EU policies must focus on jobs and people, Hogan says

The European Union has jobs and people at its core and is much more than an economic project, according to Ireland's commissioner, Phil Hogan. Mr Hogan said that the European Commission would shortly produce detailed proposals with an emphasis on social policy, following years of economic adjustment and cuts in income.

The former TD and Government minister, who holds the agriculture portfolio, said there would have to be a greater emphasis in EU policies at all levels on getting people of all ages into the workforce.

“To do this,” he told the Seanad, “we need to strike a balance between flexible and secure labour contracts; avoid the divide between ‘insiders’ with high protection wages and ‘outsiders’; shift taxes away from labour; deliver tailored supports to allow the unemployed to re-enter the labour market, and improve educational opportunities and promote lifelong learning.”

He said that beyond labour markets, it was important to ensure that every citizen had access to an adequate education and that an effective social protection system was in place to protect the most vulnerable in society, including a social protection floor.

"Our populations are ageing rapidly and we still need major reforms to ensure pensions and healthcare systems can cope with this societal shift," he added. "These reforms will include aligning the age of retirement with current life expectancy, something which is already happening in Ireland. "

Mr Hogan said commission president Jean Claude Juncker was pushing for stronger integration of national labour markets by facilitating mobility across both geographic and professional spectrums. That would include better recognition of qualifications and better coordination of social and security systems.

Mr Hogan reminded Senators that he was a former member of the House. “As a politician, I believe that the more the EU institutions engage with and listen to national parliaments, the healthier it is for the functioning of the EU and the body politic as a whole. I am glad to say that president Juncker has made this a priority of the new, more political commission.”

Mr Hogan said he had visited nearly a dozen national parliaments and suggested that both Houses of the Oireachtas should work even more closely with European Institutions. “The Danish system for EU scrutiny could serve as one example worthy of closer study, and I know that members of this parliament have done so in the past,” he said. The much-maligned “EU red tape” was actually produced in national capitals and occurred at the implementation phase of lawmaking.

The commissioner said that since going to Brussels, he had become very conscious of the appreciation that exists for the very meaningful contribution this country had made to Europe and the wider world through peacekeeping operations.