ask you too to consider whether a different approach might be taken in future, one using something other than the principles contained in the Services Directive. Let me say, by way of a final comment, that we all agree on the need to reduce bureaucracy and over-regulation, but, if you will just take a look at the legal opinions on how the Services Directive is to be interpreted, you will see that to say so amounts to mere pious platitudes and that the reality is rather different. That being so, Mr Barroso, I urge you and your Commission to get back to supporting and reinforcing the European model of social and economic policy."@en1
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