kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
slovenia has successfully corrected its imbalances and left the procedure.
beyond that only an educated skilled labour force can seize new opportunities when the labour market changes and only with proper social security can people make the necessary transitions in the new world of work.
ladies and gentlemen we need to use the good times to build a resilient economy one that is less vulnerable to economic shocks and more able to respond to them. for this we need reforms that combine the goals of stability and efficiency with a strong
raising productivity is the only way to achieve higher living standards and greater prosperity.
but the success of the pillar depends on the extent to which we implement it at european level but especially at national level.
last week we adopted the annual work programme for the structural reform support programme to support twenty four member states with more than one hundred and forty projects. maybe the most important message of this semester is that economic growth and social progress go hand in hand.
to help with monitoring and implementation we have developed together with the member states a social scoreboard with fourteen headline indicators that cover the three dimensions of the pillar equal opportunities and access to the labour market to education
since two thousand and eleven member states have made at least some progress on more than two thirds of their recommendations. when implementing reforms member states can count on the support of our structural and investment funds
we run it in a spirit of cooperation and partnership.
your reports show that we see these common objectives and i am glad that we have this opportunity to discuss them with you today and that you have done so recently with national parliaments.
employment and social policies need to adapt to the changes in the labour markets but at the same time workers' rights should remain protected.
only by closely working together to constantly push for reforms and to continuously support inclusive growth and job creation will we be successful in creating tangible benefits for every citizen and in rebuilding trust in a strong and prosperous european union.
during the presidency we plan on making progress on the initiatives of the digital single market strategy as we think digitalisation is crucial for the competitiveness of the industry in the european union.
they also need to be geared towards those regions and sectors which are undergoing the most difficulties.
this is an important issue for the presidency.
let us continue to work together to stimulate social investment and human capital to lift the remaining barriers and to foster a truly favourable investment climate.
if we are to make europe relevant to peoples' daily lives we need to achieve good results on growth and jobs high quality education social protection and inclusion as well as environmental sustainability.
boosting investment remains a priority in order to promote a more robust recovery and to secure healthy growth rates in the long run.
what is key is to focus on the full implementation of the reforms and to carefully monitor the progress in each member state.
the extension of the european fund for strategic investment in terms of financial capacity is an important step towards achieving this goal.
the environmental implementation review initiative will be again on the council's agenda next year.
some citizens are trapped in a cycle of poverty and social exclusion from which they cannot easily escape.
our policy efforts need to be geared toward those with the most disadvantages.
we are committed to contributing to the process of completing the digital single market as a source of growth and competitiveness while also focusing on the development of skills and competences of the twenty first century.
the single market is a great eu asset and we should join forces for its further development.
you have identified a number of them in your reports.
we need to think of new solutions to new problems whilst seizing the opportunities ahead of us. the collaborative economy represents a huge potential but it cannot be a reason to backtrack on employment and social rights.
furthermore we need to support growth with smart fiscal policies while paying close attention to the long term sustainability of our budgets and debts. we also need to implement the necessary structural reforms on our product and labour markets in order to prepare our economies for the challenges ahead.
environmental policy together with the greening economy and greening the european semester can contribute in a very significant manner to the broad policy objectives of stimulating sustainable growth and creating jobs.
we should share our experiences and use best practices examples to learn from each other.
poverty distorts democratic processes and gives a chance to irresponsible populists. therefore the pillar should become an important and necessary tool for ensuring a better future for europe. at the moment the twenty principles of the pillar are important but not legally binding declarations.
among the goals of the european semester are structural reforms to create more jobs and growth. the pillar aims to provide equal opportunities on the labour market to improve social protection and inclusion. the challenges of balanced economic growth and social protection are closely interconnected since poverty undermines economic development.
to start the work of the pillar we need legislative initiatives from the commission.
i would like to say that the future of the european monetary union is a question of interest for all european citizens so we will work on creating optimal conditions for strong and sustainable economic growth in the european union through initiatives to strengthen the european monetary union.
in march leaders of the euro area will hold an open debate on longterm issues that are specific to the euro area and work on the follow up to the december euro summit is ongoing with a view to a first set of decisions by the leaders in june.
