Enlarged debate of the Assembly on OECD activities in 1995
Doc. 7662
24 September 1996
CONTRIBUTION[1]
by Ms AYTAMAN, Turkey, European Democratic Group
1. I should first like to thank the rapporteur of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development for taking further a request made by the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee in its contribution on OECD activities in 1994 for the OECD to "report annually on the follow‑up to these recommendations (of the enlarged Assembly) when presenting the report on its previous year's activities".
2. However, one aspect of particular interest to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee is not mentioned, namely the conference on the role of social protection on the eve of the third millennium, due to be held in 1996.
3. The report starts with a broad-brush description of the world economic situation, a less optimistic one than the previous year's, stating that recovery hopes had not been fulfilled. Growth rates had risen less than predicted in most OECD countries, and Europe's rate had even declined since 1994.
4. People are once again being asked to make sacrifices for the sake of the tight fiscal policies pursued by member states' governments. The rapporteur nevertheless wonders whether there is "a risk that tightening fiscal policies are being carried too far or come at the wrong moment in the economic cycle", very soon concluding that "the populations in OECD countries in general, and those of OECD‑Europe in particular, are at present asking too much of the productive system".
5. In short, the high level of social protection achieved in what is described as the "golden ear" of welfare, to which people had become accustomed, were in the end just a happy accident.
6. The explanation given yet again is that this is the consequence of the inescapable globalisation of the economy, to which individuals have no choice but to adapt. It is surely shocking that paragraph 22 of the report states that "The OECD Ministers for their part at their May 1996 meeting considered the globalisation of the economy to be the product of the interaction between trade and technological progress. They recognised the right of all countries to participate in world development and of all consumers to benefit from increasingly vigorous competition between producers"! In practice, is it not rather the case that increasingly vigorous competition is leading to rising unemployment in the developed countries and shameless exploitation of workers in some of the developing countries, where social standards are non‑existent? The social situation in every other country suffers as a result. In this context I would like to mention especially the issue of child labour, we see all around the world.
As a matter of fact all efforts should be concentrated on better education and skill-giving policies to the children and young people. We see unfortunately that there has not been much improvement in this field in the OECD countries.
7. The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee regards combating unemployment as a priority, and notes that the usual incantatory words are used, for instance in paragraph 6.i of the draft recommendation. The flexibility regarded as so desirable by OECD economists is not to be condemned as such, provided that it benefits workers, and not just enterprises. Why are flexible working hours always opposed? Flexibility under an outline law, at least, resulting from negotiations between the parties involved, would be bound to enable jobs to be created.
8. I fully share the view expressed by the rapporteur of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development as to the top priority to be given to education and training. A high level of education is a human right which developed societies are duty-bound to guarantee. It is also a prerequisite for employment, for while educational qualifications are no guarantee of a job, lack of them is often an insurmountable obstacle.
9. Should world trade involving greater liberalisation of the global trading system be welcomed as enthusiastically as it is in the report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development?
10. Paragraph 51 of the report, for instance, states that the OECD wishes to see a successful outcome to the negotiations in a number of fields, but social clauses are not included. I am not unaware of the difficulties of incorporating social clauses in commercial relations, but I subscribe to the desire expressed in paragraph 54 for multinational enterprises to be subjected to the same scrutiny as certain countries in respect of the observance of minimum social standards for their employees. The OECD's hope to play a part in fields where both the world community and OECD member states themselves are in fact divided, such as relations between trade and protection of the environment and between trade and labour standards, should be transformed into determination. Instead of which the OECD relies on the International Labour Organisation. Threatening protectionism in order to frighten the developing countries is an approach which is incomplete and even unfair, for the developing countries can also benefit from labour standards, as is evident from Mexico's various complaints against a US company in the NAFTA context.
Conclusions
11. While this report may in places touch more closely than previous ones on social issues, it has to be said that no indication is given of how to move towards a solution. Furthermore a very important issue which concerns all of us, namely the social and economic differences between northern and southern OECD European countries are omitted in this report. This also brings to mind that women working on agricultural fields do not receive their social and economic due. The rapporteur actually concludes with a question: should we take a fresh look at the question of working time, as well as that of the different types of work which we reward and those which we do not? Are we also facing a crisis of society? Our questions are the same, and we similarly conclude from them that these issues must be dealt with urgently, for there is no longer really any doubt about the answers to the questions.
I therefore propose the following amendments to the draft resolution:
— in paragraph 6.i, replace the words "to combat unemployment with new resolve and creativity, basing themselves on" by the text below:
"to make the combating of unemployment a priority, basing themselves inter alia on";
— in paragraph 6.i, add the following words after "entrepreneurship":
"through the adoption of outline legislation on working time with a view to making it flexible and reducing it";
— in paragraph 6.i, delete the end of the paragraph, with effect from the words in the fifth line, "for a new era", and replace it with:
"making it possible for them to have access to the highest possible level of general education and to further training";
— in paragraph 6.iii, add the following words after "a comprehensive and balanced agenda":
"encompassing the social clause issue";
— add a new paragraph 7.iv worded as follows after paragraph 7.iii:
"the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) should include an obligation for multinational enterprises to comply with minimum social standards".
Reporting committee: Committe on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 7615).
This contribution was approved by the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee on 23 September 1996.
Secretaries of the committee: Mrs Coin and Mrs Meunier
[1]. By the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee