Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-26-Speech-4-017"
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"en.20050526.4.4-017"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should first of all like to thank Mrs Oomen-Ruijten for the fact that, in her report, this House is clearly making a strong appeal in favour of an ambitious social agenda for the European Union. I think it is very important that we should have this debate in conjunction with the discussion about integrated economic and employment guidelines, because economy and employment are not at odds with a good and socially ambitious policy. On the contrary, I would say, protecting employees’ social rights, fighting social exclusion and investing in lifelong learning are essential if we want to give the economy and employment a shot in the arm.
Commissioner, despite claims by the Commission in your social agenda, there was, in all honesty, no trace whatsoever of social policy during the presentation of the Lisbon strategy, and that is a missed opportunity. Further to the discussions in which I have been involved to date surrounding the referendum in France on the Constitution, it is obvious to me that people in Europe, not just in France, are clamouring for the European Union to have more of a social face, and I think that we would do well to step up efforts in that area.
The Commission set the right tone in its agenda, although it could have done so in a more concrete form and could have given us a little more. For example, I think it is right that the Commission should emphasise implementation of, or compliance with, legislation, but, in an enlarged Union, Commissioner, we should also remain ambitious in terms of social goals. We still need new legislation. Parliament has, for example, for a very long time been asking for a revision of the directive on the European works council or a directive on the protection of employees in the case of individual dismissal.
The European Union should, in my view, also continue to play a pioneering role with regard to the fight against discrimination, and people with a disability are very much counting on the fact that the European Union will lay down more legislation in this area. The Constitution is creating incredibly high expectations in connection with social rights and I urge you, Commissioner, to deliver on them now. I think that the European social agenda would benefit from some reinforcement, and I look forward to an excellent interinstitutional dialogue in order to strengthen even more the agenda presented by the Commission."@en1
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