kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it is also important to invest in access to technology and connectivity to the internet and in promoting education and training for women and girls in business science technology engineering and green jobs especially in places where such facilities are lacking.
we should also emphasise the role of cooperatives social enterprise and alternative business models in providing a powerful platform for women's economic empowerment and independence.
the eu can make a significant positive impact with more funding in that field as has happened with the esf and erdf programmes such as leader funding for rural areas like cumbria and the daphne programme for women.
is that why the uk figures are better than the eu average?
indeed this morning commenting on david cameron speakers said that we cannot take the parts we want and opt out of the rest.
social aspects and growth improve when people have jobs.
but we did opt out legally of certain provisions of the wtd leaving uk employers more free to employ workers.
this is a particular priority for the irish presidency.
the focus on implementation is all the more relevant as the whole semester exercise becomes regular and more familiar.
environment telecommunications and transport ministers have already addressed the semester in their december meetings.
an obvious example is the youth guarantee scheme which as you know we hope to have agreed by employment ministers this month.
both need to cooperate and i can assure you that the irish presidency will continue to encourage close cooperation in this area.
it began with the publication of the commission's annual growth survey last november and it will now be for the irish presidency working together with the president of the european council to ensure that it is completed successfully and contributes to delivering on the wider objectives under the europe two thousand and twenty strategy.
i want also at this point to underline the importance of the contribution of the single market to this year's exercise.
the european semester is of course not an end in itself.
several ministers reiterated that there is no contradiction between growth and consolidation.
the ecofin council had an initial discussion on the annual growth survey on twenty two january and will now prepare its response.
this is a really vital tool for helping us to address the current economic challenges that we face and it is a high priority for the irish presidency.
the epsco education energy and competitiveness councils will debate the european semester in february.
i very much welcome your initiative last week to bring together national parliamentarians and members of this house to discuss the european semester.
the fact that the european semester is primarily a means to an end is important.
the needs of smes non bank financing and the impact on stability are among the issues which need to be addressed.
following the publication by the commission of its annual growth survey the european council has confirmed the five priorities.
the presidency welcomes very much the contribution of the committee on the internal market and consumer protection and particularly mr schwab's report before us today to the debate on how we might improve governance to facilitate the speedy and effective implementation of single market legislation particularly in the services area.
many of those participating last week stressed the need for national parliamentarians and meps to work together.
i know that this parliament has been following this exercise particularly closely and that it has consistently insisted on the need in such a wide ranging exercise for policy coherence.
for my own part i hosted an informal meeting of ministers and state secretaries for european affairs in dublin last month on the topic of strengthening democratic legitimacy and accountability.
for this reason i see this debate as an opportunity for me to hear more of your views and to see how these might be reflected in the further work of the presidency over the weeks ahead.
the semester has to be implemented in the member states and by the member states.
the issue of single market governance is an issue of considerable importance to the council and indeed to this house.
it is clear from the wide ranging nature of this initiative that both have a direct stake in this exercise.
these are differentiated growth friendly fiscal consolidation restoring lending to the economy growth and competitiveness unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis and modernising public administration.
another area is the role of education in providing the right skills for growth and jobs on which we hope the council will soon adopt conclusions. the need to ensure greater democratic accountability in the union is something which is of major concern to the irish presidency.
we still have quite some way to go in this year's european semester exercise.
we cannot simply agree on policy guidance and then assume that our task is done.
based on their input as well as that already received from other council configurations the presidency will put together a synthesis report which will constitute a basis for policy guidance which is due to be adopted by the spring european council. i cannot of course predict now what will be the key messages of this report but i can say that we will focus on the key topics and will not avoid where necessary more controversial issues such as structural unemployment poverty or europe's leadership in the area of technological development.
i was very pleased to have the participation of members of this house mr verhofstadt mr brok and mr gualtieri in those discussions.
i look forward to the rest of the debate and thank you very much for your contributions in advance.
it is a coordination tool to help us reach a number of policy goals in particular the five headline targets set in the europe two thousand and twenty strategy for smart sustainable and inclusive growth.
work is continuing.
recalling our presidency's focus on stability growth and jobs we see an effective semester process along with the banking union proposals as an integral part of securing stability in our union. this particular semester is of course only the third such exercise.
