Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-05-Speech-2-185"
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"en.20060905.23.2-185"2
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".
Mr President, I, too, would like to join my colleagues in thanking the joint rapporteurs for their work on this very important report. I welcome the Commissioner to the House also, because eventually the Commission will have to start implementing some of the things that we are talking about here.
One of the key elements arising from the debate is the recognition at last that, unless the economic wealth can be created, together with the employment terms to guarantee jobs and security within those jobs and rights after those jobs, then the European social model is non-existent.
As my colleague, Mr Andersson, rightly pointed out, there is not just one single model, but a variety of different ones. The one thing they all share is the necessity for solidarity between all peoples within the individual countries and across the European Union. The idea of protection for those who are most vulnerable within our society is at the very core of what the European social model should be about. When you look down through the list of issues and areas that need to be covered, of course there are always difficulties that will arise, whether it is with regard to long-term unemployment, youth unemployment, female unemployment, social welfare provision, protection with regard to access to housing, access to education and training, or more recently the demographic situation and the pensions crisis that is looming before us.
No matter how you try and come up with solutions to deal with the problems that are there, the one thing we should learn from the practical experience we now have of a number of these various social models is that one size does not fit all. There is a need to allow for flexibility within those models, to guarantee that the core values of putting the human being at the very centre of what the social model is about remain paramount. But, also, when we speak about harmonisation of taxation or harmonisation of the minimum wage, this obviously militates against creating equality, because countries that at present have lower wages and a high level of social protection could be made uncompetitive, with business and companies being attracted elsewhere and jobs lost. That is why this flexibility must be there.
I give my support to the report in general and I am delighted with the comments it makes. One area of ongoing concern is the need to ensure the link between economic performance and the generation of wealth, which must then be utilised for social protection. You cannot have one without the other and when we speak about raising taxes, you can have the highest taxes in the world, but if you do not have companies employing people and paying taxes, then you cannot provide social protection afterwards."@en1
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