Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-17-Speech-1-103"
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"en.20000117.6.1-103"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, my thanks go to the rapporteur for handling this very important report, because developments in the social and economic situation will decide to what extent the citizens of Europe will judge that we have been successful in our work. This issue, which has an impact on their everyday life, is a key issue as regards EU credibility. It has to be conceded that the EU has already aided, I would say quite magnificently, the development of poor countries. I remember what Portugal and Greece used to be like when I drove through those countries for the first time twenty-five years ago. In this connection, French speakers would speak of a “
in other words, I take my hat off to the EU.
The EU really deserves such a gesture, but differences between rich and poor areas within countries are still too great. What is the result? People react by voting with their feet and go where they can earn a crust. Consequently, we have to build schools, hospitals, and the whole infrastructure for the same people in the same country many times over. This is very costly and it also causes very great social problems. Most people, however, would like to live in the area in which they were born and raised, if they were given the chance to, in other words, if there was work there. We must give them this opportunity. This is a moral obligation the EU and all of us have.
The solution, as I see it, lies in clearly encouraging entrepreneurship. By entrepreneurship I do not simply mean the ownership of business, but creating will. I mean the attitude where a person wants to get on in life, whether he or she is an employee, the owner of a business or an official. What is a fair society? One in which someone from a modest background can get on in life so as to make life a little easier for his or her children. In this way, positive development of the regions is also possible, because people will start business and will work if they are given the chance. Finally, I would say that in this matter we should learn a lesson from America, where hard work is still in fashion and success is an indication of ability and not the object of envy, as it often is here in Europe."@en1
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