we are very pleased that the commission has presented for the first time a report on the state of the single market in the context of the two thousand and thirteen annual growth survey.
our key objective as the presidency will be to ensure that all relevant council formations work in a coordinated and consistent manner towards a thorough preparation of both the march and the june european councils.
work will continue in particular on restoring normal lending to the economy.
their debates point to the need for a better integration of environmental and climate policies into economic decision making a strengthening of both the implementation and enforcement of the digital agenda and a willingness to exploit fully the various synergies between telecommunications transport and energy.
we very much hope working together with parliament to make swift progress on the remaining files of the single market act i as well as to take forward work on the single market act ii.
this is the only way that it will produce concrete results even if we have to accept that these will sometimes take time.
the irish presidency is adopting an inclusive approach which draws on the views of many different council configurations.
many of parliament's priorities correspond to those of the council and of this presidency.
we can only deliver on a successful european semester if both are involved.
then you need to use the european semester for the internal market implementation for the stability of public finances and for market reforms so we can achieve the investments that are being frightened off by the big public spending you are advocating.
because the reality is that where your policies have been tried with the deficits and the big spending we have the worst crisis and the biggest threats to prosperity and social security.
couldn't you ever question this dogmatic belief in increased spending and big deficits?
it is hurting europe and undermining the opportunities for jobs and social security.
repeating and repeating. all over europe we can see that where we have had big spending and big deficits we have a big crisis.
we have growth. in those countries where we have followed your policies we have crisis.
if the solution to our problems were big spending and big deficits dear socialists we wouldn't have any problems.
stop attacking a serious and responsible economic policy because you are attacking prosperity and welfare.
we need another line a policy that creates investments.
it is possible look at ireland and perhaps the irish minister can tell mrs ferreira how to go about it leading by example.
mr president i have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to compromise with a rapporteur who thinks a compromise is simply an extension of her own view.
we do not need protectionism but free trade and open markets so there is that roadmap to achieve competitiveness or there is mrs ferreira's way of simply spending more delaying fiscal discipline and having more debt.
we do not need rigid labour markets but flexibility.
the two do not go together and that is why we now have a report not thanks to a rapporteur but rather in spite of her.
mrs ferreira lives in a land of make believe. if we want to solve major problems in the euro zone we have to increase competitiveness as there is no sugar coated alternative after having lived beyond our means for too long.
to achieve competitiveness we do not need more debt and government over spending but well managed budgets.
while. the situation of young people has worsened.
these are important political choices to be made and commissioner rehn has said that today.
they said stop talking and start doing'.
perhaps the answer to that can be found in the commission's own documents.
it speaks of a lack of confidence and how this is weighing heavily on future economic prospects.
one of the political choices that we can make is how we manage fiscal consolidation.
really what they want to know is are we doing enough and will we deliver what we promise?
if we look at the macro economic report it is every bit as bad because it tells us that the eu's economic growth is faltering.
we also ask for programmes to be evaluated with regard to the impacts on growth and social inclusion and for social indicators alongside economic ones.
for example the draft joint employment report for two thousand and twelve tells us slowing growth hampers the already weak employment recovery and prevents an improvement of the employment rate.
that is what the documents tell us.
this is not a policy in the interests of the economy as a whole.
recent figures that the minister should be aware of compiled by michael taft of unite illustrate the extent of this the fact that people in ireland are paying for an incredible forty two of the european banking crisis despite making up less than one percent of the population. those who try to lay the blame for this crisis on the public sector or on working people should have a look at a recent report from mckinsey consultants hardly a bastion of socialist thought.
we need to refuse to pay the bankers' debts we need massive public investment to create jobs and we need democratic planning of investment for the benefit of our society as a whole.
mr president across europe we face a crisis of mass unemployment falling wages and the complete destruction of public services.
what the figures illustrate is that they are sitting on mountains of profits which continue to increase yet refusing to invest while twenty six million people face enforced unemployment.
the policies of austerity that have created this crisis are being extended and now we are being forced by the commission as austerity policeman into the process of the european semester.
we need a radical break with the logic of the profit system.
i note that a number of members were critical of suggestions that the crisis is behind us or that we have moved beyond the crisis.
