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Social package (First part) (debate)
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<SPEAKER ID="954" NAME="President">
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The next item is the Statements by the Commission and the Council on the Social Package (First part).
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<SPEAKER ID="005" NAME="Vladimír Špidla">
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Member of the Commission. - (CS) Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, two months ago the Commission adopted a renewed social agenda.
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It is designed to help the Union to solve the social problems which Europe will have to tackle in the 21st century.
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It contains an ambitious and cohesive set of measures in the field of social policy, enabling Europeans to grasp the opportunities open to them.
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As has been said already, the renewed social agenda was discussed by Ministers for Labour and Social Affairs at an informal meeting of the Social Council held in early July at Chantilly.
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I was pleased to receive a report on the very positive welcome of the renewed social agenda by Member States and I await with interest the conclusions which the Council should receive by the end of this year.
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I have already had the opportunity to present this package to the Conference of Presidents and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.
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A suitable time has also arisen for an in-depth debate here in Parliament.
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I am convinced that today's exchange of views will help us to reach a consensus on the question as to what kind of social Europe we wish to build for European citizens.
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I should like to remind you of developments up to now.
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This complex package is the result of two years of joint efforts.
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The Commission has been working with all interested parties, including representatives of workers and employers, civil society, Member States and regional and local bodies.
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The package forms a cohesive whole, emphasising links to other areas, such as education, health, environment, the information society and the economy, and it clearly shows that economic and social objectives are two sides of the same coin and must operate in close cooperation for the benefit of the people.
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It is an ambitious package, attempting to offer practical responses to the concerns of the people and to improve their living conditions.
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It is also a very comprehensive package - the largest that the Commission has ever adopted in one go - with 18 initiatives presented together with the report.
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In excess of another 20 relating to a wide range of topics are also under discussion.
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Today we are looking at two measures: at a proposed directive to combat discrimination and at a revised directive on the establishment of European Works Councils.
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First of all, however, I should like to say a few words about the basic principles of this package.
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The renewed social agenda is based on three main principles: opportunities, access and solidarity.
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We Europeans value the worth of individuals and want everyone to have an equal opportunity to achieve their potential.
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This means removing the obstacles which people have to overcome and creating the conditions to allow everyone to grasp the opportunities offered while still respecting European diversity and avoiding discord.
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Europeans' faith in equality gives rise to a shared belief in social solidarity: solidarity between generations, between regions, between those at the top and those at the bottom, between wealthy and less wealthy Member States, and also with our neighbours and friends in other parts of the world, since solidarity is an integral part of the functioning of the European Community and of our relations with other countries throughout the world.
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Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, the extent of legal protection against discrimination differs at present in the EU depending on the reasons for the discrimination.
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Discrimination is not, however, restricted to one area.
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This is why we have proposed, as part of the package, a horizontal directive prohibiting discrimination on the basis of age, sexual orientation, religious belief and disability outside the employment field.
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A horizontal directive will provide Member States, economic entities and citizens with the greatest degree of clarity and legal certainty.
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This draft is a response to repeated calls from Parliament and meets the political undertaking which the Commission made upon taking office.
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It is a flexible instrument based on principles already adopted in Member States and embedded in existing regulations.
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I should like to emphasise that tackling all the reasons for discrimination in the same way does not mean that uniform rules have to apply in all areas.
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In insurance and banking, for example, it will be possible to apply different approaches on the basis of age or disability.
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However, such differences will have to be supported by convincing grounds and reliable statistical data.
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Elderly people will still be able to enjoy preferential rates on public transport and at cultural events, and it will still be possible to restrict access to certain goods in order to protect people's health, for example the sale of alcohol to underage youths.
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The directive covers the supply of all goods and services and relates to both business and private individuals, but only insofar as the commercial supply of goods and services is involved.
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The directive will also be proportionate with regard to the burden it imposes in accordance with the concept of proportionality embedded in both the existing anti-discrimination directives and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been signed by Member States and the European Community.
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The draft directive prohibits discrimination, but at the same time respects the other fundamental rights and freedoms, including the protection of private and family life and acts undertaken in this context and also the freedom of religion and the freedom of association.
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Another problem to which I should like to draw attention is discrimination against the Roma, which the Commission has repeatedly condemned as incompatible with the principles of the EU.
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The package contains a declaration of our renewed undertaking to ensure equal opportunities and to fight against discrimination and also a Commission Staff Working Document on Community Instruments and Policies for Roma Inclusion.
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It is a response to the request from the European Council in December 2007 that the Commission should review existing policies and instruments and submit to the Council a report on the progress achieved.
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According to the Commission Staff Working Document, the necessary legislative, financial and coordinating instruments are in place and are being used, but not yet to a sufficient extent.
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The renewed social agenda includes several initiatives intended to improve the Union's ability to react more effectively to changes.
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We are convinced that European social dialogue and the European Works Councils have a special part to play in this context.
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The European Works Councils Directive has been crying out for updating for some time.
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At the present time, there are 820 European Works Councils in the Union, representing 15 million workers.
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However, recent cases show that they are not quite doing their job and employees are often not kept well informed or consulted with regard to company restructuring.
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The initiative therefore aims to strengthen the role of social dialogue within companies at the supranational level.
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It is a balanced draft which should guarantee that employees' representatives are kept adequately informed and consulted prior to decisions relating to circumstances affecting them and should also allow businesses to adapt to globalisation.
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The Commission would of course prefer to give priority to a solution first discussed by representatives of workers and employers, but the fact that we did not manage to persuade them to come to the table for discussions last June forced the Commission to submit a draft on its own initiative.
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We nonetheless value the joint letter which representatives of workers and employers sent to the Council and Parliament in August.
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We appreciate the efforts made by both sides to reach agreement on this complex topic and I am also pleased that they decided to accept the Commission's draft as a basis for further work.
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I really hope that Parliament will bear in mind the practical proposals made by representatives of workers and employers when they come to the first reading.
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I believe that we shall achieve a rapid resolution.
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As far as it is able, the Commission will try to smooth the path as much as possible.
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Now I must say a few words about the impacts of globalisation.
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Company restructuring is sometimes unavoidable, but the impacts on employees and their families may be very painful.
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The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund exists to help in such situations.
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So far the Fund has helped 7 250 employees to find new jobs.
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We can be pleased about this, but it must be ensured that the Fund is accessible to all those who might benefit from it.
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The report contained in the social agenda package states that, of the EUR 500 million available annually, just 4% was used in 2007.
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Thought must therefore be given as to how to improve the results of the Fund's activities.
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As regards workforce mobility, I should like to say that the 1996 Directive concerning the posting of workers supports the free movement of services and also offers protection against the abuse of workers and guarantees them observance of fundamental rights in the Member States to which they are posted.
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Recent rulings by the Court of Justice on this matter have thrown up a whole series of questions.
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The reactions to them are quite legitimate and we must together find an answer to them.
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I am convening a forum to discuss this topic on 9 October, when this complex problem will be discussed with political bodies, representatives of workers and employers, representatives of European institutions and experts in the fields of law and the economy.
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The Commission will of course continue to listen to all comments, but we do not as yet see any need to amend the Directive.
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In any case, however, we shall ensure that there is no conflict between the fundamental freedoms embedded in the Treaty and citizens' fundamental rights.
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Ladies and gentlemen, this new social agenda affirms the undertaking of the European Union to promote a strong and real social dimension for Europe, a social Europe, which will meet the expectations of our fellow citizens.
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Of course, this is impossible without including an educational dimension, which is very important.
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In this context, I should like to mention the following three documents:
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Council Recommendation on mobility of young volunteers across Europe;
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Communication entitled 'Improving competences for the 21st Century: an Agenda for European Cooperation on Schools';
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Green Paper: Migration & mobility: challenges and opportunities for EU education systems.
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It is our joint wish to strengthen and deepen the social dimension of Europe.
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The 18 measures contained in the package represent the first step in our efforts in this direction.
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I know that I can rely on you, whose job it is to represent the voice of the people, to consider these proposals and political documents in depth and with care.
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It is of fundamental importance for their future.
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<SPEAKER ID="007" NAME="Xavier Bertrand">
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President-in-Office of the Council. - (FR) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to talk about social Europe.
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We shall talk about social Europe, and I am glad to be doing so today before the European Parliament, which is a key player in the institutional structure of Europe, an essential partner with which the French Presidency is keen to work as closely as possible.
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I have said it before and I will say it again now: 2008 is to be the year in which social Europe is re-energised.
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Something that I believe all our European players want to see.
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The June summit in Luxembourg, the Chantilly meeting in July, are milestones along that route.
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We were keen for the French Presidency to tackle the issue of revising the European Social Agenda, which Commissioner Špidla talked about just now.
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This is a key issue which demands the ability on our part to define a social vision for Europe and to translate that vision into concrete action.
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The discussions at Chantilly, in which Parliament took part through your committee chairman Mr Andersson, enabled us to reaffirm a number of common values which we all share, and it is precisely these that define Europe's ambitions for social policy.
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Those values are social dialogue, intergenerational solidarity, action against poverty and discrimination, equality between the sexes, social protection, occupational mobility, and the importance of services of general interest in guaranteeing social cohesion and social responsibility in business and industry.
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Observed from Beijing, Washington, the Cape, New Delhi or from Brisbane even, these values give the European social model its originality.
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Chantilly was an opportunity for us to remind the world that these values are central to Europe's development strategy, to the Lisbon strategy.
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In other words, Chantilly provided a reminder that this social model, these common values, constitute a European strength in our globalised world.
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Because the knowledge-based economy, the innovation economy, can only be built by focusing firmly on developing human capital and on lifelong learning.
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Because the economy as a whole loses out when whole categories of the population are shut out of the world of work for long periods of time, cannot contribute to wealth creation and cannot access goods and services.
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Because workers too are more productive when they have good terms of employment and social protection which cushions them against the hard knocks that life delivers.
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Economic progress does not mean sacrificing social progress, far from it.
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I am not alone in seeing the two as indissociable.
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Without social progress, economic progress will run out of steam sooner or later.
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So Europe must advance on both fronts: economic progress, yes, and social progress too.
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Along with this conviction which we collectively reaffirmed, we took on board another fact: the European social model needs to change, to adapt to globalisation, climate change, demographic change and the growing diversity of European societies.
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So we need to adapt our labour markets and introduce flexicurity, that is to say new securities and flexibilities for both workforce and employers.
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And things are moving.
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At first the term 'flexicurity' frightened people, alarmed them.
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But now it represents a European ideal aspired to by all players, including the social partners.
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The word has become commonplace, an everyday term, which proves that things are indeed changing, that mindsets are changing.
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Something else which must be addressed if we are to move our social model forward is the guarantee of social cohesion, with measures to combat new forms of poverty, specifically where they affect children.
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It is time we joined forces to prepare our societies better for this demographic change, strengthening intergenerational solidarity and ensuring that people have access to high-quality social services of general interest.
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This process of adjustment has been under way for a few years already.
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Thanks to initiatives by the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the social partners, we are making progress on specific initiatives which respond to popular concerns in Europe.
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How do we allow freedom of movement for workers within Europe and at the same time safeguard the employment rights of those who move?
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How do we improve the management of restructuring operations by involving the workforce Europe-wide?
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How do we ensure that people are able to work and thus play a part in society and what can we do to counter discrimination more effectively?
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These endeavours will continue throughout the French Presidency.
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Especially - and I say this in all honesty - since the upcoming elections mean that the second half of 2008 will be our last shot at securing results in this parliamentary term on a number of issues.
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All of us will shortly be held to account by our fellow Europeans at the ballot box.
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The people of Europe expect results here.
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The reactions to recent rulings by the European Court of Justice are proof of that.
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This is an area where the European Parliament can help us, along with many other areas which I will touch on briefly.
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Firstly, revision of the European Works Council directive, which Vladimír Špidla talked about just now.
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This is a major undertaking that will strengthen social dialogue in Europe.
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The present directive applies to more than 14 million workers and 820 employers.
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Revision of the directive will increase the number covered still further.
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At Chantilly we brought together representatives of the European Trade Union Confederation and of Business Europe to hear their views on the revised text put forward by the Commission.
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They were happy with the proposal as a working base and said they could negotiate to overcome points of disagreement.
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They are now finalising a number of common proposals which they will announce in due course.
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If this comes to fruition, if the social partners produce common proposals on revision of the directive, this will be helpful to our work, the work of Parliament and the Council.
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So why not reach agreement at first reading as quickly as possible?
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If at all possible, by the end of the year?
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Concerning our second focus of work: I must of course mention the proposal for a directive on protection from discrimination beyond the workplace, which the Commission also adopted on 2 July.
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This was much discussed at Chantilly and the Presidency opened talks on this text from the beginning of July.
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Parliament will be consulted on this matter but I should point out that the Commission's proposal, covering four grounds for discrimination, took account of the resolution which Parliament adopted last spring on the report by Elizabeth Lynne.
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The third matter which also received a lot of attention was social services of general interest.
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All the Member States are talking about these.
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They are all talking about the same thing even if, admittedly, they are not all saying exactly the same thing.
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But adoption of the Protocol to the Lisbon Treaty and evaluation of the Altmark package gives us an opportunity to think about the contribution which these services make to social cohesion in Europe, the need to ensure that they are of high calibre and the importance of giving them a sound legal framework.
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We hope to work on a roadmap with the Commission, and with anyone keen to contribute, to identify a number of intermediate objectives so that progress on this highly important matter can be sustained.
