Yet another summit, this time initiated by the Portuguese presidency, is about to add its contribution to the continuing intensification of, and support for, the neo-Liberal, monetarist policies which have led to the present dismal situation, which contradict every social and employment policy and which cause dramatic rises in unemployment, job insecurity, discrimination, social exclusion and widespread poverty, ostensibly in order to ‘promote’ proposals and measures to support employment and combat unemployment. It is a contradiction, it is ironic, it is hypocritical and it is insulting to workers to propose strengthening the competitiveness of undertakings by reducing labour costs, promoting total liberalisation, increasing the flexibility of the job market and supporting atypical forms of work as measures to combat unemployment. We need to stop maintaining and strengthening the Stability Pact, giving priority to nominal convergence criteria, and we need to stop completely subjugating social policy to financial criteria and requirements before we can start talking about fundamental employment policies. Speculative working capital would be taxed, tax havens would be abolished, fraud and tax evasion would be combated, wealth and income would be redistributed for the benefit of labour, state aid would be controlled, restructuring, merger and relocation grants which result in mass redundancies would immediately be suspended, and better social protection based on solidarity and independent of commercial and financial interests would be introduced if employment really were the European Union's main concern, rather than how to ‘sweeten the pill’ in order to deceive workers and limit social reaction to its anti-labour and anti-grass roots economic and social policy. If its aim were to improve the standard of living of workers, increase their purchasing power and guarantee safe jobs, it would support public-sector and social investment and equal opportunities, combat all forms of discrimination in connection with access to employment and jobs and act as a barrier to policies based on privatisation, low wages and lack of social protection, flexible and temporary work and the constant exclusion of women, the young and people with special needs from the job market. In fact, what the economic and social policy guidelines are promoting, what they are striving for in practice, is a minimum level of poverty, not a minimum level of prosperity for workers. Prosperity is the preserve of big business, before which all bow down in reverence, making it more and more immune, throwing the job market even more out of kilter in the name of increased productivity and competitiveness, attacking social and other rights which have been won even more violently and promoting the perception that the modern (anti­)social state need only throw the people a few crumbs of charity. The victims of long-term unemployment and social exclusion, and there are over 60 million of them, and European workers as a whole, have no intention of showing themselves to be ‘mutually supportive’, ‘adaptable’, ‘docile’ and ‘cooperative’ in their choices, as you will have them be. You will find them insubordinate, uncompromising and intractable, fighting and demanding full and stable employment, a social policy system which includes insurance, health, a pension, unemployment protection, truly equal opportunities, quality education and fundamental vocational training. You will find them fighting for a social, democratic, mutually supportive Europe, a workers’ Europe, a Europe of the people, and you will find us by their side, fighting with them. (The sitting was suspended at 1.35 p.m. and resumed at 3 p.m.) IN THE CHAIR: MRS LIENEMANNVice-President

Political group: GUE-NGL