Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-08-Speech-5-030"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000908.4.5-030"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, one of the most pleasant forms of lifelong learning is membership of the European Parliament and, especially, participation in these Friday sittings at which, for once, you have the time to deal with the reports of colleagues from other specialist fields. I hope that a majority of this House will also learn and not go ahead and abolish these Friday sittings.
But now to the subject in hand. Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines has submitted an excellent report which is also very critical of the fact that our heads of state and government are constantly making grandiose announcements. The Feira Summit was just such an occasion – a pure media event, to use the buzz word. Very little of substance happened, however. Little is being provided for in terms of the budget and few resources are available, because it is all about appearances. We need to put an end to this kind of spin.
I am therefore very grateful for the sound report which Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines has submitted. One thing, of course, she has quite clearly emphasised is the importance of the subsidiarity principle. Nonetheless, resources must also be invested at European level. Above all, value must be attached to quality in this area, and quality means setting priorities. One of our priorities must be to extend precisely this idea of lifelong learning to people in the candidate States for, in Central and Eastern Europe, a totalitarian system has, for decades, robbed people of the opportunity to develop freely. It is a great failing of our strategy that we concentrate very heavily upon young people in these countries. It is obviously important to do that as well, but the bulk of people are elderly – elderly people who have to overcome decades of dictatorship but who are, today, able to make a fresh start. This too is something we need to support by making this area a priority.
I should also like to say that, in my view, elderly people in particular, who nowadays still have twenty or thirty productive years in front of them after they retire, must be able to play an increased part in our society. As a part of this process, there must also be educational opportunities. I am sorry that, nowadays, the discussion is about increasingly closing the doors of universities to older people, charging fees and ensuring that older people can no longer take an active part in the life of universities."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples