What started off in the United States as economic instability ended up in real financial turmoil worldwide, and consequently the worst recession the world has seen in 30 years. We are told that although there seems to be signs of stabilisation, the conditions are still delicate. Our country has been hit by this recession but not as much as other member states; our economy was able to buffer the effect better.
Tourism has been affected by the turmoil and consequently this is leaving an effect on many economies worldwide, as well as our own economy. In the first months tourist arrivals declined, so did those from cruise liners. Added to this, tourist expenditure has also decreased. When looking at statistics of tourists coming over from the United Kingdom, one can see a decline in particular in the first six months of this year, also owing to the weak pound.
In the midst of all this economic turmoil, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has crafted a plan that deals with the crisis, while safeguarding jobs and keeping our country competitive. Our national competitiveness is established by an array of factors, primarily by the state of our physical, social and cultural environment as well as our national institutions and particularly by the type and quality of our labour supply. We must remain competitive to ensure a stable economy that thrives.
The EU plan aims to boost demand, which has quite obviously diminished in the recent months. It is also looking to save jobs and help restore confidence in the aftermath of the global credit crunch, which analysts say has pushed the world’s biggest economic bloc into a long-lasting downturn, with unemployment predicted to rise by 2.7 million over the next year and a half. The commission is urging governments to organise their responses in order to fuel demand and boost consumer confidence whilst safeguarding the most vulnerable members of society.
And talking of jobs, the national effort within the job sector is matching that which is carried out on a European level through our work within the EPP. The European Employment Strategy has been developed in order to encourage exchange of information and joint discussions by all member states, thus trying to find solutions or best practices together which could help create more and better jobs in every member state.
I was the EPP’s spokesman for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, and this helped me witness first hand the demand and support provided by this structures of this sort. European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) supports workers who lose their jobs as a result of changing global trade patterns so that they can find another job as quickly as possible. This is one of the many structures within the EU that is helping in providing a cushion effect from the recession, as well as safeguarding jobs, or reintegrating those made redundant. The top requirement is investment in human capital in order to establish a well-trained and highly motivated work force.
The Nationalist Party has emphasised the importance of job creation at all levels and at all times. It is good to see that the EPP has views in parallel with those of the PN on many matters but this in particular. I will keep striving to ensure our country will produce more jobs and better ones too.
The drive for more and better jobs is not at any cost, however. The EU has a tradition of ensuring a decent working environment throughout its member states and protecting the workers’ rights continues to be the base. Common standards for all are the minimum rules in various working conditions. This also includes collective redundancy, part-time and temporary work, health and safety at work, equal pay for equal work, among others.
For the EPP and also for the PN, the creation of new jobs is a core priority. Only if we manage to reach a high level of employment will we be able to safeguard prosperity for everyone and ensure the future of our social security systems.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP
david.casa@europarl.europa.eu
www.davidcasa.eu
