April 4th 2006 - Guidelines for the Member States Employment Policies

Derek Clark                       Speech to Parliament                      10.00 April 4th 2006

Guidelines for the Member States Employment Policies

This report is overladen with key phrases the tone of which is set very early on,-

* LEGISLATION, EC MONITORS & ENFORCEMENT

* Then the special importance of Younger and Older workers,

* An EU without barriers it says, remove the barriers it says, with

            CLEAR & MEASURABLE PRIORITIES

* review guidelines every 3 years, but Parliament must be more active between times.

* Examine member states NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAMS

Well, lets do that, take France who went to a 35 hour week but when the Working Time Directive and the 48 hour week was given flesh last year French workers protested at EU interference.

This year port workers protested at more interference.

French cities are now under siege due to new youth employment policies, who is going to tell M. Chirac and M.Villeprin that they are wrong, that they are not conforming to guidelines, of  course you won't, the French will govern themselves as all of us should do as grown up democracies.

Most sinister of all in this report is guideline 19, "Continual review of INCENTIVES and DISCENTIVES resulting from the TAX & BENEFIT SYSTEMS"

Just now a speaker mentioned a SINGLE FISCAL POLICY, is this the start of harmonised tax across the EU which it was always said would never happen. Ladies and gentlemen your national tax systems are under threat, you have been warned.

Derek Clark  MEP                                                     

Strasbourg, April 4th 2006