B3-0386/94

Resolution on the broad guidelines for economic policies

The European Parliament,

A.whereas the economic and social situation in the Community has for some years been characterized by a marked slow-down of economic growth, resulting in more rapid deterioration of the employment situation in Europe, affecting all wage-earners, especially young people,

B.having regard to the growing despair among the people of Europe caused by the failure of all the traditional policies hitherto pursued in an effort to reduce unemployment, the risk that the social fabric of our societies may disintegrate and the concomitant phenomenon of exclusion,

C.having regard to the decisive role played by small and medium-sized undertakings in the creation of jobs in the Community,

D.having regard, in the context of Economic and Monetary Union, to the major constraints imposed on the Member States in connection with convergence and the lack of scope for them to tackle the very serious employment situation,

E.whereas it seems that the resumption of growth now being registered will not result in a swift fall in unemployment,

EMPLOYMENT

1.Hopes fervently that implementation of the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment will provide specific answers to the problem of reviving economic activity, so that the European Union can start to create jobs again and the social fabric of the Member States will be preserved;

2.Considers it essential, without calling into question the objective of EMU, to restore to Member States the latitude they need if they are to respond more flexibly to the legitimate expectation of their peoples that they will gradually reduce unemployment;

3.Draws attention here to the decisive role of SMUs in creating jobs, preserving the social fabric and maintaining the level of competitiveness of Member States; stresses the need to step up policies in support of the creation and development of SMUs;

4.Believes that in the medium term it is absolutely essential to achieve a significant reduction in the cost of unskilled labour, in deductions from low and minimum wages and in family payments and social security contributions;

5.Considers that reductions in the working week would not appear to be an effective remedy for unemployment and warns against any Community policy designed to regard employment from the point of view of sharing out the shortage of work;

6.Recalls the importance of part-time work as one possible answer to the disastrous unemployment situation, having regard to the needs of certain sectors of activity, and believes that recourse to this type of work brings with it various advantages and in particular avoids the most serious drawbacks of the general wholesale reduction of the working week;

7.Considers it essential to promote the development of a social policy which is geared to the peripheral and disadvantaged regions, providing in particular for the creation of jobs and the improvement of public services, and optimum use of Community initiatives;

8.Calls on the Commission, in the context of its White Paper, to promote measures by the Member States to mobilize all their human and natural resources in a spirit of solidarity and strengthening of social cohesion, without calling into question the policies needed to put public finances in order;

9.Recalls that the means and objective of any policy for the recovery of employment in Europe cannot be to reduce or devalue the importance of human labour but rather to reassert the value of its role in the economy;

10.Considers it essential, in order to improve the employment situation in Europe, to achieve a better spread of the tax burden by reducing the taxation of labour and taking greater account of rare and non-renewable resources;

GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS

11.Recalls the imperative need to stimulate growth in the Community, while being aware of the fact that growth alone cannot put an end to the disastrous level of unemployment;

12.Notes the consensus that emerged during the ECOFIN Council meeting of 22 November 1993 in favour of identifying certain key 'guidelines' to strengthen growth and restore confidence, and in particular the continuation of efforts to rationalise budgets, reduce interest rates, increase the flexibility of the labour market and reduce labour costs;

13.Considers that any medium-term strategy to increase growth, competitiveness and employment must have as its priority the exploitation of the large job resources which at present exist in the Member States of the Community, in particular by encouraging the construction of transport infrastructure, taking tax decisions which boost business confidence and giving undertakings incentives to take on property investments, by increasing the number of small and medium-sized industries and by seeking in the long run total exemption from employers' contributions right down to the lowest paid;

14.Recalls that various sectors such as biotechnology, telecommunications and infrastructure works represent significant 'growth resources';

15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of the Member States.