Call for EEC to fight recession

Press, 10 February 1983, Page 18

Call for EEC to fight recession

NZPA-Reuter Strasbourg The president of the European Community's Executive Commission. Mr Gaston Thorn, has called for a major campaign to push West Europe's economy out of recession and to fight unemployment. Previewing the Commission’s 1983 plans in a speech to the European Parliament, Mr Thorn said the Community must renew its industries, boost internal trade, increase investment, and provide more job training, especially for the young. But he said the Commission could go ahead with a five-year plan to double real spending on such areas as research and development only if enough funds were available. Mr Thorn thus linked the expenditure to the outcome of a debate on reforming Community finances u’hich the commission resumed with a document outlining ways of raising funds from member States.

Mr Thorn said the fight against unemplo.vment. nowaccounting for almost 12M people, or 10.8 per cent of the Community work force, would be seen by citizens as the acid test of the Common Market’s effectiveness. Unemployment was rising in the Community for the eleventh year running, a disappointing performance compared with Japan or the United States. Mr Thorn said. There was no simple explanation for the Community's economic plight, but greater solidarity and speedier decision-making among member states was needed to treat the decay, he said. Mr Thorn called for a shift in public expenditure towards productive investment schemes, and suggested tax incentives to increase private investment.

Mr Thorn said the Commission would press for progress this year in strengthening the European monetary svstem to foster monetary

stability, and he called for the full participation in the system of the British pound and the Greek drachma. National barriers to internal Community trade must be broken down and free movement established for the main service industries. Mr Thorn called for a major increase in research and development spending in such areas as biotechnology and telecommunications as part of Community efforts to foster modern industries while restructuring depressed traditional sectors like steel and textiles. Mr Thorn said the Community should help developing countries to weather the recession and should step up efforts to persuade Japan to play a role commensurate with its economic strength. The commission president said a Community programme against unemployment and industrial decline must be launched no later than the June meeting of leaders of member governments.