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Then, of course, there are the directives on temporary work and working time.
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On both these, the ball is in the European Parliament's court, for the second reading.
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We must try to avoid conciliation.
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Millions of temporary workers in Europe are waiting impatiently for the directive on temporary work to come into force and there is pressure on some Member States to settle the question of on-call time.
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So I can only encourage Parliament to keep us informed of what happens, with due regard, here too, to the counterbalancing factors of which I am well aware.
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But here too, people have expectations of us and all eyes are upon us.
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I am also mindful, on the subject of mobility, of the need to reach agreement on the implementing regulation on the coordination of social security schemes.
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The French Presidency needs the European Parliament's support on these various issues in order to achieve concrete results.
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Those results - you know this, but I will say it again - are keenly awaited by the people of Europe, who expect us to pursue our European social vision to the benefit of their everyday lives, to make Europe more a part of everyday existence.
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We know today that we need not less Europe but more Europe.
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We know full well today that we need not less social Europe but more social Europe.
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We know full well, ladies and gentlemen, the challenges we have to meet.
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<SPEAKER ID="009" NAME="Joseph Daul">
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on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - (FR) Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, President of the Commission, Commissioner Špidla, ladies and gentlemen, the Group of the European People's Party and European Democrats sets great store by social justice.
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Upholding European social models is one of our priorities in an increasingly globalised world.
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And for this reason, as Chairman of the EPP Group, I welcome the Commission's proposal on the new social package.
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This text offers some answers to questions of fundamental importance to our societies, such as demographic change, globalisation and poverty reduction.
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My group feels that the Commission should go still further and take more specific measures.
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Alleviating poverty, getting population groups who are excluded from the labour market into employment, promoting worker mobility and improving workers' education and training - these are things that call for a specific programme, concrete measures and strong commitment on the part of the European Union and its Member States.
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Demographic change is a major challenge for our economies.
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Workers over pensionable age, women, young people and above all persons with a disability - generally speaking everyone who has been out of the labour market for a long period of time - must be given a new chance.
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We must help these people to find work or get back to work.
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To that end we want concrete measures to promote lifelong learning.
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Persons who are in work continue to face inequalities.
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We are very concerned by the continuing pay gap between men and women.
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That is something which ought not to exist in the Europe of 2008.
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Similarly, appropriate care facilities must be provided to help people combine work and family life.
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We thus call on the Commission and Council to take specific measures here.
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My Group is opposed to all forms of discrimination.
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So we approve of the Commission's declared intention to plug the loopholes which persist in the relevant legislation.
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Action on discrimination against disabled people in particular must be intensified.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we believe that the most effective instrument we have for upholding social models in this age of globalisation is economic growth.
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But we are convinced that in order to attain the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy we must promote the cause of business and industry, because it is enterprise that basically drives job creation.
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We must improve the image of the entrepreneur in Europe and encourage young people to set up their own businesses.
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We must also encourage a competitive environment for our businesses, giving special support to small and medium-sized enterprises which are the leading creators of jobs.
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With this in mind we urge all players in the field to work for more flexicurity in Europe.
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The concept has proved its worth in those countries that have adopted it.
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It allows businesses the flexibility they need to be internationally competitive, whilst protecting workers at the same time.
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I welcome the Commission's intention to promote social dialogue.
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For us, partnership based on trust within businesses is key to their success in the marketplace.
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Ladies and gentlemen, in the current treaties social matters are still essentially the province of the Member States.
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That may, and must, change but until it does we have to abide by the subsidiarity principle.
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That does not stop the Commission from conducting impact studies, condemning inequalities and seeking to assess the social consequences of any new proposed legislation.
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Indeed I urge it to do so.
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The social and societal challenges we face are considerable: we need to reform our economies, adapting them to be more competitive, so that fewer people suffer exclusion.
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There cannot be social progress without economic growth, but the economy cannot be competitive without social progress.
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The EPP-ED Group is determined, now more than ever, to achieve results here.
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<SPEAKER ID="011" NAME="Martin Schulz">
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on behalf of the PSE Group. - (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, listening to the speeches delivered by the previous speakers - by Commissioner Špidla, by the President-in Office of the Council, Mr Bertrand, and by you, Mr Daul - one has the impression that all is well.
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You are progressing nicely, and 2008 will be remembered as the year when the European social model was relaunched.
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That all sounds very fine, but the reality is harsher.
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Yes, the real picture looks quite different.
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The real picture is one of gross social inequality in the European Union.
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Profits spiral ever higher while wage levels stagnate.
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The income gap has become an ever-widening chasm.
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The loss of purchasing power that has hit ordinary people in the European Union, compounded by the drastic increases in energy prices, is a veritable impoverishment programme.
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This is a problem that we must address in the European social model, and not just with fine words.
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What you are initiating, Mr Špidla, is good, and we welcome it.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we shall be dealing in detail with our views on the various proposals.
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For this reason I can make a few basic remarks about what we expect of a European social model.
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Fifteen years ago, if people in the European Union - in whatever country - had the feeling that something was going wrong, that some long-established national standard was endangered, they responded by looking to Europe to put things right; they felt the need to rectify matters in the European framework, because people believed then that European rules in a European framework would provide protection transcending national boundaries.
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Today, fifteen years later, just try telling anyone that we will put things right in Europe.
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It would strike fear into employees, because they believe that this Europe, in its present-day disposition, can no longer guarantee them social protection.
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If you take the time to analyse the Irish referendum and the voting behaviour of young people, you will see these people saying that Europe is a great idea.
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But when they look at how it is organised and constituted today, they are not impressed with its organisation or its disposition.
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Since we are entering an election campaign, it is only right to ask why there was such optimism fifteen years ago about the future of social policy in Europe, and why there is such pessimism today.
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Our reply as Socialists must be that Europe is governed by the Right.
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You delivered a fine Socialist speech, Minister; what you said here was marvellous.
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But what line did your government take in the Council on the Working Time Directive?
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Your governing party is a member of the European People's Party, whose member parties provide the vast majority of the heads of government in the European Union.
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In the Commission, they provide an absolute majority of the Commissioners as well as the President of the Commission.
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The European People's Party is the largest political group in this House, but, to hear you speak, one would think you had nothing at all to do with the stunted social development of Europe.
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Europe is governed by the Right and is being guided in the wrong direction, and that must be rectified in the European elections.
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You will have a good opportunity to get us back on track when the time comes to implement the measures you have outlined.
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The European social model is one of our priorities, you said.
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For our group, it certainly is!
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What do people feel seriously threatened by in the European Union?
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Uncontrolled financial markets.
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Uncontrolled hedge funds and private-equity firms that buy some company or other, cherry-pick its assets and dump its employees on the streets - simply to maximise the investors' profits.
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My honourable colleague Paul Nyrup Rasmussen has presented us with a very good report.
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We need qualified majority voting on this issue, so that the Commission can launch an initiative for the regulation of hedge funds and private-equity firms.
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Who is it that refuses to support such a move?
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You, the European People's Party, whose representatives on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs are against it.
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This is why we need to spell out very clearly that the struggle for the European social model is also the struggle for a basic philosophy.
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Mr Bertrand rightly ascribed the success of the European Union to its having married economic progress with social progress.
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That was always the underlying philosophy in Europe - for the Christian Democrats too, by the way.
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For decades, these were two sides of the same coin, until the neo-liberal mainstream began to tell us in the early nineties that lower wages, longer hours and less say in company management were the basic recipe for faster economic growth.
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For decades, of course, there have been people - and they are still present in great numbers today, even within the Commission - who attach more importance to horse racing than to the European social model but are responsible here for the internal market and who have been telling us, and still tell us - the prime example being Mr Trichet, who does so at every press conference - that wages in Europe are too high.
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Perhaps they are in the case of board members at the European Central Bank, but not for ordinary workers in Europe.
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We shall therefore have to ensure that a general change of political direction takes place, a change of direction that will actually put the European social model back where you want it, Mr Bertrand, so that every economic advance achieved by the European Union will also have a beneficial impact on the lives of all citizens of the European Union.
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You are right, of course, in saying that the EU can only compete in the world, be it in Beijing or Brisbane, if we develop this internal market.
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We want to do that; we want an internal market that can perform.
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We want an efficient and competitive European continent.
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But the reason why we want it is to create wealth that accrues to everyone, not only to investors in major corporate groups, in large joint-stock companies and in the big banks.
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As long as we have this philosophy in Europe that awards European prizes to people who boast, when presenting their companies' performance figures at press conferences, of having made billions throughout Europe on which they do not pay any taxes in Europe, because their profits are European and not national and are therefore exempt from national taxation, and as long as we continue to put tens of thousands out of work to perpetuate this state of affairs and maintain our shareholders' profits - as long as this remains the reality of the European social model, we can talk here as much as we like, but the people will never identify with this Europe.
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We do wish, however, to consolidate the European ideal and to further the cause of integration.
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For this reason, let me remind the House that a European social model is judged by its fruits.
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The same applies to you, Mr Bertrand, in the Council and to you, Mr Daul, here in Parliament.
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<SPEAKER ID="013" NAME="Graham Watson">
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<SPEAKER ID="015" NAME="Jan Tadeusz Masiel">
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on behalf of the UEN Group. - (PL) Mr President, the Union for Europe of the Nations Group very much welcomes the European Union's new social package.
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The social dimension is what most distinguishes Europe from other world powers such as the United States or China.
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In the west twentieth-century Europe was built to a great extent on social values.
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It provided a valuable social model for the new Member States upon their accession to the European Union in 2004 and 2007, since in many of them, after the recovery of political and economic independence at the end of the 1980s, capitalism sought to assert itself in its worst form, violating workers' rights and showing no respect for human dignity.
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In the 21st century we all have to contend with globalisation, which can be an opportunity but also a threat to humankind.
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Brussels must therefore send clear signals to the Member States encouraging them to preserve and further develop the social gains that serve the interests of all citizens of the European Union.
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<SPEAKER ID="017" NAME="Jean Lambert">
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on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. - Mr President, I very much welcome what the Minister has said this morning, and hope that much of it will be echoed by the Council, although the evidence so far does not give us great cause for confidence that it will.
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Many of us still see question marks hanging over our protection of the social aspect in the face of market dominance.
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We are invited in this package to consider the impact of the recent European Court of Justice rulings.
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Well, many of us have indeed considered them and consider them extremely worrying, when we are constantly being asked to justify measures on the basis of their not disturbing markets rather on the basis of their delivering a high quality of services and quality of workers rights etc.
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This is evidenced in the social package, where we are now looking at recognising the fact that we have poverty among people actually in work, and that we are still looking at a growing gap between rich and poor.
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While welcoming the sentiments on dealing with poverty expressed in the Commission's package, what we are really looking for is concrete action.
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We obviously welcome the horizontal directive on equalities.
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That is something we have championed throughout this Parliament.
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It is important for all sorts of reasons, not least because it now actually offers the possibility of full participation in society.
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We also welcome many of the proposals on the Roma.
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We welcome the Commission's commitment and want to see all Member States responding positively, rather than entrenching prejudice and bigotry.
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Training on equal opportunities is an important part of the skills agenda, especially for those delivering policy in the areas concerned.
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We welcome the existence, at least, of the proposals on the European Works Councils, although we have a number of criticisms about what is in them.
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As regards the mobility aspect of the package, we now also need to be looking at the impact of mobility in social terms: what happens to people, in particular the economically inactive who move and find themselves disbarred from Member States' health-care systems; what happens to people as they age, having moved to other Member States, and what will their future bring?
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We also welcome the proposal on 'New skills for new jobs', and trust this really will link in with the climate change agenda, which also needs to look at new skills in old jobs, because most of the workforce have now passed the stage of formal education, making lifelong learning crucial.
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We must ask how we are going to deliver the skills we actually need in order to make our climate change targets practicable.
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<SPEAKER ID="019" NAME="Gabriele Zimmer">
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on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. - (DE) Mr President, three points from the present discussion stick in my mind.
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The first is the desire expressed by the Minister for the Interior, Mr Bertrand, to make 2008 the year when the European social model is relaunched.
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Then there are the words spoken by Commissioner Špidla, who said that the social package met public expectations within the European Union, and lastly there is your statement, Mr Schulz, that Europe is governed by the Right.
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I believe that all three statements require critical analysis.
348
Firstly, how can the representative of the French Presidency declare the aim of making 2008 the comeback year for the social model when the French Government declined even to refer to social policy as a priority of its Presidency?
349
In my view, the social package is far from meeting people's expectations, because it simply does nothing at all to bridge the social divides in Europe and does not even take any action to halt the widening of these divisions, to freeze the situation as it now stands.
350
The process is set to continue in spite of the social package.
352
Lastly, Mr Schulz, I can happily give you a taste of your own medicine.
353
It was back in the 1990s, when Socialist governments were in power, that this development took root.
354
We should have expected you to say that, in the wake of Lisbon, there will be a new construct in 2010, a new strategy which will focus sharply on protection of the European social model and which will reorder our priorities once more.
356
As for the social package itself, it does not come up to expectations.
357
It is high time we broke out of the situation in which the decline in proper employment is accompanied by a growing number of jobs from which people cannot earn their livelihood.
358
We must finally stop using mere job numbers as our criterion in the European Union and focus instead on jobs that pay a decent wage.
360
This social package contains no announcement of the inclusion, wherever necessary, of a social progress clause in all European treaties.