as i said in my introductory remarks this is a process that is evolving i hope improving each year and at each stage.
that i think is an important aspect of our participation here this evening.
many of the mistakes that have been made in the past which members have alluded to cannot be made again.
this is the big challenge facing us and structural reforms are absolutely essential to restoring competitiveness. i know a lot about this because my country has gone about this the hard way and we have seen a twenty point improvement in competitiveness in our country in the last few years.
connected to that is the question of macroeconomic imbalances and competitiveness.
the topic that is of most concern to you as members of parliament to me as a representative both of the irish government and of the council is the issue of unemployment the critical task that we face in trying to tackle huge levels of youth unemployment.
most people in the chamber would accept that one of the contributing factors to the depth of the crisis and to the high levels of unemployment that we have seen in europe in recent years is the fact that by and large many eu member states lost competitiveness lost business and lost industry not only to other countries but to other regions of the world.
i think that it would be misguided to say that the crisis is behind us.
that is something that has the greatest potential to tackle the general unemployment problem but particularly the youth unemployment problem in europe at this point in time.
that is the value of the european semester process.
moving into the phase where we will see country specific recommendations for individual member states it is absolutely essential that national parliaments take some ownership of this process that they buy into this process and that it is not simply one that is seen to be removed or remote but rather one that features very prominently in debate
that certainly is our aspiration to build on the work of the last two semesters to improve to take on board and take into account the feedback from member states from national parliaments from governments and from the european parliament.
would he also agree that it is not entirely up to political institutions to solve the problems we face?
we need to support entrepreneurship and investment and complete the single market.
we need to reverse this downward trend.
when you consider the high debt levels the rapid population ageing and the fact that more than half of social spending over the whole world today takes place in europe you get a picture of the burden that the european productive economy has to carry in order to sustain our social model
they should maintain and reinforce coverage and effectiveness of employment services and active labour market policies such as training for the unemployed and youth guarantee schemes. the modernisation of social protection systems should ensure their effectiveness adequacy and sustainability.
the commission proposed to continue to work along the previously agreed policy priorities ensuring that the fiscal consolidation is differentiated and future growth potential as well as essential safety nets are preserved.
the two thousand and thirteen ags puts a strong emphasis on job creation and on the potential of expanding sectors such as the green economy healthcare and ict.
in that context we also emphasise the importance of mobility.
the commission recommends further efforts to improve the resilience of the labour market invest in human capital and involve the social partners.
for that i strongly believe that the capacity of the eures network and of public employment services needs to be boosted. the commission will scrutinise member states' policies and ongoing reforms as well as their potential socioeconomic impact in the context of the two thousand and thirteen semester.
we have increasing unemployment in the eu polarisation between various groups of member states and a clear social emergency in some of these member states.
i take this as an illustration that beyond the potential divergence of views on the appropriate macroeconomic policy mix employment and social cohesion are objectives shared by all groups.
it is crucial to foster the democratic legitimacy of the process.
in the ags the commission presented very strong guidance to member states for their employment labour market and social policies.
secondly much of what is often called social expenditure is actually social investment and helps prevent much higher costs at a later stage.
the ags also means finding new ways to boost productive investment and to provide access to finance so that our smes and our industries as a whole can create prosperity and create jobs.
but the commission has always emphasised smart fiscal consolidation which for example allows for shifting taxation away from labour particularly in the low wage categories.
but the single market can only be a main growth project if it comes with more entrepreneurship and also with more demand.
i would like to underline that we have to be very careful with social expenditure at a time of fiscal consolidation and this is particularly connected to what ms bauer said.
ags. the best example is of some countries like germany applying strong social dialogue between employers and employees and responding in a flexible way to the crisis and the temporary shrinking of demand in the markets
as we look forward in two thousand and thirteen we need to beat the crisis and take that progress to a new level. that means seeing beyond the rebalancing and reform of the eurozone and that is exactly what the annual growth survey is about.
the ags also means intensifying the fight against youth unemployment and i am glad so many members of the house spoke about this. we cannot allow ourselves to waste a generation and the commission has been leading the campaign against this in the last three years.
but the ags also means continuing the rebuilding of our economic and monetary union and this is no less important than discussing competiveness or the fight against youth unemployment.
