Strasbourg, 20/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Parliament followed the recommendation of Hungarian Socialist Edit Herczog, rapporteur on globalisation's impact on the Single Market, to call for the conclusion of the Single Market to successfully answer the challenges of globalisation and preserve the values of the European social model. The European Parliament resolution argues against some people's fears about the impact of opening the labour market to citizens of the new Member States since the countries which actually opened up their labour markets without restriction (the UK, Ireland and Sweden, see EUROPE 9127 and 9131) have seen a very dynamic and competitive labour market as a result. The other Member States are therefore urged to remove obstacles to the free circulation of workers and the European Commission and Member States are urged to formulate a genuine EU industrial policy, studying areas of industry particularly concerned by globalisation and monitoring signs of protectionism in EU Member States. The EP believes that the general economic programme of the Lisbon Strategy may not suffice to cope with globalisation and it would therefore be a good idea to determine other forms of action to soften the negative impact of globalisation, possibly supplemented by instruments like the recently mooted Globalisation Adjustment Fund. The EU's tradition of excellence should be backed with the establishment of a high level education system, and intellectual property rights should be protected by integrated and effective patent issuing systems and regulation to combat counterfeiting. The EP calls for clear labelling and rules of origin legislation and calls on the Commission to increase the preferential access of non-EU Member States to the EU as long as these countries have ratified and properly apply fundamental international labour and environmental legislation. The Commission is also requested to assess the impact on the Single Market of new multilateral trade measures in farming, industry and services.
The MEPs intervening in the debate said they agreed with the European Commission about the need for the Single Market to continue to attract investment. Commissioner Charlie McGreevy said he knew that some areas of industry were facing problems, but protectionism was not the right answer.