Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-09-Speech-3-037"
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"en.20050309.5.3-037"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, President Borrell’s initiative, to invite representatives of the national parliaments to a joint discussion on the economic, social and environmental future of Europe, is already bearing fruit. In most national parliaments, the Lisbon strategy has finally become a political subject. The European Parliament, in its turn, has done its utmost to produce proposals that are less ideological, more balanced, and closer to the day-to-day reality of life for our 455 million fellow citizens.
The same logic applies to social protection policies which play a crucial role and which call for the strengthening of policies to combat poverty and social exclusion.
I shall end, Mr President, by saying that the Europe of excellence is possible. Moreover, the European Union is much better than its reputation. Seen from the outside, the Union is the world political entity which has the highest standard of living, not only in economic terms but also in social and environmental terms.
Of course our draft resolution could be improved still further. There are certain deafening silences, such as the lack of any reference to the need to adjust the Stability and Growth Pact. Happily, the governments, whatever their political colour, have a more realistic approach than some Conservative or Liberal MEPs. Thus, the Ecofin Council, in spite of some difficult debates, is moving towards an adjustment of the pact.
I am willing to bet that the spring summit will succeed in transforming a somewhat ineffectual budgetary monitoring tool into a political-economy tool in the service of growth. With limited inflation, interest rates which are low compared with the past, a savings surplus and businesses that are more than profitable, Europe – and above all the euro zone – is currently lacking, not in stability, but in growth.
As a matter of priority we should stimulate internal demand, particularly in the larger countries within the euro zone, Germany, France and Italy. It is only by resuming public and private investment and giving new impetus to consumption that our Union will be able to increase its growth and create jobs.
The mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy will have to result in the concentration of resources on the priority objectives, that is, investment in education, training, research and infrastructures.
Fewer reports and more specific actions are needed in order to create that Europe of excellence which the Socialists are calling for. Defending a Europe of excellence, however, does not mean defending the status quo. High social and environmental standards can and should be included in the framework of any successful economic option. In a world in which capital is becoming increasingly mobile, Europe’s most precious competitive advantage remains its well-educated and trained labour force, which also has the independence necessary to enable it to react to constant change.
It is no accident that the Scandinavian countries, which showed the greatest determination in adopting the Lisbon strategy with regard to social and environmental excellence, are now among the best performing European countries in economic terms. They did their utmost to ensure that they could provide the type of real job security that is based on the capacity to maintain the constant upgrading of professional skills.
A modern competitive framework requires a re-examination of the concept of flexibility. In a rapidly developing global economy, the most prosperous businesses will be those that are the most flexible. Those businesses which rely on revolving reserve supplies of temporary workers will lose ground to those whose employees are tied to them by motivation based on job security and decent working conditions.
Policies on the employment market and on industrial relations systems must be reoriented towards the anticipation and management of change, so as to create a dynamic European economy and persuade the European labour force that change is an opportunity rather than a threat. We need a modern labour organisation system and active employment market policies."@en1
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