Brussels, 08/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 8 April, the S&D Group at the European Parliament presented a ten-point action plan to steer national and European policies towards growth and job creation, six weeks ahead of the European elections.
“The rise in populism is related to the rise in unemployment. This is not merely a national issue, we need to put forward a European strategy”, said Austria's Hannes Swoboda, head of the S&D Group. Emilie Turunen argued that the austerity imposed by the right-wing parties in power in the wake of the financial crisis has led to an explosion in unemployment. “This is a danger for our continent”, she said, even going so far as to talk of a “lost generation”.
The 30-year-old Dane listed the vital elements of the action plan: - launching a “New Deal”: investing nearly €200 billion in creating infrastructure to allow the EU to respect its energy and climate commitment; - investing in the future of young people by increasing the budget of the “Youth Guarantee” from €6 billion to €21 billion; - helping to reindustrialise Europe, through the creation of a dedicated European task force; - removing the barriers to job creation, particularly by improving access to lending and cutting red tape; - improving education in Europe; - improving the quality of jobs by tackling social dumping and the situation of the poorest members of the workforce; - rolling out a minimum wage throughout the EU, as household consumption is one of the driving forces behind growth; - strengthening active policies for social integration through employment and by making it easier for vulnerable population categories to work (e.g. young people with no qualifications, the long-term unemployed) and facilitating childcare; - meeting the challenges of environmental protection; - stimulating innovation in the future sectors.
When asked where the financial resources to pay for this action plan would come from, Swoboda gave the following rationale: in the medium term, investing helps to create new activities and therefore increase tax income. “We have to fund investments which generate activity without financing social expenditure”, he underlined. As regards tax, he argued for income tax to be channelled into other activities, such as finance, and in favour of a thoroughgoing European strategy to fight tax evasion. (MB)