361
Nor is there any answer to the question whether those who play an important part in defending social rights within the European Union are to be given more instruments and more powers in the European Works Council Directive.
362
The proposal merely invokes the status quo and maintains the present line with no additions.
364
We reject this package as an excessively abstract and misguided approach.
365
In their subsequent contributions to this debate, members of my group will be commenting on the individual components of the proposal.
366
<SPEAKER ID="021" NAME="Derek Roland Clark">
367
on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. - Mr President, the Lisbon Treaty was dismissed by the legitimate Irish referendum, so of course you need a big programme to divert attention.
368
Hence this new package.
369
Well, it is not really new.
370
It is a rehash of earlier proposals.
372
It has EU legislation, social dialogue, cooperation, funding, partnership, dialogue, communication... and that is just one page.
374
Allow me to focus on funding.
375
A prosperous economy will provide the funds, but you have lumbered yourselves with the euro, where the ECB's interest rate is trying to cover such diverse economies.
376
One size fits all, some say.
377
Actually it is one size that fits no one.
379
In the UK the Bank of England cannot get it right for all our regions.
380
Indeed, the weekend papers remarked that the economic North-South divide in the UK is now greater than ever before.
382
The EU is protectionist.
383
You are afraid of globalisation.
387
Join the world market of an ever-growing population.
388
Encourage enterprise by slashing red tape.
389
Call a halt to the never-ending stream of directives and regulations which only hinder business.
390
Accept the rest of the world on even terms and the European economy will increase, bringing the greatest social package of all: more and better jobs.
392
In conclusion, one notes that it falls to the French presidency to kick-start this venture, but will they?
393
According to EurActiv on 3 July, the Commission and the French presidency have both declared social policy a priority in 2008.
394
But if we read the Deutsche Welle of 2 July, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made it clear that social policy will not be a top priority.
395
Issues like immigration, climate change and energy will take centre stage.
397
So which statement do you believe?
398
For my part I think the French will do as they always do and look after themselves.
399
For that I congratulate them.
400
I wish my government did the same.
401
<SPEAKER ID="023" NAME="Carl Lang" AFFILIATION="NI">
402
(FR) Mr President, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, it is normal in this House for us to rabbit on about social policy.
403
Unfortunately the European social model is now no more than a myth, because the social reality in our country of France, and my own region in particular, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, is that we have a state of social decline, despair, social precarity and working conditions, mass unemployment and - something else that is altogether alarming and huge - a falling birth rate.
405
Our thinking is still based on the social model of the 1960s, that is to say a model that assumes full employment and a large workforce.
406
But for the last thirty years we have had mass unemployment and a sharply declining birth rate, which has taken us from baby boom to old folks boom and plunged the funding of our pensions into crisis.
408
We must stop thinking that we have to defend the European social model at all costs and get ready instead to reorganise it.
409
Our economic and historical analysis suggests that this should be done in two ways: first, we need a family policy that will bring the birth rate back up, otherwise we shall not be able to fund our pension schemes in the decades ahead and, secondly, we need a policy to re-energise the single market and get people back to work.
411
In order to re-energise the EU single market we must reindustrialise and, unfortunately, if we persist with our almost religious faith in free trade and uncontrolled liberalism, we shall be unable to do what we must do to make our businesses competitive on our own home market.
413
For these reasons our future efforts and our goal of improving social conditions must be rooted in this idea of national and Community preference and national and Community protection.
414
<SPEAKER ID="025" NAME="Thomas Mann" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
415
(DE) Mr President, the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment has contributed to the creation of more and better jobs - a success that is being disputed by those who find it hard to come to terms with this Europe of change, outsourcing, rationalisation and takeovers.
416
No one who is constantly made to feel dispensable on a personal level can begin to relate to the export boom of the European economy.
417
As one of the countermeasures to this sense of insecurity, we need a coherent new social strategy.
418
The package on the table, however, is so comprehensive that it cannot possibly be implemented by 2009.
419
This diminishes the credibility of what is essentially a commendable approach.
421
Commissioner Špidla, our aim cannot be action for its own sake.
422
This is all about sustainability.
423
Nor can our objective be the unadulterated electioneering in which Mr Schulz has just been revelling, but I see he has already left the chamber.
424
We bear a share of the responsibility for ensuring that people are not marginalised and that they do not withdraw into parallel societies or a world of make-believe.
425
This effort begins in schools, where the alarmingly high number of drop-outs must be sharply reduced in order to prevent any further widening of the gulf between those people who have qualifications and those who have none.
426
To this end we need motivating lessons.
427
Talents and skills must be nurtured from an early age - a profitable investment in every case.
428
Our strategy of lifelong learning will then provide the added European value, the widespread wealth creation that Mr Schulz found wanting.
429
So will our educational programmes - Socrates, Leonardo and Erasmus - which must be attuned to the world of work as a matter of urgency.
430
To that end, we must manage to work in tandem with SMEs.
431
Small and medium-sized enterprises provide most jobs, and they have training places to offer.
432
They must also, however, work hard to ensure that they do not stop investing in continuing education and training, otherwise our innovations will dry up.
434
One resource continues to be criminally neglected, namely older employees.
435
It is high time that their wealth of experience, creativity and resilience was available to our economy.
436
They are still well adrift at the foot of the demographic employment league.
438
Lastly, the cohesion of our society must be strengthened.
439
In the European Works Council Directive, for example, we need a tenable compromise between employers and employees.
440
We shall do what we can in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs to contribute to the achievement of that aim.
441
We also need an inter-regional balance, and that is why we provide the European Social Fund, the Regional Fund and the Globalisation Fund.
442
There is one issue, however, that we still regard as extremely critical, namely that of non-discrimination.
443
We in the PPE Group reject the horizontal directive.
444
It would exacerbate the legal uncertainty that already prevails and further diminish the scope for national creative action.
445
If the social agenda in its entirety is to succeed, primary responsibility must remain in the hands of the Member States.
446
It is more efficient to coordinate and communicate nationally, regionally and locally, and it is time to start adopting best practices instead of merely observing or analysing them.
447
Then there would be a good chance of achieving the social and economic change we want and need and of bringing the European social model to life.
448
<SPEAKER ID="027" NAME="Harlem Désir" AFFILIATION="PSE">
449
(FR) Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, this new social agenda comes late in the day and it is a feeble response to the precarious situation, inequalities and effects of recession currently plaguing the workforce and many of our fellow citizens in Europe.
451
With more than 70 million people in poverty, even where unemployment levels are falling, with precarious living and working conditions and the growth of atypical forms of employment, we really do need a solid social base, a Europe that protects us.
452
This is one of the focuses of the French EU Presidency.
453
And as you said, Minister, 2008 was supposed to be a come-back year, the year in which social Europe was re-energised.
454
Regrettably, your Government did not make the social dimension one of the four priorities for its Presidency.
455
As we approach the end of the European Commission's term we have proposals, some of which, it must be said, do at last reflect things which the European Parliament and our Group in particular has called for: a genuine directive against discrimination in all areas, not just disability; at long last the raising of moves to strengthen and revise the directive on European works councils, and measures to ensure that our existing principles and laws on equal pay for men and women are properly upheld in the Member States.
457
But just look at the shortcomings, the gaps in this new social agenda!
458
I will name two of them in particular.
459
One is the response to recent judgments by the European Court of Justice in the Laval, Rüffert and Viking cases, which weaken our resistance to social dumping in the European Union.
460
We think that the assurance given in the Commission's communication, that the Commission will provide legal clarity and interpretative guidelines on this directive, is not enough.
461
Due note must be taken of the fact - and we have held Parliamentary hearings organised by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee - that the directive is inherently defective and that Union law must, by revising the directive on the posting of workers, make it clear that the Union's economic freedoms, freedom of establishment, cannot stand in the way of fundamental workers' rights, the right to collective bargaining, rights on pay, the right to strike in defence of their interests, if need be.
463
So we want the revision of this directive to be placed on the agenda and we want a social safeguard clause guaranteeing that in future no directive, no Union policy, no treaty principle can be applied to the detriment of workers' rights; so that where one country has a higher standard of workers' rights than another, that higher standard can never again be lowered by invocation of the country of origin principle, as we saw with the first version of the services directive - the Bolkestein directive.
465
Secondly, Mr Bertrand tells us that social services of general interest, operations in the general interest, should be encouraged for the wellbeing of our social model.
466
But we have had no proposal for a directive on services of general economic interest.
467
We cannot properly protect social services of general interest and implement Article 14 of the Lisbon Treaty, which provides the legal base for such services to be commissioned and funded, unless the Council puts a request to the Commission and unless the Commission uses its right of initiative so that we can at last talk about a legal framework that will protect public service operations, guarantee the independence of local authorities in the local services they provide and give us the assurance that future Court of Justice rulings will not threaten this fundamental feature of the European social model, so that people feel, not as Mr Schulz said, that Europe works against their social model but on the contrary that the Commission and the other European institutions work to safeguard it.
470
<SPEAKER ID="029" NAME="Bernard Lehideux" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
471
(FR) Mr President, the Commission may have carried out a slick public relations exercise with its 'package' presentation of texts which are very different in nature and quality, but ultimately it has exercised its right of initiative on matters of major importance.
472
It is moving in the right direction and we should applaud that.
474
So the ball is back in our court and above all perhaps in the Council's.
475
Everyone knows that Parliament will be quite tough and will look to produce innovative texts that reflect the needs of Europe's citizens.
476
Will the same be true of the Council?
477
It is perhaps doubtful, as we know.
478
I hope they will listen to you, Minister.
480
Bombastic talk that produces only ambiguous and non-binding texts seriously undermines the credibility of the work we do.
481
Let us take three examples among many.
483
I have long been one of those calling for an overall directive against all forms of discrimination.
484
For that we should take as the basis the Lynne report of May 2008, which is far more ambitious than the Commission proposal.
486
Second example: works councils.
487
We shall take care to ensure that the text clarifies their international powers and responsibilities.
488
Consultation of the social partners is increasingly crucial in the case of restructuring operations by concerns which operate in more than one EU country.
489
We shall make sure that the workforce is consulted in advance of any restructuring and that works councils are able to give their views on matters which are often highly technical.
491
Third example: social services of general interest.
492
We have wasted enough time here.
493
Operatives in this field are confused.
494
There is huge legal uncertainty, damaging the quality of services that are essential to cohesion in our societies.
495
And here we are, about to waste another year.
498
To me this is proof that the Commission's work, which appears to cover a broad sweep of areas of activity, is not good enough because it knowingly disregards certain essential points.
500
I will end by insisting that the social package should be just one step along the way.
501
I am convinced that the open coordination method has gone as far as it can in some areas.
502
We must resolve to go for more cooperation but also more harmonisation, wherever possible.
503
<SPEAKER ID="031" NAME="Ryszard Czarnecki" AFFILIATION="UEN">
504
(PL) Mr President, the Council representative called for a more social Europe.
505
I would respond to the Minister with a call for more common sense.
506
That would be better.
507
The European Union can of course propose a great deal, but it must be stressed that social policy is an area in which Member States have sovereign powers of decision.
508
In short, what we need is less rhetoric and more concrete action.
510
The European Union is proposing as many as 19 interesting initiatives, of which only three are legislative proposals.
511
What is perhaps the most important proposal, that on cross-border health care, will not be discussed today.
512
That is very regrettable, and it is a pity that the discussion will have to wait until the French Minister of Health shows up at our sitting.
513
In conclusion, it must be stressed that EU Member States allocate as much as 27% of their GNP to social policy, compared to 15% in the USA.
514
The question is whether the money is well spent.
515
<SPEAKER ID="033" NAME="Elisabeth Schroedter" AFFILIATION="Verts/ALE">
516
(DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, it seems to have taken the 'no' vote in Ireland, the victory of the opponents of a communal Europe, to shake the Commission out of its lethargy.
517
The fact is that the Commission has long been distancing itself from the interests of the Union's citizens by pursuing its neo-liberal policy.
518
The demand for a more socially responsible Europe has long been on the agenda.
520
It is downright embarrassing to see the omissions of past years finally being piled on the table at the end of this term of office.
521
I also find it brass-necked that the whole thing is being sold to us under the fanciful title of a new social agenda.
522
The issues under discussion in July should have been dealt with long ago.
523
When we examine their substance, it seems as though the Commission has not yet learned its lesson after all.
524
Apart from two exceptions, today's proposals say nothing of solidarity, equal opportunities, social balance or public participation.
525
On the contrary, they are largely another product of a basic neo-liberal attitude.
527
The Commission calls for more mobility of labour.
528
At the same time, it is seeking court judgments that would reduce the protection of posted workers.
529
As an afterthought it says that we shall resolve the problem in a forum.
530
Workers, however, need protection, not a forum.
531
Do you really believe it will help people who are being deprived of their wages every day if you tell them to wait until you have discussed their problems in some forum?
532
Moreover, Commissioner, the amended Works Council Directive, which is nine years overdue, does not deliver on your promises.
533
Parliament will have to make numerous improvements to this draft.
534
For example, there is no provision at all for sanction mechanisms.
536
Let us move on, though, to the subject of solidarity.
537
The Health Directive ignores criticism by opening the door to more market-driven health services, thereby undermining the principle of solidarity in the Member States' welfare systems.
538
It jeopardises solidarity instead of bolstering it.
539
There are few components of this package that truly reflect people's desire for a progressive European social policy.
540
One that I should like to highlight is the new directive against discrimination outside the workplace.