you addressed important points and your remarks will provide valuable input for discussions in the council that touch upon many aspects of the european semester such as education employment with particular accent on youth employment competitiveness environmental and social policies.
the country reports published by the commission last week represent the next important step in the current european semester.
they formed the basis for the work which will eventually lead to the adoption of this semester's countryspecific recommendations during the summer. when working on the european semester and debating the country specific recommendations we should always remember the importance of reaching as many citizens as possible to increase national ownership. so i commend the initiatives taken in this regard
this year the process of macroeconomic budgetary and structural policy coordination is particularly important for the union in the context of the preparation of the next mff.
this year's annual growth survey takes place in a new political landscape with the recent adoption of the european pillar of social rights as well as the november communication from the commission on strengthening european identity through education and culture.
i welcome this political shift but we must make sure it translates into concrete measures and results.
the annual growth survey shows an overall reduction of unemployment a reduction of early school leaving and a rise in high education attainment.
this is good news but we should not be fooled by raw figures this progress does not benefit people from different social backgrounds in an equal way.
their background and postcode still massively impact their educational path as well as their future economic and professional opportunities.
we must ensure that the jobs that are created are of high quality in line with the ilo's decent work agenda and continue to fight precarious employment situations.
i think we managed to do very well and i would like to thank him for that also although he is now very much occupied of course but that is all right! on the plus side what the report very clearly states is that there is more room for public investment.
what is also a very important message to the member states is that we really have to take the public investments agenda seriously now. also if you look at the pillar of social rights and the implementation of that i think the report has some good recommendations equally that the reforms should be socially and environmentally just and also with the implementation of the paris agreement.
where the report is a bit weaker is on the reform of the stability and growth pact where we really know that reform is still very much needed.
also on tax avoidance and the fight that europe has to lead there the report should be strengthened.
on the annual anti corruption report i think the commission should really take its responsibility to fight corruption within europe.
it will only come via the reforms that enable new entrepreneurship investments and innovations.
and let's be very clear about the differences we see in europe today we have member states with a high level of growth and we have member states who are still suffering from the crisis and from the problems coming from that.
the main problems are coming from the fact that we have a lack of structural reforms.
what we need is cohesion or structural reforms giving opportunities for a convergence of growth and we need to have higher targets we need to set targets for higher levels of potential growth and this can only be done if we are secure
if we are more attractive for investments if we are more open for entrepreneurship or if we create labour markets that are open for new jobs and more flexible.
despite being a persistent area of past recommendations only limited progress has been achieved in what concerns basic skills high early school leaving roma inclusion and ruralurban disparities in education.
it does not help either that instead of being a respected education and career pathway for young professionals vocational education remains only a secondchoice option and in most cases is not adapted to labour market needs.
growth that benefits not just the top but also those at the bottom.
we need european social policy to counterbalance this which is why i am glad that today the commission presented a recommendation on access to social protection.
mr president i think the employment report acknowledges the need to bring together the semester the social pillar as we were hearing and also the sustainable development goals i do not think we should forget those.
i welcome the council's recognition of the need for the greening of the economy employment and society and that echoes some of what is in the employment report.
i look forward to seeing us strengthen that dimension that just transition dimension within the semester.
it is important for the direction of amounts of investment of training and indeed the development of the society in which we live.
we heard some of the challenges from a colleague earlier.
also i think we do need to be looking to see member states adopt national action plans to reduce child poverty because i think when we are looking at breaking that cycle we need to be doing much more.
i think it is appalling that we are still seeing in parliament reports requests for decent nutrition for children in one of the richest regions of the world.
more recently the g twenty strongly supported it and invited countries to step up implementation.
heads of state and government and ministers meeting last week in milan reconfirmed that the youth guarantee is and should remain the framework for our efforts to improve youth employment across europe.
in addition the member states have proposed to allocate more than eur four billion from the european social fund two thousand and fourteen two thousand and twenty to the investment priority specifically supporting young people's labour market integration.
however the european investment bank has been offering to member states the possibility of bridge financing with their investments to be later reimbursed from the youth employment initiative.
