Press release, 3 May 2013

A delegation of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) of the European Parliament has met with Members of the Seimas and discussed unemployment, promotion of employment, the lack of qualified labour force, emigration and the events covering these issues to be held in the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

“The priorities defined by the Lithuanian Presidency, including the boosting of employment, have social implications for the whole Europe,” said Andrius Mazuronis, Deputy Chairman of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs, in his welcome address to the guests from the European Parliament. He added, “Achieving a competitive and open Europe requires a balance between austerity policy and economic incentives.”

Kristina Miškinienė, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Social Affairs and Labour, presented the areas of activities of her Committee and stressed that during the Presidency, the promotion of employment would remain among the key topics. “People still experience painful consequences of the economic crisis in their daily lives. Although we have managed to stabilise our finances, youth unemployment remains high,” Ms Miškinienė said at the meeting. According to the Chair of the Committee, Lithuania is the only EU Member State, were poverty and unemployment prevails, in particular in the regions. Therefore, the Lithuanian government has been looking for the means to promote employment growth in the regions.     

Alejandro Cercas, member of the EMPL Committee and Head of the delegation from the European Parliament, who represents the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and who was elected to the EP as the representative of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, underlined that the shaping and implementation of policies in the EU and the Member States should be based on the rights and interests of the citizens and the objective of striking the right balance between the strict policy of financial consolidation, the promotion of economic growth and the instruments of social policy.  

“The main objective of the EU is a better life for its citizens. The social impact of stringent anti-crisis measures was much stronger than expected. Thus measures to promote economic growth and boost employment, as well as the social dimension, including the reduction of poverty and social exclusion, especially in the peripheral regions in the EU, are of particular importance,” Mr Cercas said. “The EU is a union of citizens rather than merely a single market and finances. We must seek to prevent the poorest EU citizens from suffering.”

Mr Cercas recalled that Lithuania’s Presidency would coincide with the European Year of Citizens and noted that the European Parliament expects Lithuania’s support for the EU employment policy, i.e. ensuring a certain level of funding for the European Social Fund and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in the seven-year financial framework for 2014–2020 with a view to effectively fighting poverty and social inequality.     

The meeting also focused on youth unemployment in the EU and stressed that growing emigration and an increasing need for vocational training are directly interrelated. High levels of labour force emigration from Lithuania have resulted in the lack of lower level specialists. Therefore, national efforts and EU Structural Funds should be targeted at vocational training.

“The present generation of 25–30-year old people should not become a lost generation, unable to start an independent life,” Mr Cercas said. Jean Lambert, member of the EMPL Committee and representative of the Group of the Greens from the UK, and Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, member of the EMPL Committee and a social democrat from Lithuania, agreed with Mr Cercas that youth unemployment should be addressed in a wider context of education, vocational training, employment and demographic policies.

Ms Blinkevičiūtė emphasized that Lithuania had achieved much, considering its only 23 years of independence and nine years of EU membership. “During the economic crisis, the governments of the EU Member States had to take a number of decisions that were painful to its citizens. According to the statistics of the Eurostat, social exclusion has grown as much as seven-fold in Lithuania. Today, we already observe the GDP growth, but there is no increase in salaries. Therefore, as the economy is recovering, we should not forget the poorest groups of the population and give them proper attention.”  

The delegation of the EMPL Committee (EP) consisted of: Alejandro Cercas (Spain), Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; Jean Lambert (UK), Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance; and Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (Lithuania), Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

The Committee comprises 95 members and is responsible for employment and social policy and covers the following areas: working conditions, social insurance and social protection, health protection, health and safety measures at the workplace, the European Social Fund, vocational training and professional qualifications, free movement of workers and pensioners, social dialogue, all forms of discrimination at the workplace and in the labour market except those based on sex, relations with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, etc.        

 

Asta Markevičienė, Public Relations Unit, tel: +370 5 239 6202, e-mail: [email protected]

Morta Vidūnaitė, Advisor to Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Gediminas Kirkilas, tel: +370 5 239 6278, mob: +370 612 01121, e-mail: [email protected]