541
This instrument, however, was first announced in 2004, and parliamentary pressure is the only reason why the Commission has finally presented it.
542
It is clear that a majority of Parliament will support this directive too.
543
It will likewise need improving in many places, however, especially as regards the rights of people with disabilities.
545
On the whole, the name 'social package' is quite simply a misrepresentation.
546
In my opinion, the Commission's record on social policy tells a sorry tale.
547
<SPEAKER ID="035" NAME="Dimitrios Papadimoulis" AFFILIATION="GUE/NGL">
548
Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, in recent years your policy, the fundamentalism of the marketplace, has dangerously increased inequalities and eroded the welfare state.
550
The package you have presented to us with fine words is but an empty tunic.
551
Of the 19 proposals only 3 are of a legislative nature and one of these, the proposal for cross-border health services, introduces the Bolkestein directive by stealth, since it adopts a neoliberal stance.
553
While you utter these fine words in presenting this empty tunic, the Sarkozy government is playing a key role in the Council by passing a deplorable directive on working hours.
554
This constitutes a major social regression.
556
Rather than try to create a good impression with your fine words and keep an eye on the Euro elections, which are looking awkward since the Irish 'no' vote, you would do better to propose specific measures and allocate revenues from the Community budget.
558
A word to Mr Schulz, too, if he is listening to me.
559
It is true that right-wing governments have contributed much to the demolition of the European social model.
560
In several countries, Mr Schulz, as in your country, Germany, or in the Netherlands or Austria, they have teamed up with the Social Democrats to destroy the European social model.
561
<SPEAKER ID="037" NAME="Hanne Dahl" AFFILIATION="IND/DEM">
562
(DA) Mr President, I would like to use my speaking time today to focus on the health policy agenda.
563
The current proposal for the Directive on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare has been improved significantly in relation to the original proposal.
564
However, unfortunately no change has been made in connection with the fundamental grounds for all matters that fall under the internal market.
565
Consideration for the free market always wins over consideration for the people.
567
It goes without saying that we all want to be able to receive the best treatment as quickly as possible if we become seriously ill.
568
Unfortunately, the directive does not in any way ensure that this will be the case.
569
It ensures that the wealthiest patients from the wealthiest countries in the EU will receive the best possible treatment.
570
This means that there is a great risk of patients becoming divided into a group A and a group B. The patients with the most resources will have the opportunity to seek the best treatment in other countries, whereas those without funds or power will not have this opportunity.
572
The directive secures an entitlement to treatment in another country at the cost of that same treatment in the patient's home country.
573
This also creates the risk of having A and B countries.
574
The cost of the same treatment will naturally vary from country to country.
575
The current directive allows market conditions to determine the outcome, but this is a high-risk approach.
576
When the market reacts, the losers will always be those who cannot cope under the prevailing market conditions.
577
<SPEAKER ID="039" NAME="Andreas Mölzer" AFFILIATION="NI">
578
(DE) Mr President, in my view, a European response to constant waves of price rises and increasing poverty is long overdue, and indeed it is gratifying that the new draft EU-wide social package makes a start in the right direction.
579
The intention to facilitate access to health care in other European countries, for example, is to be welcomed.
580
In practice, holidaymakers, for instance, are all too often shamelessly exploited today, being presented with doctors' bills for which they are only partly reimbursed, if at all, when they go back home.
581
Conversely, individual Member States owe each other millions of euros - mere declarations of intent are not enough in such cases.
583
Nor is it sufficient to beat the drum for causes such as a better balance between family and working life.
584
So that more people can afford to have children, it is essential to act against wage dumping and social dumping - a task which, sad to say, is being largely neglected.
585
It is a travesty that the EU decrees, on the one hand, that public contracts must be put out to public tender and that the clause requiring successful tenderers to pay at least the statutory minimum wage is then revoked by the European Court of Justice on the grounds of incompatibility with the directives on services in the internal market and on the posting of workers.
586
In this the EU has shown its true colours as a purely economic community that fobs off the socially underprivileged with peanuts and empty words.
588
Empty catchphrases can no longer pacify the citizens of the EU, nor can they cushion the impact of a falling birth rate and increasing poverty.
589
Maybe you can say what you like on paper, but people are undoubtedly tired of empty promises.
590
<SPEAKER ID="041" NAME="Philip Bushill-Matthews" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
591
Mr President, let me start by thanking Martin Schulz for reminding everybody that the centre-right is the largest grouping in this Parliament, that the centre-right has the largest number of Commissioners and, indeed, that the centre-right has the largest number of governments in the EU Member States.
592
I would remind him in turn that there is a reason for that: the reason is that it is what the people have decided.
593
The people have decided this because they have recognised the growing gulf between the rhetoric of the left and the reality, and they have rejected it.
594
I would also remind him, as a good democrat, to remember that the people are, of course, always right.
598
Turning to the social package in general, on our side we welcome the thoughtful comments of the Commissioner and his initiative regarding the revised Social Agenda, in particular the theme which reminds all of us that the EU is about people, about giving people more and better opportunities, and in particular equipping and empowering them to cope with the challenge of change.
600
I would just like to pick up three points very briefly from the excellent contribution from my colleague, Joseph Daul.
601
One is the important role here of the Member States, of subsidiarity.
602
Many Member States have different approaches, but all of them should take heart from the themes and the direction that he has outlined.
604
The second point is about the importance of jobs.
605
Harlem Désir talked very appropriately about the rights of workers.
606
We respect the importance of the rights of workers, but my political group would also highlight the rights of non-workers - those people who currently do not have a job, who have been frozen out of the job market for whatever reason, and who want to have a job.
607
They are increasingly important, especially in these difficult times of global credit crunch where unemployment is likely to get worse before it gets better.
608
So we have to make certain that everything that we do helps the creation of jobs and helps more individuals into those jobs.
610
The third point concerns small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which he also mentions.
611
I noted in yesterday's Financial Times that there was a reference to the agreement within the UK regarding temporary workers, and the SMEs said that they had not even been consulted about that.
612
The point I would make is not a UK point, but there is a genuine problem - and I say this to the Commissioner - of really involving SMEs in the consultation process, because SMEs are not only the largest number of employers but they also have the largest number of employees.
613
We know from the problem of referenda - on the Lisbon Treaty, for example - that if you try to impose something from the top, it does not work: you have to connect with the people, and more people work for SMEs.
616
Finally, concerning European works councils - to which both the Commissioner and the President-in-Office have referred, and on which I am rapporteur - certainly my political group will recognise the reality that there has been welcome agreement from the social partners.
617
I personally do not like the agreement very much, but I absolutely welcome the fact that there is an agreement and I believe we in Parliament should try to build on that, as we will also try to build on the agreement regarding working time and temporary workers; we wish to move fast, because we want to deliver real social progress rather than just make pretty political speeches with an eye to the next election.
618
<SPEAKER ID="043" NAME="Magda Kósáné Kovács" AFFILIATION="PSE">
619
(HU) Thank you, Mr President.
620
The Commission's preliminary announcement of the social package filled the Social Democratic parties and citizens who feel responsible for resolving social problems with hope.
621
Accumulated debts and the series of questions that have just been asked have given an almost surprising picture of how little we have progressed despite our efforts and how many unsolved problems there are.
622
It is a fact that the economic growth of the last fifteen years has not closed the gap between rich and poor, but has actually widened it.
623
However, the rivalry of poverty has taken on a new dimension.
624
Every country has its poor people, and the amount and quality of poverty is different in individual Member States, but we know that it hurts in the same way.
625
However many of the eighteen or so documents indicated in the social roadmap are drafted, the identification of European citizens with the Union can only be reinforced by what is specific and obvious and offers the opportunity for common progress instead of reciprocal tension between rival poverties.
627
I am pleased that, after many requests from the Council and the European Parliament, the Commission has prepared an assessment of the situation of Roma and of the practices relating to them.
628
Unfortunately, however, it does not outline the framework of a long-term Roma policy.
629
Another question is whether this document does enough to exhort to concrete action, whether it holds out the prospect of an accurate assessment or of Member States failing to take steps and deviating from the desired practice.
630
I feel that the proper resolution is lacking.
632
We are also pleased about the anti-discrimination directive.
633
The Parliament and the Commission were divided about having to regulate the prohibition of discrimination in a comprehensive directive, and in accordance with the social-liberal viewpoint we ultimately failed to classify the groups that are discriminated against.
634
We can expect the directive to enable the comprehensive protection of people and groups who are threatened in many ways.
635
There is a very great need for this, since hate-mongers, racists and those who want to give only to the worthy may also find supporters among the rival poor.
636
Voters are always right, but they may be misled by populism.
638
<SPEAKER ID="045" NAME="Gérard Deprez" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
639
(FR) Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as a member and also Chairman of the Civil Liberties Committee, I shall confine myself to the proposal for an anti-discrimination directive.
641
First of all we congratulate you, Commissioner, on finally getting the Commission to adopt a proposal for a directive which seeks to counter discrimination based on religion, belief, disability, age and sexual orientation.
642
Until recently we were afraid - as you know, we were anxious and we made our anxiety known - that you might limit yourselves to a mini-directive dealing only with discrimination based on age and disability.
644
You will not be surprised to learn that I find it unfortunate, on a matter as fundamental as this, that the European Parliament is merely to be 'consulted', but my distinct impression is that the Presidency is amenable to any proposals or suggestions which the European Parliament might make.
645
So we shall get to work straight away, Commissioner, and I myself can see three aspects of the text which we shall try to improve.
647
Firstly we need to be more precise on a number of concepts or the demarcation between some of them.
648
I am thinking of the area of 'objectively justified' differences in treatment.
649
I have no quarrel with these, obviously, but these objectively justified differences in treatment must not be allowed to metamorphose directly or indirectly into discrimination.
650
That can happen very quickly.
652
Secondly, the directive must not be stripped of its substance by the overhasty inclusion of notions like public safety or public order, as I think is currently happening in one big country in the south of the European Union, which shall remain nameless.
654
Thirdly, we must try harder on the question of sanctions.
655
When you write in Article 14 'Member States shall lay down the rules on sanctions applicable to breaches of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive', Commissioner, that does not get us very far.
657
In short, I trust that this directive, the repository of so much expectation, does not turn out in reality to be a big mini-directive, big on principles but very small on details.
658
<SPEAKER ID="047" NAME="Wojciech Roszkowski" AFFILIATION="UEN">
659
(PL) Mr President, economic growth should serve to improve the material situation of our societies.
660
However, in putting comfort and security first, we are liable to forget that the social model of the economy means in practice greater bureaucracy.
661
If we also forget that the surest foundation for social policy is economic growth, we may lose ourselves in fine-sounding slogans that have no connection with reality and may also, like the provisions on non-discrimination, breach the principles of subsidiarity and common sense.
663
How can we break the vicious circle?
664
The new social agenda is only a partial answer to this challenge.
665
It talks too much about rights and privileges and too little about the fact that they cannot be guaranteed without a well-organised effort and responsibility for the economic effects at each stage.
666
From each according to his means, to each according to his needs.
667
That is a utopia that is bound to result in a shortage of goods and services of suitable quality.
668
<SPEAKER ID="049" NAME="Tatjana Ždanoka" AFFILIATION="Verts/ALE">
669
Mr President, following on from my colleagues I would like to speak about the fight against discrimination.
670
First of all I would like to thank the Commission for its courage in coming with a horizontal approach in the draft directive on equal treatment outside the workplace.
671
We have to take into account that some Member States keep blocking the adoption of this necessary document.
673
Nevertheless, there is room for the European Parliament to make improvements.
674
I do not understand why there is an opt-out for private persons as regards supply of goods and services.
675
The existing Race Directive does not include such an opt-out.
676
Unfortunately, multiple discrimination is also not appropriately addressed in this draft, so I hope that we will all work on this directive further.
677
<SPEAKER ID="051" NAME="Jacky Hénin" AFFILIATION="GUE/NGL">
678
(FR) Mr President, 51 years into their lifetime, the EU institutions are only now discovering the social dimension.
679
The discovery is only relative, because social concerns are conspicuously absent from the French Presidency's priorities; it is disturbing to institutions so close to the world of business and which confuse the general interest of the peoples of the Union with the private interests of money markets, and it is a discovery inescapably prompted by the Irish, Dutch and French 'no' votes and the many social movements supporting wage demands in the Union.
681
Yes, the Commission and most of this House find themselves obliged to recognise that the Union is populated not only by shareholders and consumers, but also by the workforce, whose labour creates Europe's wealth.
683
As a result the Commission finds itself obliged to dig out and dust off the directive on European works councils: this was a worthy initiative but its substance is poor.
684
European works councils must be made into a genuine forum for social democracy, giving employees the power of action they need to influence the strategy choices of their employers.
686
Yes, Europe urgently needs true social democracy to prevent bad moves such as raising working time to almost 70 hours a week.
688
So for the sake of the workers, let us move faster, much faster.
689
<SPEAKER ID="053" NAME="Nils Lundgren" AFFILIATION="IND/DEM">
690
(SV) Mr President, at this sitting we will be debating the renewed social agenda, the millennium goals and much else besides.
691
In a couple of hours we will vote on cultural programmes, the labelling of organic products, and requirements for harmonising taxation, all issues in which the Union should not involve itself at all.
693
This concentration of political power means that the distance between those governing and those governed increases.
694
Indignation is rising among citizens.
695
The establishment is forced to take increasingly tough measures to ride roughshod over the will of the people.
