madam president i want to ask the commission if it would give the house a specific definition of how it intends to implement article nine
we constantly hear about macroeconomic monitoring
we never hear it talking about macro-social monitoring of what member states are doing in pursuit of european social policy and objectives
i want it to tell us if it intends to use this simply as an impact assessment i
e
that it hopes its measurements will have no social impact
that is not good enough because article nine is intended to promote the objectives of the european union as outlined in article three of the treaty
it is not good enough simply to have no impact it must have a positive impact
this is the obligation on the commission and it must implement the treaties
i also want to address the issue of social services of general interest on which i am a rapporteur
there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the current crisis exit strategy which the commission is pursuing is going to destroy social services of general interest in the member states
you need only look at the memorandum of understanding which the commission has concluded with the irish government for a demonstration of that
it is stated on page two that a reduction of current expenditure in twenty eleven of just over eur two billion will be implemented including social protection expenditure reductions a reduction of public service employment numbers a reduction of existing public service pensions on a progressive basis other expenditure savings of over eur one billion and a reduction of close to eur two billion in public capital expenditure against existing plans for twenty eleven
what other impact can that have than to decimate services of general interest and in particular social services of general interest
so where is article nine
where was article nine when the commission was negotiating this deal with a conservative irish government on the point of collapse
i would also ask the commission when it is going to present this memorandum of understanding it has signed off with the irish government before this house
it is obliged to do so under the treaty of lisbon
when are we going to see it
when are we going to have an opportunity to discuss it here
one of the other aspects of this agreement which i mentioned this morning is the insistence by the commission that the minimum wage in ireland be reduced by eur two zero a year
i repeat the minimum wage
the treaty of lisbon declares that we must have adequate social protection that we must encourage people to stay in work that we must eliminate poverty traps etc
etc
etc
and yet we reduce the minimum wage by eur two zero a year
what will that do other than drive more people out of work into the safe haven relatively speaking of welfare dependency
these are questions which the commission must respond to
we do not want any more flannel
no more
no more eurospeak
we want clear answers on how the commission is going to apply article nine of the treaty in relation to economic governance and in particular on the arrangements it is making with member states with regard to the crisis exit strategy
