Antigoni Papadopoulou (S&D). – (EL) Madam President, Europe has lost 5.6 million jobs on the labour market since the beginning of the financial crisis. The recession and unemployment rates are spiralling, especially among young people. Work is being deregulated. The EU 2020 strategy and its seven flagship initiatives are being promoted in order to address the crisis.

The aim is to increase the employment rate among men and women to 75%. The Agenda for New Skills and Jobs is being promoted with the objective of immediately reforming the labour market to make it more flexible and more secure, investing in training, constantly improving qualifications and the mobility of workers, and encouraging employment by reducing the administrative burden.

This is all well and good and we are in absolute agreement. However, the Commission’s proposed agenda should adopt more measures on investment in state education and to support pension systems and green jobs, more measures to reconcile family and professional obligations and, more importantly, to strengthen social protection.

What is needed, first and foremost, is a proper plan and effective employment, education and training policies, so that workers’ skills and qualifications can really adapt to the needs of today’s labour market, not tomorrow’s. The future has started. It has arrived.