696
It would be far better to produce a report about what we mean by the term subsidiarity and have a thorough debate about that.
697
We should do that before we try to regulate centrally how the social partners should behave in 27 different countries.
699
In my own country there is great anger over the fact that the EU and its judges can take the liberty of controlling the establishment of a labour market system other than the one which has grown up amid considerable national unity over the past 70 years.
700
<SPEAKER ID="055" NAME="Jana Bobošíková" AFFILIATION="NI">
701
(CS) Ladies and gentlemen, the proposed directive on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment, which prohibits any kind of discrimination outside the workplace, is a superfluous regulation which we should not discuss at all.
702
I should like to point out that discrimination is already prohibited by three EU directives, the UN Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
703
Equal treatment is also governed by the Amsterdam Treaty and the Lisbon Strategy.
705
I should also like to point out that the directive requires two very dangerous things.
706
It requires positive discrimination and it requires the principle of transferring the burden of proof from the prosecutor to the defendant.
707
This is contrary to European legal traditions and may give rise to injustices and new wrongs.
709
Ladies and gentlemen, I am convinced that the European Union is still a democratic and civilised area, where people with real abilities receive recognition, and an area which offers a helping hand to the weak.
710
However, human capabilities, either innate or developed through education, are individual and different in every person and thus logically unequal.
711
If we try to eliminate inequalities of this type through regulation, then we are arrogantly overlooking cultural diversity and interfering with the natural development of society, and worst of all, we are putting equality above the freedom of choice.
712
The directive on equal treatment should therefore not come into being at all.
713
<SPEAKER ID="057" NAME="Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
714
(ES) 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.
715
It is obvious that unemployment is the greatest of all social ills which we must combat.
716
It is what most destabilises a society and is at the root of other, lesser evils.
717
Therefore, the best social policy is one which helps create jobs.
719
We must move right away from the false dilemma between solidarity and competitiveness because they are not incompatible.
720
However, in order to construct a healthy, effective social policy and eradicate poverty, we need growth and stability.
721
Therefore our social model needs to come to terms with the new reality.
722
Globalisation also brings opportunities: those who adapt come out as winners, those who do not as losers.
724
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.
725
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.
728
What answers can we give today to the many consequences of the trend?
730
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.
731
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.
733
School failure and drop-out rates are a tragedy of our times and may well be for the future.
734
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.
736
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.
737
<SPEAKER ID="059" NAME="Stephen Hughes" AFFILIATION="PSE">
738
Mr President, I would like to thank Commissioner Špidla for the fact that we have a social package at all because, as I have said many times before, his task in the Barroso Commission cannot be easy.
740
The package itself actually illustrates the tensions inside the Barroso Commission, between those, on the one hand, who want to stick to the neoliberal agenda come hell or high water, and those on the other who see an urgent need to make Europe matter to its citizens.
742
Our people need to be assured that Europe is part of the solution, and not part of the problem, when it comes to tackling the issues raised by globalisation, demographic change, climate change and other global challenges.
744
If that is what we need to do, I am sad to say that this package simply is not up to the task.
745
It is a grudging package of too little, too late.
746
Even the good elements are spoiled by the knowledge of just how grudgingly they were included.
747
The horizontal directive to combat discrimination is a good example.
748
It is in the package, but we all know just how bitterly President Barroso opposed its inclusion, right up to the 11th hour.
750
The European works council directive proposal is another example.
751
The content is extremely weak when compared to the earlier communication from the Commission to the social partners.
752
I think that the neoliberal forces in the Commission and their allies here need to wake up and recognise the reality we face.
753
Many millions of our citizens are living in fear, poverty and exclusion, and more and more have joined them during the Barroso years.
755
All in all, I see this as a belated attempt by President Barroso to persuade the Left here that he has a social conscience, and that he is worthy of support for a second term as Commission President.
757
Well I am not fooled, and many of my colleagues are not fooled either.
758
As I have said, it is much too little and much too late - much too late, in fact, to guarantee safe passage of the sparse worthwhile elements before the election next year.
760
President Barroso is insulting the intelligence not only of the Left in this House but also of the millions of citizens out there who deserve better.
761
<SPEAKER ID="061" NAME="Ona Juknevičien" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
762
Mr President, the Commission's first year report on the European Globalisation Fund states that over 13 000 redundant employees in eight Member States are being helped.
763
3.7% of available funds have been distributed.
764
Obviously it is very slow.
766
The Commission's suggestions are to simplify procedures, broadly promote the programme, spread best experience and expand the duration of assistance, and I welcome these measures.
767
The fund was established to show solidarity with the redundant employees of companies failing due to globalisation.
768
Therefore it is most important that these funds reach real people who need help.
769
They shall not be distributed among intermediaries, trainers or brochure publishers.
770
In one year we will find out what the actual results are.
771
It is not how much money has been distributed, but how many redundant employees found new jobs.
773
I call on the Commission and Member States to establish proper criteria and benchmarks in order to evaluate the results achieved.
774
We must ensure efficient use of the European budget.
775
<SPEAKER ID="063" NAME="Ewa Tomaszewska" AFFILIATION="UEN">
776
(PL) Mr President, I am pleased to see that the new social agenda includes the revision of the directive on European Works Councils in the package of future activities.
778
We recently debated the problems caused by the lack of precision in the provisions of the directive, whose purpose was to ensure employees' rights to information and consultation.
779
The directive on part-time work and combating poverty among workers in full-time employment is also exceptionally important.
780
I am hopeful about the emphasis on the situation of young people, their access to education and health care, and prevention of their exclusion.
781
The professional mobility of future workers is their chance in life, but it is also a chance for the economy.
782
The emphasis on the protection of patients' rights is a fundamental requirement in the protection of public health provision.
783
However, the green paper on health sector employees which we are awaiting will be important for the implementation of these measures.
784
<SPEAKER ID="065" NAME="Ilda Figueiredo" AFFILIATION="GUE/NGL">
785
(PT) Mr President, this so-called social package merely sows illusions regarding the seriousness of the social inequalities affecting the 80 million or so people who live in poverty, including the ever-increasing millions of poorly paid workers with insecure jobs and the millions of unemployed, while the scandalous profits of economic and financial groups and multinational relocations continue.
788
The real causes of this situation have been overlooked - the perpetuation of the neoliberal policies the proposed health services directive would intensify, the job flexibility the working time proposals would exacerbate, and the attack on public services and production sectors strategic to development.
790
We therefore call for a genuine social package that rejects the new proposed working time directive, promotes a reduction in the working day without loss of pay, revokes the stability pact and the liberal Lisbon Strategy, changes the European Central Bank's criteria and false independence, creates an employment and social progress pact as an alternative, promotes investment and support for micro and small enterprises and public services, and respects the dignity of working people.
791
<SPEAKER ID="067" NAME="Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
792
Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, 'people are those who determine the value of things': so said the ancient Greeks.
793
Thus if people take responsibility for implementing this package presented to us today, if they can harmonise the old measures and proposals with the new, then these people will in fact not be used as resources, but will be active agents as employers, employees, the unemployed, those engaged in small and large businesses, men and women, the young and the elderly.
794
There will be no discrimination in the EU over democracy and subsidiarity, no jingoistic verbiage about who is in power, or about right- or left-wing affiliations, as has been heard here.
795
Next to me is my colleague Mr Őry, who tells me that in his country the socialist government is fighting against social benefits.
797
We cannot therefore blame the global crisis; we must see things positively.
798
We must face our own, demographic crisis, in the best possible way.
799
Let us remember the old commitments, the Barcelona decisions on the harmonisation of family and professional life, the European Alliance for Families, the European Youth Pact, the common immigration policy and the enhancement of mobility in education and training for job mobility.
800
There must be respect for the diversity, traditions and language of migrant employees.
801
Social discrimination has to be opposed, and the rights of the weak and disadvantaged, and of children, have to be upheld as we in the European Union have championed them.
802
Poverty must be fought, so we shall devote the year 2010 to the struggle.
803
We must strengthen the social and territorial cohesion of our regions through dialogue, goodwill and transparency in the use of financial mechanisms.
804
<SPEAKER ID="069" NAME="Alejandro Cercas" AFFILIATION="PSE">
805
(ES) Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, I add my voice to those of my fellow Members who view this agenda as a step forward, albeit a very modest one which is clearly very far removed from the needs facing us today in Europe.
806
Therefore, Commissioner, I regret to say that you were wrong to state a moment ago that this agenda dispels public concerns.
807
The public are concerned and with very good reason when faced with a European Union which does not resolve the basic problems they worry about every day.
809
The agenda has a very grand title, the agenda for the 21st century.
810
Regrettably it has one feature which has already been condemned: it is an internal commitment to the contradictions within Europe, with those of us who want more of Europe and those who would like there to be less of it; it is therefore a forest of empty rhetoric and a desert of specific content.
811
Only three directives are being summarised by the European left, and in fairly critical terms.
813
Are these Europe's ambitions for the 21st century?
815
Debating social problems is not only our ambition.
816
The European Union, not just Europe, needs answers and it is very difficult for those answers to be achieved if, as the agenda states, they have to be found at national level.
817
There are some answers at national level and there should be other answers at European Union level; the construction of the internal market should go hand in hand with rules which give it a human face, which prevent social dumping and which implement each and every one of the powers enshrined in the Treaties.
819
It is all very well to debate the problems but it would be better to resolve them and not create new problems with measures such as the working time directive.
822
Commissioner, Europe needs stronger initiatives; Europe needs a much more go-getting agenda in order for it to be close to the public and I hope that at the next elections, and this is not an entirely rhetorical matter, the Europeans who are seeking other policies give European politicians a new, more social face.
823
<SPEAKER ID="071" NAME="Sophia in 't Veld" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
824
Mr President, I welcome the long-awaited proposal on completion of the anti-discrimination package, which means that we can finally end the hierarchy of rights.
825
A European Union in which some Europeans are more equal than others has failed in its mission.
827
I completely concur with the wise words of Gérard Deprez: the directive needs substantial improvement.
828
It contains far too many escape clauses, which risk codifying existing discriminatory practices rather than ending them.
829
Family law and public order are, and remain, a national competence, but in practice they are being used - or misused - as a pretext for discrimination, mainly against homosexuals.
830
It is a shame that the Commission seems to be condoning this.
832
Freedom of religion is a fundamental right and one that I will defend ferociously, but it is an individual right: it is not a collective right for certain groups that entitles them to discriminate and not apply the law.
834
Finally, I would like to add that, ironically, this package seems to provide a higher level of protection against discrimination on all grounds apart from gender discrimination.
835
The gap between the directive on gender discrimination and this directive will have to be closed.
836
<SPEAKER ID="073" NAME="Kyriacos Triantaphyllides" AFFILIATION="GUE/NGL">
837
<SPEAKER ID="075" NAME="Anja Weisgerber" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
838
(DE) Mr President, Europe is more than a common market.
839
Besides being an economic entity, Europe is a community based on common values.
840
I understand the European Union as a response to globalisation.
841
In a globalised world, a certain social framework at European level provides essential protection.
842
That is the idea behind the European social model, and it is an idea that I support.
844
On the other hand, however, we must also succeed in international competition.
845
In the Lisbon Strategy we emphasise our goal of developing the Union into the world's most competitive knowledge-based economic framework.
846
To that end we must focus most of our attention on small and medium-sized businesses, for they are the pillar of economic development.
848
We must also accept that it is legitimate to ask how our rules affect these firms.
849
The anti-discrimination policy is a good example.
850
It goes without saying that I am opposed to discrimination, but in my view, and in the view of another 261 Members of the European Parliament, a comprehensive framework directive is not the right way forward; in particular, it is not the right way to protect the victims.
851
We shall achieve the exact opposite and are more likely to marginalise these people.
852
A great deal of legal uncertainty has been created for the Member States and for European citizens.
853
At the present time, numerous Treaty infringement proceedings are pending against 14 Member States for failure to implement the four existing directives.
854
The first thing we should be doing is to implement the existing legislation before creating any new rules.
855
A new anti-discrimination directive will simply not give us the clarity that Commissioner Špidla promised.
857
The new rules raise many questions.
858
Who, for example, can invoke the right to freedom from discrimination on grounds of religious or ideological beliefs?
859
Does that right extend to Scientologists or members of right-wing extremist groups?
860
Is every restaurant, however small, now required to have a wheelchair ramp in order to guarantee unhindered access?
861
The draft directive may provide for exemption from disproportionate measures, but how are such measures to be defined - by a national law or by a court ruling?
862
Imprecise, amorphous instruments like the framework directive are impractical and, most importantly, do not help victims.
863
That is not the idea behind the European social model.
864
It will not work like that.
865
<SPEAKER ID="077" NAME="Anne Van Lancker" AFFILIATION="PSE">
866
(NL) Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, at the time I was rapporteur for the social action plan presented to us by Mrs Diamantopoulou and completed under the previous French Presidency under Mrs Aubry.
867
What concerns me, ladies and gentlemen, is how European social ambitions have systematically crumbled away.
868
To my mind there are clear political reasons for this.
869
It is noticeable how the Commission always stresses that social policy must remain a national matter.
870
Commissioner, the social package contains very interesting working documents and statements, but only four legislative initiatives.
871
However welcome, that is certainly a very meagre result!
872
As if protecting social rights, creating a social level playing field, is no longer a European responsibility in the Europe of 27.
