First of all I want to welcome Commissioner Flynn to the Chamber and say how happy I am that he will be retaining the portfolio which he now holds in the new Commission.

My question to you deals with the whole question of social exclusion and the plans put forward by you in the Green Paper and also in the White Paper, where you state that social exclusion will not be solved by employment alone, it requires other measures. When we consider that there are now 50 million people living in Europe below the poverty line, what pressure can you bring to bear on the Council to ensure that a new poverty programme will be introduced?

Also on the whole question of housing: it is a huge issue where a lot of people say the Union has no competence but I believe that the Union can play a very decisive role in bringing about a coherent policy across the Union as a whole.