Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-02-Speech-2-057"
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"en.20080902.4.2-057"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, this social package will only be able to bear fruit and be effective if we are able to agree the substance of the key initiatives. It is obvious that unemployment is the greatest of all social ills which we must combat. It is what most destabilises a society and is at the root of other, lesser evils. Therefore, the best social policy is one which helps create jobs.
We must move right away from the false dilemma between solidarity and competitiveness because they are not incompatible. However, in order to construct a healthy, effective social policy and eradicate poverty, we need growth and stability. Therefore our social model needs to come to terms with the new reality. Globalisation also brings opportunities: those who adapt come out as winners, those who do not as losers.
Europe is facing neither a classic crisis of growth nor cyclical problems but profound changes; the welfare of future generations depends on our wisdom to take good decisions today. Population ageing and demographic decline have already reached Europe; they are not a threat but a reality: closing our eyes to them will not help at all.
What answers can we give today to the many consequences of the trend? Very few. For example, we do not have the tools or the incentives to make flexible, planned retirement possible which will allow our people to work beyond the average age at which people leave the labour market. Achievement of a uniform level of protection against discrimination and exclusion is crucial but the mass of European legislation does not guarantee that discrimination has been eradicated; accordingly, work to eradicate these bad social practices needs to start in schools.
School failure and drop-out rates are a tragedy of our times and may well be for the future. We have much riding on this area; this is where we have to focus our minds, focus the added value the Union can bring, to end the situation and put a stop to it.
In short, ladies and gentlemen, we do not need to abandon our social model, but renew it, giving it greater flexibility, greater mobility and greater security so that the most vulnerable are not left by the wayside."@en1
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