874
Together with the EPP and the social organisations, we expect, on top of this social package, at least stronger legislation in regard to posting that protects social rights, better legislation to eliminate the wage gap between men and women, a framework law to protect social services and binding commitments in the fight against poverty.
875
What we need is a real social pact, with a coherent vision and a serious commitment to a social Europe, so that at least we show citizens that Europe is more than just a market.
876
I hope, Mr Bertrand, that we can for now count on the support of the French Presidency in this fight.
877
<SPEAKER ID="079" NAME="Elizabeth Lynne" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
878
Mr President, for years I have campaigned with others for comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation to outlaw discrimination in access to goods and services for disabled people and older people.
879
I know that employment is covered on all grounds already, but for years we have been promised action and then nothing has happened.
881
Today we can say that we are on the brink of achieving that legislation, not just covering age and disability but sexual orientation and religion, as I called for in my report.
882
I would like to thank the Commission for bringing this forward and Commissioner Špidla in particular for his tenacity.
883
We know that the proposed legislation is not perfect and we will want to see changes.
884
It would also have been better if it had been subject to codecision.
885
But, having said that, I am delighted to be able to stand here and say that we are at long last on our way to seeing all EU citizens treated as equals.
886
<SPEAKER ID="081" NAME="Georgios Toussas" AFFILIATION="GUE/NGL">
887
Mr President, the so-called 'social package' that the European Commission has presented is a failed attempt to defuse the indignation the Commission's unpopular policy has aroused among employees.
888
It fails to stem the rising tide of doubt about itself and the structure of the EU, as also expressed by the resounding Irish 'no' vote.
890
Working-class people and the poor find themselves in the line of fire because of a long, harsh, anti-popular attack by the EU, which aims to increase the profitability of its own cartels.
892
Working-class people and the poor have to put up with the deregulation and privatisation of public bodies and services of strategic importance, the complete breakdown of labour bargaining, the undermining of collective employment contracts, the widespread implementation of flexicurity, temporary flexible forms of employment and the extension of the Bolkestein directive to cover the health authorities sector.
894
The Council has decided to partition working time into active and inactive segments.
895
This obliges employees to work 65 to 77 hours a week.
896
The institution of heavy and unhealthy labour is rendering hundreds of thousands of Greek workers useless.
898
According to the formal statistical data from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work - Mr President, please bear with me for a few moments, as the information I am about to impart is very important.
899
Let me point out the following: according to the formal data, every 4½ seconds an employee has an accident and every 3½ minutes an employee loses his life.
900
There are 7 million accidents every year...
902
(The President cut off the speaker)
903
<SPEAKER ID="083" NAME="Manfred Weber" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
904
(DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by dealing with two points from the debate.
905
Firstly, Europe is not governed by the Right, but by the Liberal Centre-Right.
906
I must point out that we had a Social Democratic Government in my own country, and five million people were unemployed when it left office.
907
Today we have three million unemployed, which means that two million people are back in work today.
908
That is real social policy; that is social progress.
910
Secondly, as a Member of this House, I personally feel angry when we ourselves speak so badly of our European ideal.
911
Europe is a social project today.
912
When I think that the single market is creating millions of jobs and is giving people prosperity and good prospects and that our cohesion policy, our European Social Fund, is providing us with billions to practise solidarity on a European scale, to be a model of European solidarity, I must urge everyone, in spite of all our problems, to refrain from denigrating our own project.
914
I should like to devote special attention to the discrimination issue, because we are dealing with it in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
915
Everyone rejects discrimination.
916
It poisons our society, and Europe must set an example in the fight against discrimination.
917
Everyone in this House, I hope, will endorse that view.
919
Nevertheless, questions may be asked.
920
Firstly, does the directive constitute a proportionate measure?
921
The issue of the burden on small businesses has already been addressed.
923
Secondly, what about the implementation of the present legal provisions?
924
An evaluation has already been made on paper, but what is the position on the ground with regard to the application of the existing directives?
925
That question has to be asked before any new directives are created.
927
Thirdly, do we really have gaps in European legislation?
928
Does Europe have sole responsibility for social policy?
929
All Member States of the EU are democracies, and they all have structures built on the rule of law.
930
We must therefore ask whether there is any compelling need for Europe to be nicer, kindlier and more convincing in the realm of social policy.
931
Can we not just rely for once on subsidiarity working and the Member States managing to cope with their own tasks in these fundamental areas of activity?
932
<SPEAKER ID="085" NAME="Andrzej Jan Szejna" AFFILIATION="PSE">
933
(PL) Mr President, social Europe is a splendid goal, and a great deal has already been done towards achieving it.
934
Nevertheless, the existing inequalities and the new challenges facing the world create the risk of permanent social divisions in our societies at many levels: between children from rich and poor families, between the well and less well educated, between men and women, between immigrants and those who have been Europeans for generations, between persons of different sexual orientations, different ages or in different states of health.
935
I could give many other examples.
936
The struggle against inequality in and outside the workplace is a fundamental task for us.
937
The European Union and the Member States must respond to real needs, create real opportunities and new hopes in the interests of all the citizens of Europe.
939
The new package of Commission initiatives in the field of the European social model is a long overdue and incomplete supplement to activities undertaken at national level in the struggle to improve the standard of living of European citizens, reinforce their rights and combat discrimination.
940
I am hopeful that the new directive on equal treatment, which as a socialist group we have long been demanding, will enable us to say we are really combating all forms of discrimination.
941
Revision of the directive on European Works Councils, which is at present fulfilling its role as an instrument for social dialogue, is a positive element in the social package.
942
We still have to contend with incomplete protection of workers in the drastic restructuring processes imposed by globalisation.
943
Legislation on social policy is also of enormous importance for the political awakening of Europe and Europeans and the restoration of faith in a common project, especially in view of the institutional crisis and the imminent elections to the European Parliament.
944
<SPEAKER ID="087" NAME="Jean Marie Beaupuy -" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
945
(FR) Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, the long and lively debates we have had on the European Globalisation Fund ring in my ears to this day.
946
Our fellow Member Mrs Bachelot, with whom I worked on this fund along with Mr Cottigny, persuaded us to take some extremely important decisions.
947
And what do we see today?
948
Barely 4% of the aid budgeted for this European fund was distributed in 2007.
950
You have already indicated, Commissioner, verbally and in writing, that you plan to revise the criteria.
951
Is this revision of the criteria adequate to deal with the issues?
953
When 96% of this aid is not being used, we really have to ask the basic question: is our aim in adopting this decision on the European globalisation fund appropriate?
954
We face demographic challenges, as you said, and we face many economic challenges, given the reality of globalisation, of technology.
956
I urge you Commissioner, on this Globalisation Fund, not only to revise the criteria but also to look at the very purpose of what we are doing here.
957
<SPEAKER ID="089" NAME="Peter Liese" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
958
(DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot conceal my disappointment at the statements from the Council and the Commission.
959
Many words were spoken about the European social model, and some of the Commission's proposals overshoot the mark, in my opinion - my fellow group members have made several points about the anti-discrimination directive.
960
When it comes to the nuts and bolts of legislation designed to protect workers, however, the Council and the Commission bottle out.
962
The President-in-Office did, however, refer to the compromise adopted in June on agency and other temporary work, but somehow or other - I believe it was out of shame - the Council and the Commission managed to adopt the Working Time Directive.
963
What the Council adopted in June, I have to say, is by no means a glorious chapter in the history of Europe's social model.
964
Before I entered Parliament, I was a doctor on the staff of a hospital, and I know that many salaried doctors and many other employees were initially pleased when the European Court of Justice ruled that time spent on call constituted working time.
965
I also know, however, that there are difficulties in implementing this ruling and that time spent on call may have to be weighted on the basis of costs and frequency of call-outs.
966
What the Council has done, however, in virtually reversing the ruling of the Court of Justice and even ignoring the improvements that the Commission's proposal had made to some aspects of the previous legal position is unacceptable.
968
We need a compromise, and this Parliament pointed the way at first reading with proposals such as the use of a quotient.
969
But if a doctor is on call in a hospital, for instance, and a patient with a life-threatening condition could arrive at any moment, that cannot be regarded as a rest period, which would be possible under the Council's compromise.
970
This is another area where further improvement is needed, otherwise the whole debate on the European social model will serve no purpose.
971
<SPEAKER ID="091" NAME="Evangelia Tzampazi" AFFILIATION="PSE">
972
Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, current economic and social circumstances call for a strengthened social Europe.
973
Whereas 16% of today's European population is on the bread line, discrimination is still marked and generally widespread.
975
Economic policies increasing unemployment, and insecurity, deepen citizens' crisis of confidence at the expense of Europe and its prospects.
976
In this context, the renewed social agenda represents a step forward in the field of social legislation after a long period of inertia.
978
Nevertheless, only three of the raft of proposals are legally binding while the rest are recommendations and non-legislative communications.
979
We are therefore coming to the conclusion that the new social package will have a limited effect on the lives of European citizens.
981
The intentions are good, as can be seen from the new draft directive against discrimination.
982
This represents an important success for the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, since it supported the proposal for a horizontal directive in order to end the hierarchical system of Community protection from discrimination.
983
Nevertheless, the new social agenda appears to lack ambitious goals and clarity, and has serious shortcomings.
985
For this reason, clear policy measures, a halt to rapidly increasing inequalities, and the improvement of living and working conditions are required.
986
<SPEAKER ID="093" NAME="Viktória Mohácsi" AFFILIATION="ALDE">
987
(HU) Mr President, the Commissioner summed up his expectations beautifully in his speech, but the documents available to us do not reflect that.
988
There is a small, tiny semantic problem: discrimination must not be called the widening of opportunities.
989
I have been speaking only about the segregation of Roma children for four years.
990
In addition to this, half our children, several million Roma children, are classified as disabled.
991
What is this, if not discrimination?
992
Omitting the topic of segregation when creating the Horizontal Directive is an unforgivable crime.
993
Commissioner Barrot should be involved in the work too, and Parliament's demands should not be left out either!
994
We want, in at least four resolutions, a Roma integration package with legislation and a budget, and a group to coordinate the Committees in the interests of implementing any future programmes effectively.
995
Commissioner Špidla cannot resolve this matter by himself.
997
<SPEAKER ID="095" NAME="Iva Zanicchi" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
998
(IT) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the document on the social package which has just been presented represents a major challenge for European development in the context of the Lisbon strategy, which European decision-makers adopted as the guideline for a worthwhile and unstoppable process aimed at integrating, modernising and developing our common home.
1000
The package contains measures in the areas of employment, social affairs, education, youth, health, the information society and economic affairs, all fundamental aspects which directly affect the daily lives of us all, as European citizens, and which must therefore be the subject of thorough, coordinated and above all transparent study.
1002
As a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, I would like to emphasise the importance of and the need for this proposal which, in tackling the areas just mentioned, makes a comprehensive attempt to grasp, examine and resolve topics such as demographic change, globalisation and the importance of the human factor.
1004
I am pleased that the Commission intends to review Directives 92/85 and 96/39 in terms of maternity leave as this is a move to improve the quality of family life for all those women who, whilst caring for a family, have to face the world of work on a daily basis.
1006
I would like the Commission to answer a couple of questions in connection with the fight against poverty - and I am not talking here about third world poverty but about poverty within the boundaries of the Community - a problem which looms larger every year, affecting every single member of the European Community.
1007
In this connection I would like to ask: what specific methodology will the Commission employ in order to resolve a problem which year after year, as I said, is systematically afflicting the European economies and, as a result, impacting directly on the standard of living of millions of European citizens?
1009
Secondly, I would like to know - and as a woman I feel directly involved in this matter - what action the Commission intends to take against the discrimination against women which still persists in society, even in 2008, especially in the field of employment and specifically as regards salaries?
1010
What specific measures can be put in place to end this imbalance?
1012
In conclusion, I would like to thank Commissioner Špidla for his work in drafting this document.
1013
I would like to thank the Council representatives and once again I would like to stress the importance of this social package in the context of the revised social agenda.
1014
<SPEAKER ID="097" NAME="Jan Cremers" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1015
(NL) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Minister, Commissioner, as well as welcome proposals in the field of anti-discrimination and cross-border health care, the social agenda of the Commission contains the long-awaited proposal on European Works Councils.
1016
The Commission also opposes the review of the directive on posting, a directive that has come under fire after some very controversial judgments by the European Court of Justice.
1017
I want to touch briefly on both subjects.
1019
First of all, the rights of European workers to be informed and consulted.
1020
We all know what the problem is there.
1021
Too little compliance (only one of the three firms concerned has a European Works Council), information and advice rights are not sufficiently regulated and there is a lack of facilities.
1022
I very much regret that the Commission has not proposed a policy of penalties for non-compliance.
1023
In my view, too, the subsidiary provisions fall short of what is desirable and has been agreed in good models, namely several regular meetings a year, which can easily be arranged with the necessary training and support.
1024
One meeting a year is not much more than symbolic policy and social consultation in the undertaking is much too important for that.
1026
Secondly, the Secondment Directive.
1027
In the first restriction by the European Court in regard to the working conditions in force in a Member State, it still seemed to be about a policy change in European law, initiated by the Court, without the support of the European legislator.
1028
After the Luxembourg case, it is clear that the Commission too is deliberately bent on dismantling the principles contained in the directive.
1029
What was once intended as a directive to protect workers against exploitation and unfair competition in the cross-border supply of services has thus, thanks to the Court of Justice and the Commission, become a threat to the obligations applicable in a Member State in regard to the working conditions to be observed.
