Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-358"
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"en.20081119.23.3-358"2
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"Madam President, I am delighted that the Council and Commission are issuing a statement about the economic and social impact of present demographic trends. Many politicians have a bad habit of thinking in the short term and of neglecting long-term policy. Our demographic challenge is a vital problem in the long term, which also requires long-term solutions. The average birth rate in women in the European Union is 1.5, which is too low to replace the current generations. This is also where the problem lies. One option is to reach out for an easy solution in the short term by pleading in favour of an even greater immigration wave from outside Europe. Whilst this may seem like a good idea in theory, day-to-day reality in our big cities bears witness to the total failure of lax immigration policy over the past 30 years. The European unemployment figure is 20 million, and still the Commission would like to import more immigrants. Might I, in fact, point out that the unemployment percentage among non-European immigrants is considerably higher than among the native people in the Member States?
A lack of time prevents me from mentioning the social problems, including the social breakdown, which large-scale immigration causes. What we need is policy in the Member States that supports young European families in their desire to have children. Tax measures are needed in the Member States in order to make having children more attractive. Child care should be improved and extended. We should also dare to contemplate the introduction of a wage for the stay-at-home-parent who chooses to commit most of his or her time to raising the children."@en1
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