emu. so it is also a matter of the democratic legitimacy of our policies which needs to be seriously addressed in the context of rebuilding the
the ags means focusing primarily on the competitiveness of our economy which is a large and open economy of entrepreneurs well trained employees and workers which relies on innovation and skills and embraces the opportunities offered by expanding world trade. when we speak about competitiveness we do not need to reinvent the wheel.
the ags also means staying the course in fiscal consolidation because there can be no sustainable growth without sustainable public finances.
a market without demand is not a functioning market and that is why we also have to focus our policies on taking care of demand in our single market.
we will deal with these questions in a very detailed manner in the forthcoming social investment package which the commission is expected to adopt later this month.
growth and prosperity.
the single market on which the discussion focused today is our main growth project.
investment in human capital is absolutely key and this is the source of success in the best performing countries of the european union where youth unemployment has been relatively low.
madam president i want to speak in support of the schwab report today which proposes measures to enhance the governance of the single market in order to boost its benefits it is clear that a comprehensive and coordinated approach by all eu institutions with strong political leadership is needed to improve the governance of the single market so i strongly support calls in the report for a legislative act and the establishment of a single market governance framework it is fundamental that the importance of the single market in the creation of jobs competitiveness and growth is fully reflected rather than focusing on issues such as the incorporation of social issues and workers rights in the single market governance strategy since these are matters for all member states to organise themselves
yet the economic and monetary affairs commissioner rehn has so far failed to give us any sign that he will pursue or pause to ponder on the imf's recent downgrading of growth forecasts as well as the imf reports acknowledging how their models consistently underestimated the recessionary effects of the structural adjustment policies demanded of countries such as ireland.
i have requested to meet with commissioner rehn the imf and the ecb to discuss this and learn how you intend to correct your approach.
you are raising an important issue.
it does not matter which government implemented these policies you can deal with that in the domestic policies of each of our countries the problem is that you are advocating repeating a policy that has caused severe problems and is threatening jobs and social security.
the reason that growth is unacceptably low is actually quite simple as anybody from the pacific rim could tell us.
we have a suicidal energy policy. employment legislation makes it impossible to employ anybody especially small businesses and particularly young people.
there will be no economic growth until we can close down this place and the commission.
we are the problem and not the solution.
yet perhaps it will close itself down.
perhaps and maybe sooner than we think.
thank you for your question.
we are not sure about the validity of what you are stating frankly but when it comes to the eu budget and reports that go through this house and the way that we vote you are quite right that we make major sacrifices in order to push bigger initiatives through.
we need to be aware of the consequences when we are going through the procedures in those areas but we need to focus purely in this house in the whole of the european union and in the commission on delivering real growth and jobs for the people out there.
i want to thank all of my colleagues on the internal market committee particularly andreas schwab for setting out so clearly the importance of the single market economic recovery and growth and what that means for all citizens.
it is absolutely indispensable that we look at that in conjunction with economic and employment policies.
we have to underpin europe's future growth and competitiveness by making the single market work better.
now is the time to be investing political capital into making that work because it underpins all our futures.
it is about time that we had the opportunity to be talking about the single market in conjunction with these other policies.
i look forward to another initiative on the digital single market later this year which will show the importance of that to european growth.
mr president twenty years after the birth of the single market toys are still retested extra certificates are required on line payment is still complicated and too often non nationals have to pay more to get travel packages.
in an open europe this is not acceptable double regulations restrictions and uncertainty about the rules create delays and costs.
most of all they deprive the citizens of europe of the benefits of free movement.
with the level of unemployment that we have we cannot ignore these obstacles.
we have to move from micro regulating and over regulating to correctly implementing and fully enforcing.
in sweden today thousands of travellers are struggling because they have been asked for extra registration requirements to buy a ticket that costs two euros to get on a bus.
it turns out that this is an interpretation of an eu directive.
the original aim of the directive was to simplify to facilitate payment to boost e commerce.
we need dialogue at an early stage with the national institutions.
let us take our shared responsibility and work together and look at how the rules are transposed and how the rules are enforced.
i also welcome commissioner barnier's zero tolerance policy against breaches of the internal market because monitoring increases effectiveness and the fact that the internal market now has its own space in the european semester will make it more effective.