1030
The Commission needs to assume its legislative responsibility in this area again and make certain that in future Member States remain able to apply their generally applicable rules on employment law and collective agreements.
1031
<SPEAKER ID="099" NAME="Evelyne Gebhardt" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1032
(DE) Mr President, I merely have a list of questions to ask.
1033
Why so little so late?
1034
Why did we declare last September that 2008 was to be the year of Social Europe but not regard social welfare as one of the priorities of the Council Presidency?
1035
Why did the Right wage such a lengthy struggle against social rights in the Services Directive if they are portraying themselves today as true advocates of social justice?
1036
Why did my committee vote in July against the Hamon report and in favour of the Handzlik report, the exact opposite of what has been stated here today?
1037
Why have these things happened?
1039
Please be honest and say what you are really doing instead of giving the public the opposite message.
1040
I simply must ask you to do that; it is really vital.
1041
But why do you pursue such policies?
1042
Purely and simply because you on the Right have espoused the wrong philosophy.
1043
You assume that people are there to serve the economy.
1044
We Socialists take the opposite view, namely that the economy is there to serve the people, and we must fashion our policies accordingly.
1045
<SPEAKER ID="101" NAME="Gabriela Creţu" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1046
(RO) I was hoping these proposals would stimulate the reduction of social gaps between the European citizens.
1047
Unfortunately, the package only faces us with another gap, the one between good intentions and the necessary instruments for achieving them.
1049
This also happens where there is a European regulation requiring Member States to take action.
1051
An example is the wage discrimination against women in the labour market.
1052
There is legislation in this field, repeated commitments, yet without any improvement over the last eight years.
1053
Even supposing that employers had understood the economic advantages of correct payment and their legal obligations, difficulties are insurmountable.
1054
A system of non-discriminatory labour assessment to represent the common criterion for comparing different activities is missing.
1055
Without it, the principle of equal pay for work of equal value remains an illusion, as well as the reduction of the industry gap.
1057
Job classification systems are defective, if they exist.
1058
We already have Court decisions admitting that, by using physical work as a basis, they ignore various abilities required for labour and create discriminations.
1060
The method of open coordination has praiseworthy social objectives, but even the indicators measuring some of these objectives are missing from the list of common indicators.
1062
The conclusion is sad: the lack of interest in gender issues is equalled only by the lack of political will for effective common regulations in the labour market.
1063
<SPEAKER ID="103" NAME="Donata Gottardi" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1064
(IT) Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, despite all the analyses and studies, including those regarding the proper transposition of the anti-discrimination directives, the key elements are still effectiveness and innovation.
1066
How is it possible to draft the projected new so-called 'horizontal directive', which at the moment is nothing more than an extension beyond the workplace of protection in a number of areas, when the question of positive action is still being regarded in terms of safeguarding non-prohibited measures rather than seeking new measures?
1068
There is a small - but too timid - sign of progress in the call for a renewed general commitment in this field, ending with the call for better application of instruments devoted to the Roma, as if invoking something which we have not managed to achieve.
1069
Are we just writing rhetoric?
1070
In this context, I fear that we are!
1071
For example, it seems pointless at this stage putting questions to the Commission and highlighting cases of discrimination or failures on the part of national or sub-national legislation.
1073
Too often, indeed almost always, the response merely refers to the existence of European protective legislation: fresh water, no progress, silence!
1074
Nonetheless, we are debating the cardinal principal of equal treatment and I am referring to cross-border posted workers.
1076
Perhaps the new social agenda is a good exercise, but the package of proposed topics is more reminiscent of a puzzle, comprising cards not yet stacked at the end of a parliamentary term which has finalised a series of measures aimed at a genuinely innovatory project.
1077
Talking of discrimination and stereotypes, Minister, please thank your President for the tie.
1078
<SPEAKER ID="105" NAME="Richard Falbr" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1079
(CS) Mr President, in light of the fact that the words 'too little too late' have already been uttered many times when assessing the social package, I shall give my assessment: the mountain has given birth to a mouse.
1080
My question is: 'what have you been doing for four years?'
1081
You have been putting forward socially unacceptable proposals, the culmination being the Working Time Directive so highly vaunted by the Council and the Commission.
1082
As a result, there is no option but to regard the proposed social package, despite some of its positive aspects, as propaganda aimed at attaching the label 'social' to the European Commission's letterhead.
1083
Most of the proposals need not be discussed at all, so it is nothing more than a flash in the pan.
1084
It is quite easy to proclaim that the common market is for the people and not the people for the market and that, if binding rules are to be laid down on the behaviour of companies in the market, then it is necessary to lay down minimum rules on the position of EU employees, a minimum wage set as a percentage of the average wage in all Member States, the same treatment and the same wages for employees working in countries other than their own.
1085
It is enough to declare that the Union upholds observance of the International Labour Organization conventions on maximum working time, freedom of trade union association and collective bargaining.
1087
Competition between Member States as to who has the lowest taxes and wages and the least transparency in the position of trade unions will happily continue and the open method of coordination is just another ineffective way of dealing with something that nobody wants to do.
1088
To those who criticise the French Presidency, I should like to say: 'Wait until the Czech Presidency.
1089
You ain't seen nothing yet.'
1090
A few weeks ago, the President vetoed an act prohibiting discrimination, saying it was superfluous.
1091
<SPEAKER ID="107" NAME="Karin Jöns" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1092
(DE) Mr President, I feel compelled to say that this social agenda leaves me stone-cold.
1093
Not a single nettle has been firmly grasped.
1094
This surely cannot be a serious attempt to reform European works councils, since it makes no provision for more meetings or for sanction mechanisms in the event of infringements.
1095
The absence of any willingness to reform the Posting of Workers Directive is equally unacceptable.
1097
Commissioner, the lack of a clear position on working hours in a social agenda is further evidence that this Commission does not baulk at the idea of 65-hour working weeks either.
1098
This no longer bears any relation to the European social model to which my group aspires and which we Socialists are seeking to establish.
1100
May I also say to the Council that it is intolerable how you are putting management and labour organisations under pressure - to put it politely - over the European works councils.
1102
My group will not have any part in this charade.
1103
If Europe's labour force is not to turn its back completely on the European Union, we must afford it better protection from the effects of globalisation and waste no time in paving the way for cross-border collective wage agreements.
1104
<SPEAKER ID="109" NAME="Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
1105
(RO) I would like to raise for discussion some ideas regarding the legislative package in the Social-European agenda.
1107
I appreciate very much the European Commission's initiatives in this field and those presented in its communication named "Improving competencies for the 21st century - European cooperation on schools.”
1109
In addition to these initiatives, I would like to propose to the European Commission to launch a pilot project for creating a European scholarship for children in economically and geographically disfavoured regions.
1111
At European level, 19 million children and young people are subject to poverty and 6 million abandon high school every year.
1112
In Romania, for instance, according to a Eurobarometer study, young people in the rural environment and those in mountain or isolated regions have a 5% chance of attending higher education.
1113
This percentage is very far from the European Union's 85% objective of young people who have access to secondary university education.
1115
Member States lack the necessary financial means to remedy this worrying situation themselves.
1116
Consequently, the European Union should fight by any possible means, such as legislation, funds, European policies, to promote the opportunities and access of all young people to education.
1117
<SPEAKER ID="111" NAME="Proinsias De Rossa" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1118
Mr President, the leader of the ALDE Group, Mr Watson, says that a job is the best social welfare.
1119
Unfortunately there are too many millions of people in Europe working for less than what they might get if they were drawing social welfare.
1120
The poor and the low-paid die younger, suffer more physical and mental illness, are hospitalised more, are imprisoned more, are excluded from participating fully in society, are denied full cultural, civil, social, and indeed secure lives, and their children are largely condemned to the same vicious cycle of deprivation - unless, that is, we as politicians pursue social and economic policies which are integrated and interdependent.
1121
People must be treated as citizens, not as economic units.
1123
Does this agenda achieve this?
1125
This is not to deny the positive elements - for instance the horizontal directive on discrimination.
1126
Nor indeed do I deny that Commissioner Špidla has struggled hard in a hostile environment to get this package approved.
1127
We will work with him to make it better.
1128
The Commission and the Council have nine months to prove their bona fides on social Europe.
1129
The people will then give their verdict.
1130
<SPEAKER ID="113" NAME="Mieczysław Edmund Janowski" AFFILIATION="UEN">
1131
(PL) Mr President, Commissioner, we are today discussing very important issues of employment, social rights and health protection.
1132
All of this has a dimension in relation to the family, the basic unit of society.
1133
It also concerns those with disabilities, retired persons and pensioners, as well as the very painful problem of unemployment.
1134
Establishing a proper relationship between pay and work, together with dignified social security, is not some sort of favour.
1135
It is a duty imposed on us by our concern for the future of Europe.
1136
The funds allocated to social policy by the Member States must be better directed, as must the European Social Fund.
1138
Our continent is now ageing very quickly.
1139
But do we see the shortcomings of European policy on the family?
1140
What do we have to say about family incomes?
1141
Where is our solidarity with the poor?
1142
I use the word solidarity advisedly at a time when we are celebrating the 28th anniversary of the establishment of the Solidarity movement and trade union, which contributed to the great changes that have taken place in Europe.
1143
<SPEAKER ID="115" NAME="Maria Petre" AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
1144
(RO) I am glad that today we are discussing the relaunching of the social package.
1146
Europe needs social progress, Europe in general, with its old or new members.
1147
The united Europe is dealing with the same challenges: demographic ageing, loss of jobs from the perspective of globalization, poverty among children
1149
Commissioner Špidla, I welcome your approach of the issue of solidarity between generations.
1150
We need a new stimulant in this matter, but I equally welcome the reiteration of the idea of solidarity between regions because it is here that we can measure most accurately social cohesion or its absence.
1151
<SPEAKER ID="117" NAME="Jan Andersson" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1152
(SV) Mr President, I apologise for my late arrival.
1153
I had a meeting in Sweden late last night and have only just arrived.
1154
I do not know what has been discussed already but let me start by saying that we naturally welcome the social package.
1155
We think that it is a little bit late and that it could have been launched earlier in the term, but at least we have got it now.
1156
It is clear that ambitions in the European Parliament are somewhat greater than those in the package, but I would nevertheless like to highlight three positive elements which we can work on.
1158
I personally work a great deal with the judgments of the European Court of Justice and their consequences.
1159
I welcome the more open attitude we are now seeing in the Commission, such as the forum which is now to be held.
1160
I hope it will be a success.
1162
Another positive thing is the ILO Convention, which is also linked to the judgments of the European Court of Justice, in that the Member States are urged to sign the ILO Convention.
1164
Thirdly, the social integration programme, which will be presented in October and the fight against poverty, exclusion, etc.
1165
I hope that we will be able to work on these issues successfully together.
1166
They are incredibly important.
1167
<SPEAKER ID="119" NAME="Richard Corbett" AFFILIATION="PSE">
1168
Mr President, if you have a market at European level - which we do, with the single European market - you of course need common rules for that common market so that it works fairly and efficiently, not least in the social field.
1169
That is why we set employment standards and employment law and rules to protect workers' rights - the Working Time Directive, health and safety legislation, the Parental Leave Directive, information and consultation of workers.
1171
Yet the British Conservative Party - and I see that there is not a single member of that party present in the Chamber to discuss this at the moment - wants the United Kingdom to opt out completely from the Social Chapter of the Treaty, should they ever come back to power in the United Kingdom.
1172
Do they think for one moment that the rest of the European Union would accept that one single Member State opts out of the obligations that we have jointly developed at European level to govern our market?
1173
Do they really think that sort of unfair competition, by lowering health and safety standards and weakening the rights of workers, would be acceptable?
1174
Of course it would not!
1175
The British Conservatives are a recipe for disaster for Britain and for Europe.
1176
<SPEAKER ID="121" NAME="Xavier Bertrand">
1177
President-in-Office of the Council. - (FR) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, an impassioned debate, but a debate on social Europe, and the fact that we are having this debate is proof of a meeting of minds.
1178
Our debate also shows how hard it is, nowadays, to separate the consideration of social issues at Community level from policy debates at national level.
1179
It proves too, in a way, that we are making progress on European integration.
1181
Some people have levelled accusations at the Presidency.
1182
I shall not go into the detail of those accusations.
1183
I am not here to argue - like you, I am here to move social Europe forward.
1185
Is social Europe a priority for the French Presidency?
1186
The question has been asked.
1187
The clear answer is yes, and, as you well know, on this we shall all be judged not by our aspirations at the outset, our initial ambitions, but purely by what we have achieved.
1188
We know now that there is a greater likelihood of achieving those results, results that are positive, and positive for social Europe.
1189
I am a firm believer in pragmatism.
1191
On these various subjects, then, as President Nicolas Sarkozy said in his address to Parliament - works councils, temporary work - we are committed to getting the first one finalised, whilst the second is currently in Parliament's hands, as I said.
1192
And, I say again, we shall all shortly have to stand up and be counted.
1193
I will not dwell on questions such as whether a conservative government might be more 'social' than another.
1194
I would just say that I myself, in France, am Minister for Labour Relations and Solidarity.
1195
Because if you want to share wealth, you first have to create it.
1196
And how do you create it?
1198
That is how you create wealth.
1199
Nor do I want to mention that back then, in 1993, when the famous working time directive was put forward, it was a French Socialist government and a Socialist minister - Mrs Aubry - who defended this directive and its opt-out.
