Mr President, I want to begin by thanking Mr Herman Schmid for his extremely valuable cooperation in preparing this report. He has been very constructive. I share the Commissioner’s view that the employment strategy has been successful, as far as we can see. During the five years that it has been applied, unemployment has gone down, the number of jobs has increased and, for example, the active labour market policy, which was previously being conducted at a very low level in Europe, has now been considerably improved, partly through lifelong learning. Big improvements have taken place. Nevertheless, there remains a lot to be done, just as the Commission’s document states. Unemployment is still too high. There is a big gap when it comes to education and lifelong learning. Those who already have a high level of education also help themselves to most of the education offered in the labour market, and those who have least education do not obtain as much. There are also big regional differences within Europe. The overhaul and improvement of the employment strategy are necessary therefore. I myself think that the pillar structure has been valuable as a structural instrument, because some parts of the pillar structure have been more successful than others. The employability pillar has been relatively successful, and the equality pillar has also been successful in the sense that female employment has increased, even though a lot remains to be done. On the other hand, the adaptability pillar, which is a little more difficult to understand, has not been as successful. This is nonetheless an important area we must continue to work on, for it is this which has an influence upon working life, the working environment and lifelong learning out there in the workplace. All these factors must be improved in the future. It is good that the Commission is now proposing to coordinate employment policy and economic policy, but I share Mr Herman Schmid’s view that social security too, in relation to which we also have a European process, must be involved in this coordination. When coordination takes place, no area must be given precedence over another. It is easy, both at national and European levels, to allow economic policy and the economic process to take precedence over the socio-political dimension and considerations relating to employment policy. That must not happen. They are equally valuable processes which must be treated equally when coordination takes place. I regard open coordination as a complement to legislation, not as an alternative to it. We must, however, improve the actual way in which the open method of coordination is applied. Since there is no qualified majority in the Council on the issue of the objectives, it is reasonable for the European Parliament to have the right of co-decision concerning these objectives. When it comes to the national action plans, I share Mr Herman Schmid’s outlook. It goes without saying that they must be debated and decided upon in the national parliaments. It is only fair that we should have democratic control, both at European and national levels, where these important issues are concerned. It is also important to involve other actors. Of these, the two sides of industry are perhaps the most important of all. It is important for them to be involved in devising policy, both at European level and at the other levels. It is also important, as mentioned in our proposal, for the candidate countries to be integrated into this process at an early stage. There are a number of differences between the candidate countries and our own countries, but there are also similarities. Demographic developments and the demands they make upon the labour market are similar in the candidate countries. Consequently, the candidate countries need to be involved in this process soon. Moreover, we want to see a clearer link between employment policy and existing economic instruments, namely the European Social Fund and Equal. The employment strategy underlying those instruments must be made clear; clearer, that is to say, than it is at present. In general, we are encouraged by the developments in this process but, as mentioned earlier, institutional changes are needed: better coordination and a strengthening of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments. We must not forget, however, that economic policy, employment policy and the respective councils must be accorded equal value.

Political group: PSE