Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the report we are discussing today is the result not only of the work of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, but also of the major contributions made by both the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, by means of the opinion delivered by Mr Alyssandrakis, and by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities, by means of the opinion delivered by Mrs Swiebel. I thank them all for their contributions, which I hope a majority in Parliament will approve. This report is based on the Commission communication on the first 15 National Action Plans for social inclusion that the Member States submitted in June last year, following the decisions taken at the Lisbon European Council, in March 2000, on the strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion and based on the four common objectives defined in Nice, which are: to facilitate participation in employment and access by all to the resources, rights, goods and services which are essential to live in dignity, to prevent the risks of exclusion, to help the most vulnerable and to mobilise all relevant bodies. Despite the limitations and the diversity of approaches employed by the various Member States, the joint Commission and Council report approved during the Belgian Presidency highlights major risks and challenges that must be taken into account if we are to make more rapid progress on an in-depth and exhaustive study of the causes of social exclusion and on the concrete measures that need to be put in practice more speedily and with greater commitment. Unless this happens, our stated intentions on the need for greater economic and social cohesion run the risk of remaining words that are not translated into action. I would remind you, because of their importance, of the main challenges identified in the joint report, which are: to develop an inclusive labour market and promote employment as a right and opportunity for all; to guarantee an adequate income level and resources to live in human dignity; to tackle educational disadvantage; to preserve family solidarity and protect the rights of children; to ensure good housing for all; to guarantee equal access to high-quality services (health, transport, social, care, cultural, recreational and legal); to improve the delivery of services and to regenerate areas of multiple deprivation. In order to meet these challenges, Member States must make significant improvements in the distribution of resources and opportunities in society so as to ensure the participation and social inclusion of all citizens and the exercise of their fundamental rights. It is equally important that an integrated and multidimensional strategy should be put in place, that, on the basis of the objectives defined in Nice and the implementation of the Community programme to encourage the fight against social exclusion, specifically the first round table that is due to take place in October during the Danish Presidency, added value should be sought in the fight against poverty and social exclusion and that encouragement is given for the drafting of the second set of National Action Plans for social inclusion to include priorities, specific targets and goals, appropriate policies and measures, accompanied by the corresponding funds and budgetary appropriations. Consequently, the common challenge that Community policies and the various national governments face is to ensure that the main mechanisms for the distributive effects of the labour market – the tax system, social security, education, housing, health and other public services – become sufficiently universal to respond to the needs of those who are most exposed to the risks of poverty and social exclusion. Hence also the importance of economic and monetary policies, including policies on competition, farming, fisheries and the Stability Pact, forming a triangle that is consistent with social policies, with each one having to be evaluated on its impact on the social sphere, with a view to reviewing them and ensuring that they comply with the social objectives and the need for greater economic and social cohesion and that they significantly diminish the scandal that is keeping around 18% of the population of the European Union, in other words, more than 60 million people, living in poverty. Equally important is the existence of credible and relevant social indicators, also in terms of gender, which enable us not only to observe trends in the social situation in the various EU countries, but also to warn of and monitor trends in the social situation as regards poverty and social exclusion in particular. We must not, therefore, try to deny the reality of the situation and bear in mind that, although it is difficult to analyse the correlation between public expenditure and social protection on the one hand and the risk of poverty on the other, it is fair to say that without social transfers, notably old age pensions, 41% of the population of the European Union would be at risk from poverty, a percentage which would still be 26% if we included old age pensions but excluded income from other social transfers. I am, therefore, unhappy about the majority of the amendments tabled by the , which are intended to disguise the reality of the situation and to make it more difficult to implement essential measures to achieve social inclusion. I call on them to withdraw these amendments so that the work that has already been undertaken is not undermined and so that we can make a positive contribution to formalising an effective strategy for fighting against poverty and social exclusion.

Political group: GUE-NGL