just last week i visited a second chance school in turin italy where young people are learning various crafts such as baking or brewing and cooperative enterprises play an important role in offering them first employment. the eu budget provides important financial support for the roll out of the youth guarantee.
we may all agree that this level of pre financing is low but unfortunately it is closely linked to the overall design of the multiannual financial framework and in particular to the very low payment ceiling for the first couple of years.
a couple of member states have already discussed with the eib the possibilities and i am sure the bank's doors remain open to all member states.
as you know very well the eu structural investment funds provide only very limited pre financing in the two thousand and fourteen twenty period namely one in the year two thousand and fourteen which can be increased
in other words it pays off to ensure that young people quickly find relevant jobs where their productive potential can be realised.
these investments and their returns are harder to measure than for instance infrastructure investments but they are very important both to strengthen the human capital stock and to improve labour market flows and transitions.
two thousand and thirteen in slovakia hiring subsidies are proving effective in supporting long term unemployed young people.
as you know the commission under the leadership of president barroso has taken a number of initiatives to improve the employment situation and the life prospects of young people.
its implementation is at the core of the eu coordination of employment policies and it is therefore central to the european semester and the country specific recommendations.
the youth guarantee is a comprehensive policy which includes the modernisation of vocational training strengthening of public employment services greater support for apprenticeships and traineeships as well as financial incentives for job creation and business start ups. all these measures need to be combined in order to ensure that every young person under the age of twenty five receives a good quality offer of a job continued education apprenticeship or traineeship within four months after leaving school or becoming unemployed.
for example in spain the number of vocational education in training centres of companies involved in dual projects and of vet students has doubled since.
successful delivery of the youth guarantee supported in a timely way by the relevant eu funds remains a priority for the commission.
the economic value of the youth guarantee is related both to building up the human capital stock and to improving the flow of this human capital into and within the labour market.
for this we need not only education and training but also active labour market policies high performing public employment services as well as measures stimulating demand for labour such as targeted hiring subsidies all embedded together in the youth guarantee schemes.
two thousand and thirteen this means that many member states have been spending their money from this envelope for more than a year and the expenditure will be reimbursed after the operational programmes are adopted.
i reiterated the same messages last thursday during the formal epsco meeting attended by the employment and social affairs ministers.
considerable further resources from the esf are also being programmed for general job search support measures entrepreneurship support or vocational training investments from which young people will also benefit.
i am therefore confident that the value of these investments will be recognised also in the eu's future plans for investment.
the first instrument to be used was obviously the european social fund for two thousand and seven two thousand and thirteen from which member states have planned to finance human capital investment up to. two thousand and fifteen on top of that we have the eur. six four billion youth employment initiative whose implementation has been frontloaded to two thousand and fourteen fifteen
the eu budget as you know is suffering from a severe shortage of payment appropriations which also means that there was no room to envisage higher pre financing rates for the youth employment initiative at least not in the absence of a change of attitude from some member states.
as you know the economic value of the youth guarantee has been highlighted by the oecd the ilo and eurofound.
investing in the youth guarantee's implementation here and now is crucial for preserving the eu's future growth potential.
some blame migrants for the level of unemployment in the eu including for youth unemployment.
improving labour market performance and the connection between the two because this is where many young people including the so called neets have been lost and not only at the time of the crisis.
for the next seven years and the european platform proposal against undeclared
boosting entrepreneurship and helping enterprises to employ more people is indeed an important part of this broader policy.
in their respective countries than in previous cases.
apart from the young generation we also have to speak seriously and also act seriously about the unemployment in the european union.
we have to clarify in such a broad discussion what the youth guarantee actually is and what it is not.
all of those countries which have dared to make labour market reforms even if difficult even if unpopular ten years ago their economies are stronger and more resilient and more competitive now.
thirdly commissioner i am a supporter of the youth guarantee scheme because i think unemployment levels are so high in europe that every measure which leads to bringing youth unemployment down is good.
but we need to improve the youth guarantee scheme.
all of the countries which have postponed labour market reforms are in a more difficult situation.
a three step plan proposed last year which is based on tax breaks entrepreneurship investment and skill based education was backed by the council and the european parliament. providing such a model as it tackles several key components simultaneously is crucial.
