03/06/2009
Commission moves around social fund while unemployment rockets
Commenting on the Employment Plan published by the European Commission, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said “Europe needs more than a shared commitment for employment – it needs much stronger action right now.”
“If your house is on fire it is no good trying to put out the flames with a glass of water. The Commission’s proposals might be appropriate if the crisis was less deep, but the Commission doesn’t seem to realize the size of the problem we are facing.”
“Shifting around the European Social Fund while unemployment rockets to 27 million unemployed next year is not the answer. Micro-credit is unlikely to have macro results in a hurry. Raising awareness of job mobility is not going to help when there aren’t enough jobs anywhere. This is a weak conservative answer to the deepest social crisis for decades.”
“We need a new and stronger recovery plan. We need stronger policies for job creation, on the national and European level. We need stronger financial instruments, on national and European level, to create jobs. We need more and better proposals to safeguard jobs and more coordinated restructuring processes. We need a stronger emphasis on tackling the poverty and ill-health that will be created by the crisis.”
