Employment now heads the list of EU policy concerns, politically, socially and economically. This is one of the explicit conclusions of the most recent European Summit, held in Vienna last month. Employment policy and social policy now go hand in hand. This is an approach clearly set out in the Amsterdam Treaty. Let's never forget that social policies have enhanced our competitiveness and our capacity to produce quality goods and services.
Social policies are about justice and solidarity.
But they also make sheer good economic sense. Our attachment to the dual principles of fair competition between firms and solidarity between EU citizens marks out the EU and makes us different from the rest of the developed world. We have higher and stronger social standards than any other comparable economy. Those policies have made it possible to combine economic growth with widely shared prosperity, economic efficiency and social justice. Our living standards have doubled over the past thirty years.