i would very much like to know how many young people have benefited from the youth guarantee so far and what trends we are observing in the reduction of unemployment as a result.
it requires an overhaul of old practices a reform from the bottom up a change of thinking culture and decisive action. as the commissioner said investing in the youth guarantee is crucial.
i would say let us start thinking about how to invest in people more than in guarantees.
first i am afraid that my generation could be a lost generation and second a lot of the young people of today will decide not to realise their potential here in europe. programmes like the youth employment initiative and the youth guarantee borne out here in this agenda have ambitious goals backed by substantial funding and while there is much talk about their aspirations we know very little about their achievements.
providing security and stability for the young people on our continent requires more than individual programmes and initiatives.
i do understand that perhaps the achievements might be difficult to assess and that there is a sound reason for that but we need to adopt a fundamentally different approach one that goes beyond pledges and guarantees and devises a grand strategy for tackling the problems faced by youth instead.
yes we know that six or nine billion whatever it is is not enough;
it is not nearly enough for the youth guarantee.
on this point i agree with angela merkel spend the money before you look for more.
but at another level we all know the inflexibility of some member states when it comes to ensuring that the eu budget is fit for purpose.
i suppose for many member states the real question is do they have the resources or the freedom to use those resources for job creation?
you yourself referred to this commissioner.
in that context i am more inclined to agree with prime minister renzi who said that the current rules were designed for the europe of many years ago as he said for another world.
our governments must have the ability to respond to change.
to be stuck in a moment to believe that one size fits all to believe that there is one and only one solution to the on going crisis that is budget consolidation that is a negation of what europe is about.
we say time and time again europe must respond to change.
yet history fear and in some cases distrust keeps us stuck in the same rut.
just before the job summit the imf warned the eu to beef up its investments in public infrastructure which will boost demand in the short term and help potential output in the medium term.
in europe those countries who want to spend are not allowed to and those countries who can spend have decided not to. it is a recipe for stagnation deflation flat growth and sadly for an erosion in citizens' belief that the eu can work effectively to tackle its problems.
finally what structural changes do we need?
yes we need to align skills and training with market opportunities and we need to invest in sustainable technologies eliminate red tape etc.
but structural reform cannot be a code word for an opportunity just to provide cheap labour.
at a seminar at parliament last week a young unemployed portuguese person said that firing parents to employ their sons and daughters at half their wages is no solution.
and yes while we all need to serve our internships and our apprenticeships the youth guarantee cannot be an opportunity to use and abuse young people.
i agree with the swedish prime minister we need decent jobs.
i am actually here to represent the uk and not the rest of europe.
what we have seen in the uk is really high youth unemployment.
i am not going to say that to the young people that i am representing.
i am not going to say that because this summit is not what needs to be done at the moment in the european union. this summit should have been a wake up call;
instead over and over again we see people shaking hands and hear flowery speeches by ministers telling us how important this problem is but not showing commitment to really solving this problem at a european level.
young people do not need important powerful men and women at press conferences with photo opportunities.
they need a change.
speaking about youth unemployment particularly and youth guarantees would not the best guarantee for that youth be that they are not saddled for generations with massive amounts of debt caused by the addiction to over spending by our current political elite?
would it not be better to give them the future generations a dynamic low taxation fair taxation economy where they can work hard and excel and make the future far better than our present?
can we accept that the needs of one country can be different from the needs of another?
of course we should be doing more to get our young people back into work but could that not be done far better by the member states themselves directly on the things that they know about if this were taken out of the eu budget and given back to the member states to help young people themselves?
this programme works at local national and regional level and targets the communities of twelve countries.
as for question one we are participating in comprehensive programmes to put an end to harmful practices such as child marriage.
in two thousand and nineteen when this programme comes to an end we shall evaluate its quantitative impact using the quantitative indicators.
we cannot accept or tolerate any kind of violence including forced marriage.
for instance the istanbul convention will require the eu to ensure that resident status is granted to victims of gender based violence which could be independent from that of the spouse and that victims may obtain the suspension of expulsion.
they also contribute to a reduction in child marriage.
as regards sexual and reproductive health the istanbul convention provides for a prohibition of forced abortion and sterilisation for instance abortion without full and informed consent.