Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-14-Speech-2-356"
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"en.20060314.28.2-356"2
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Mr President, esteemed Chairman, colleagues, the elimination of poverty and social exclusion is one of the European Union’s strategic priorities. The Lisbon Strategy’s interim report was critical of the Member States’ actions, or rather inaction. 15% of the population of Europe, or 68 million people, a third of whom are children, live in poverty. Disparities between the wages of men and women are on average 20% to the disadvantage of women. Poverty naturally breeds poverty.
Social equilibrium serves the interests of the whole of society. Personal failure is not the main reason why people fall into poverty. Social inclusion, taking every policy into consideration, and an end to the wasting of human capital would provide a direct stimulus for the progress that we wish to achieve through the Lisbon Strategy. This is also emphasised by the report presently under discussion.
Europe must get its house in order once again. The Scandinavian countries are a good example of this. These countries have economies that are without doubt within the top ten in the world, and at the same time have the most effective social protection systems.
I would like to emphasise particularly the call made in the report to begin negotiations for the selection of policy areas in which the Open Method of Coordination will be applied. Europe must consider that if we now have 38 non-working pensioners for every hundred workers, this may double in the coming decade unless a change in employment policy is implemented. This problem must be dealt with today, however. Lifelong learning and the raising of employment among older people are crucial objectives.
The legislation of several Member States unfortunately contains provisions that promote age discrimination in the labour market. Such practices should be eradicated from the European judicial area.
In addition to other risk groups, the greatest danger of exclusion is among over women over 50, and this becomes more severe in retirement. The fact that the report devotes great attention to this is very welcome. It calls on Member States to ensure that when their pension is calculated, women are not punished for gaps in their employment history arising from parental or childcare leave. A part of the report I consider essential is the appeal to all Member States – especially the new ones – to review their solidary pension systems, taking into consideration men’s shorter life expectancy and the great wage differences between the sexes, which are reflected in the size of the pensions earned by widowed pensioners, and often push them below the poverty line.
I would like to thank Mrs Bauer for her expert work, and I hope that the principles set down in this document will soon be implemented in the legislative practice of the Member States."@en1
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