03/10/2012 Session
Strasbourg, 3.10.2012 – In today's debate on the activities of the OECD, with the participation of Secretary General Angel Gurría, the enlarged Assembly voiced its support for the priorities set by the OECD so as to respond to the challenges linked to a hesitant recovery: "go structural, go social, go green and go institutional". On the basis of a report by Jean-Marie Bockel (France, EPP/CD), it called inter alia for policies that support job creation and help the most vulnerable, in particular youth, with targeted programmes and investment in skills and education.
It is important that the adjustment processes under way to address the sovereign debt crisis should be socially balanced and shared fairly throughout all sections of society, so as to reduce inequalities.
At the same time, the enlarged Assembly came out in favour of bolder consolidation measures and structural pro-growth reforms. Otherwise, Europe runs the risk of plunging into a spiral of bank busts, defaults and negative growth, which could jeopardise the entire European project.
It also drew attention to the importance of ensuring the effectiveness of the national and international regulatory framework, in particular the early warning mechanism for financial risk, so as to make financial institutions' operations fair and reasonable.
The enlarged Assembly welcomed the OECD's decision to enhance its co-operation programme with the Arab countries of transition to democracy, enabling them to benefit from its reform expertise. Lastly, it expressed the hope that the process towards full membership of the Russian Federation in the OECD would include relevant democratic elements, and encouraged the OECD to strengthen its relations with major partners and expand its membership.
The annual PACE debate on the activities of the OECD takes place in the context of an Assembly enlarged to include the parliamentary delegations of the non-European OECD member states: Canada, Chile, Korea, Japan and Mexico.