Athens, 28/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten launched his idea of "social cohesion" initiative between the European Union and the Latin American countries on the occasion of the meeting between the EU and the 19 countries of the Rio Group on Friday in Vouliagmeni, near Athens. He hoped that this theme would be at the centre of the EU/Latin America/Caribbean Summit to be held in Mexico in 2004. A seminar will be organised during June by the Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank in order to specify the priorities.
The Commissioner explained that they need to place their experience in common and to examine how public revenue can adequately support public spending without harming the fiscal balance. He said they must examine ways to improve effectiveness and equity in social spending, increase capacities and the opportunities for the poor and excluded, the means to develop social protection and mechanisms of inclusion.
The eighties were marked by democratic challenges, the nineties by globalisation and "our new challenge is that of social cohesion", Commissioner Patten said, stressing that social inequalities are synonymous with poverty, but also social tension and political disengagement. Without a more inclusive society, internal market does not develop, the vulnerability of Latin-American economies to external shocks and their vulnerability towards major economies will remain, he said. Saying he did not wish to give lessons, he remarked in his speech that, in his own town, just six underground stops from Westminster, you come to a district where life expectancy is six years less than in the centre of the capital. Nonetheless, he added immediately, the principle of social cohesion is at the heart of the European Union's values. The aim of European integration is not to put the countries together but to construct a fairer society.