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The European Social Model
Plenary Speech - Tuesday 5th September 2006 Mr. President A year ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed this House and asked a vital question: "What sort of social model is it that delivers twenty million unemployed across the EU?". It was a good question, and so far, I haven't heard the answer. The European Social Model is well-meaning. It is compassionate. It is meant to do good. And yet it has created a regulatory and fiscal climate which is denying enterprise, destroying wealth, and undermining competitiveness. It is time to face reality. One man's job-protection is another man's unemployment. The social model is profoundly discriminatory. It discriminates in favour of people in work, and against the unemployed. If we want to achieve the Lisbon objectives, if we want to face up to the challenges of globalisation, if we want growth and jobs and competitiveness and prosperity, then we have to start to dismantle the European Social Model. |