1200
And what are we doing today about this famous directive?
1201
Let us look at it realistically: does it or does it not represent an improvement on the current situation, where we are in a veritable no man's land after 48 hours?
1202
Everyone knows it in all honesty.
1203
Only it is important to say that whilst this directive may not necessarily embody the initial 1993 idea, which was to get rid of the opt-out, it now provides a framework and additional guarantees for today's, not yesterday's situation.
1205
Certainly we can, because I believe that public debate and political debate should be instructive.
1206
Either opt-outs continue, and are properly regulated, because we now know from the case-law to date that on-call time is a major issue.
1207
Or we can be pragmatic, take the view that it represents progress and accept a revision which will resolve some issues and improve the position, even though obviously today's outcome will not necessarily please everyone and I am well placed to appreciate that.
1210
Then there is the matter of the Court rulings.
1211
This is not about judging a judgment, far from it.
1212
But we need to look at today's situation in the light of the Court judgments. What is the new legal position?
1213
And we need to hear the views of the states primarily affected.
1214
I have discussed this with my opposite numbers.
1215
The social partners must also give their views on the subject, and not necessarily separately.
1216
Together would be far better, so that we can draw our conclusions accordingly.
1217
As far as this is concerned the Presidency will bring no preconceived ideas to the debate.
1218
Should the directive be revised?
1219
I have heard the question repeatedly and not only in this House.
1220
The answer to it should, I believe, come after the debate and not necessarily at the start of it.
1221
Otherwise that means one has preconceived ideas, and I do not.
1223
On the matter of social services of general interest, it seems to me that all Member States are keen to preserve the organisation of the general service remit that is specific to each individual country.
1224
But let's face it, there is disagreement as to what should be done at Community level.
1225
Some take the view that subsidiarity is the only answer, whilst others think there should be a Community legal framework.
1226
This, clearly, is not going to be decided in a hurry.
1227
Our proposal for a roadmap with the Commission is an attempt to ensure that these issues are addressed properly in line with the Union's timetable.
1229
Many other exciting topics have been raised.
1230
On action against discrimination, the Presidency has promised to move the new directive forward.
1231
Finalising this, as you know, requires unanimity of the Member States.
1233
On a number of occasions I have heard the word availability mentioned.
1234
That is most fitting, because efficacy requires availability.
1235
We have to be clear about this now.
1236
Is social Europe able to progress or not?
1237
For me the answer is a resounding yes, and we must move social Europe forward.
1238
Are we not well into 2008?
1242
It is never too late.
1243
Have we the desire to move forward?
1245
But the question is this: are we going to move social Europe forward together?
1246
Here, ladies and gentlemen, is where we must all stand up and be counted!
1247
<SPEAKER ID="123" NAME="Vladimír Špidla">
1248
Member of the Commission. - (CS) Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the depth and passion of the debate has clearly shown that a social Europe is on the march again.
1249
The debate has touched upon a whole series of detailed problems and I think that there is no need to respond to them individually, since there will be opportunities in future discussions to pursue the arguments and find an appropriate balance.
1250
Nevertheless, I should like to respond to certain things more generally.
1252
First of all, this agenda, since it is so wide-ranging, considers a social agenda and social policy to be a manifestation of a complex political approach and to be the consequence of a complex approach in a whole series of policies.
1253
It is clearly a mainstream concept, in no way a social policy pushed to the side, with a series of undoubtedly interesting and technical aspects, but nonetheless clearly marginalised.
1255
This agenda has put social policy at the heart of European politics.
1256
Of course, the question arises as to whether this agenda, and I think this should quite seriously be dismissed, is not simply of technical political interest.
1257
It is not, since the approach to it was formulated years ago.
1258
It is also included in a whole range of European Commission documents which have also been discussed by Parliament.
1259
It is not associated with any significant event, as the Irish referendum was, for example.
1261
This agenda shows, among other things, that the Commission has been decisive in designing the agenda as a procedure which attempts to use all the instruments available to the European Commission at European level, legislation, the open method of coordination and all other methods.
1262
It therefore contains not only legislative proposals, but also, of course, proposed communications and proposals for other documents.
1264
I wish to emphasise that this agenda is realistic within the options that can be influenced by the European Commission.
1265
The different proposals will undoubtedly be debated in Parliament and they will clearly be amended on many occasions but, nonetheless, they are real proposals which can be discussed.
1266
The debate also raised the thought, albeit only partially, and I think I should respond to it, that the proposals in the field of health care are some kind of back door into the Bolkestein directive in the field of health care.
1267
This is not the case.
1268
These proposals are not designed as the free provision of services, but will facilitate Europeans' access to health care.
1269
These proposals undoubtedly include a whole series of very delicate aspects and it is clear that they will be discussed seriously and in depth but, nevertheless, their basic trend and consequence will be an improvement in health care for European citizens.
1271
Another thought which I should like to emphasise is the idea of combating poverty.
1272
This idea of combating poverty is clearly formulated and the debate has brought out the question: 'by what methods?'
1273
The agenda does not assume that there is just one effective method for combating poverty, but aims to attack poverty from different angles.
1274
Attempting to limit early school-leaving combats poverty. Attempting to open up access to life-long learning combats poverty.
1275
The clearly formulated intention that retirement systems should emphasise equity and social effectiveness also combats poverty.
1276
The issue of discrimination and the directives concerning anti-discrimination are also ways of combating poverty, since opening up access for people who are disabled, preventing discrimination against people who have grown old in service, and so on also combat poverty.
1278
The question also arose about equal opportunities for men and women.
1279
I should like to say that other directives cover equal opportunities for men and women and, in view of this, it was not essential to explicitly include equality between men and women in the proposed directive.
1281
There was also a debate in relation to ILO conventions.
1282
I should like to emphasise clearly that this agenda undoubtedly shows how strongly the Commission and Europe are engaged with the concept of decent work on a global level.
1283
Just like the directive which will implement the agreement between workers and employers in the maritime field, it is a clear indication of how Europe views the different ILO conventions.
1284
In all the documents, the European states are invited to ratify the entire collection as quickly as possible.
1286
Ladies and gentlemen, the debate was deep and, at times, tough.
1287
I think that it is a debate which indicates the significance of European social policy.
1288
<SPEAKER ID="124" NAME="President">
1289
The debate is closed.
1291
The vote will take place during the next part-session, somewhere in Europe.
1293
Written statements (Rule 142)
1294
<SPEAKER ID="953" NAME="Petru Filip " AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
1295
in writing. - (RO) Mr. President, following the conventional statements according to which 2008 shall be the year of relaunching social Europe, the so-called social package represents a set of legislative initiatives whose convergence remains in the phase of intention for the moment.
1296
Maybe the time has come for us to approach more firmly and diligently a set of matters whose direct impact on the citizens is greater than ever.
1298
Under these circumstances, we need to undertake the mission of ensuring non-discriminatory living and working conditions for all the Community citizens.
1299
First of all, in this context, resuming discussions on a Community minimum wage seems not only opportune but also necessary.
1300
Secondly, the same thing is also valid for creating unitary conditions in all the EU countries regarding the Community labour market.
1301
It is not right that, even today, the attitude of several EU governments toward the European citizens is differentiated according to their country of origin.
1303
In the same context, the Commission's initiative to improve the visibility and work methods under the EU Strategy on social integration and protection and to consolidate its interaction with other policies appears to be significant.
1304
I gladly took note of the Commission's proposal for a horizontal directive on combating discrimination in fields other than employment.
1305
<SPEAKER ID="952" NAME="Lívia Járóka " AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
1306
in writing. - (HU) One of the most important results of the European Commission's renewed social policy agenda must be the restoration of the appropriate rights of European Roma as European citizens and the halting of their social exclusion.
1307
I am pleased that the document supports this.
1309
In the areas mentioned by the Agenda, the Roma are in a substantially worse situation than the majority of society in the areas of education, employment, living conditions, discrimination and health.
1311
Lifelong learning programmes that give Roma suitable skills for employment and self-employment could be a useful tool in the fight against unemployment.
1313
Anti-discrimination tools must be transplanted into national rights so that those who suffer from discrimination can turn to the courts, and the national authorities and equal opportunities bodies can recognise and impose sanctions for infringements.
1315
The Structural Funds could be much more effective in reducing the social exclusion of Roma but, in order to achieve this, at least the right of discussion has to be given to Roma NGOs in selecting, planning, implementing and evaluating projects that are financed by the Funds, and programmes to equip Roma NGOs for preparing the successful bids that are necessary must be started up.
1317
We hope that the Social Policy Agenda will be able to provide suitable answers to these questions.
1318
I feel it is important that we are able to discuss these topics at the large-scale Roma conference being organised on 16 September, and I hope that the question of social inclusion of the Roma will be put on the agenda of the European Council both separately and as part of the social agenda.
1319
<SPEAKER ID="951" NAME="Sirpa Pietikäinen " AFFILIATION="PPE-DE">
1320
in writing. - (FI) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission's social package is a long-awaited reform to the building of the Union's social dimension.
1321
Like many of my colleagues, however, I would like to have seen the Commission adopt a slightly bolder and more ambitious approach to its proposals and reforms.
1322
In my opinion, the package was especially wanting when it came to safeguarding basic public services.
1324
The package does, however, contain many good proposals.
1325
I would especially like to thank the Commission for deciding, after long deliberations, to draw up a horizontal anti-discriminatory directive that covers all grounds for discrimination.
1326
Citizens who encounter discrimination in different forms and for different reasons should not be treated unequally.
1327
The horizontal approach is the only real way of guaranteeing equal treatment for all.
1328
Furthermore, the proposal to strengthen the role of the European Works Councils is very welcome.
1330
The proposal for a directive on patients' rights in cross-border health care, which received relatively less publicity, will have a tangible impact on the ordinary lives of many Europeans.
1331
With European borders opening up and increased opportunities in the health care sector, it is especially important to clarify who is responsible for a patient's health and how far that responsibility extends.
1332
The Commission's proposal for a directive is a welcome clarification of pan-European rules.
1334
Despite its shortcomings, the package is definitely a step in the right direction, and I hope that the Commission will continue its efforts to improve the feelings that European citizens have about social security in the years to come.
1335
In this connection, I would like to urge the Commission to get on with its plans to draft a directive on extending maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.
1336
May the directive become future practice as quickly as possible.
1337
I would like it, however, if the Commission's proposal were to focus in particular on extending parental leave and thus improve the rights and opportunities of both parents to stay at home after their child is born.
1338
<SPEAKER ID="950" NAME="Katrin Saks " AFFILIATION="PSE">
1339
in writing. - (ET) Martin Schultz is undoubtedly right to say that the social package could have been stronger.
1340
The Commission should have produced the package sooner so that we could have dealt with this important matter, not as the elections approach but sooner, when there was time to weigh up all the nuances of this important package carefully, and it is undoubtedly important.
1343
Among other things, I would like to pick out the Commission communication on the European Globalisation Fund.
1344
Although it has provided assistance to several thousand people in, for example, Germany, France, Portugal and Finland, the survey for 2007 shows that a fairly large proportion of the Fund was not used.
1346
Textile workers in Lithuania received compensation from the EGF in August.
1347
This is a good sign that the new Member States too can successfully seek assistance to help with the changes globalisation requires.
1349
The Commission will soon investigate the criteria on which decisions to grant assistance are based.
1350
I would like to stress that in small countries like Estonia many businesses have had to lay off hundreds of people because of globalisation.
1351
Simplifying the process of applying for EGF assistance would undoubtedly make it possible for assistance for those people to be simplified too.
1352
<SPEAKER ID="949" NAME="Silvia-Adriana Ţicău " AFFILIATION="PSE">
1353
<SPEAKER ID="948" NAME="Bernard Wojciechowski " AFFILIATION="IND/DEM">
1354
in writing. - There is no doubt that the European social model needs to be reformed.
1355
Especially, that the outdated welfare system still dominates in many of the larger Member States.
1356
Any talk of a European social model seems like a step in the wrong direction.
1358
No social agenda or social policy document published by the Commission is likely to promote real economic growth or job creation.
1359
With the US economic crisis swiftly appearing on the shores of our continent, our governments should react to make sure that our citizens feel as little of the negative impact of a recession as possible.
1360
EU bureaucracy will not stop an economic crisis or a recession.
1361
Member States should focus on liberalising their economies, lowering taxes and interest rates, and cutting red tape especially for small-businesses.
1363
Centralised intervention in the economy has always failed.
1364
The top-down measures proposed by the Commission might not only not help our citizens fend off unemployment but may actually hinder employment and economic growth.
1366
(The sitting was suspended at 11.40 pending voting time and resumed at noon)
1367
<SPEAKER ID="127" NAME="Dimitar Stoyanov" AFFILIATION="NI">
1368
(BG) President, I would like to inform Parliament that in violation of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, on July 30 I was arrested and beaten by the police, and I was also threatened that my throat would be slit.
1370
It is a shame that Parliament still has not voiced any opinion on this crime, which was committed against me.
1371
And I want to ask the colleagues who have gathered in this hall: "What are you waiting for, colleagues, that my throat be slit open in actual fact?
1372
That the threats be fulfilled and they kill me?”
1373
A cruel injustice was perpetrated against a Member of the European Parliament and you remain silent.
1375
<SPEAKER ID="128" NAME="President">
1376
Thank you for informing us of that, Mr Stoyanov.
1377
We will pass that on to the relevant body within the institution.
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