madam president we were originally promised a full-blown employment summit this week but instead what we have is a half-day troika
what a dreadful message that sends to european citizens who are joining unemployment queues at an alarming rate what a negative message it sends to the many more who are in fear of losing their jobs projections show that by twenty ten up to twenty-seven million could be unemployed in the eu and i fear it could be even worse
i very much hope the june summit will devote at least one full day to looking at how we respond to this challenge
instead of pretending that the answer lies only at national level we need strong coherent european-wide responses coordinating actions at the european national and regional levels
we need urgent action to retain viable jobs wherever possible
lay-offs should be a last resort intelligent work-sharing and reskilling should be used instead
we need to invest to create smart green jobs in the knowledge-driven low-carbon economy
we need to invest to give workers the skills to work in that new economy
we need strong active labour market policies to quickly reintegrate workers laid off and we need strong and viable social protection systems to support those who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own
that is more than enough to fill a full day at the june summit
this half-day troika is a pathetic response
and finally philip i will miss you a bit like a toothache
