ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE: FINAL PLENARY SESSION OF 1998 FOCUSES ON EURO AND JOBS.

Summary: The fast-approaching introduction of the Euro and the role of the ESC were the main points to come out of the plenary session of the EU's Economic and Social Committee on December 2-3 in Brussels. Several important European personalities took the stand.

The role of the ESC saluted and encouraged. The European Parliament's President Jos Maria Gil-Robles, obliged to attend his own plenary session due to the very important question of the Statute for MEPs, sent a letter to the President of the ESC, Beatrice Rangoni-Machiavelle, in which he notes that "after the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Parliament will be able to consult the Committee, thus reinforcing the long established dialogue between the Parliament and the Committee rapporteurs on many subjects for which it may be useful to hear the views of socio-occupational groups". On behalf of the Austrian Presidency, Eleonora Hostasch, the Austrian Federal Minister for Labour, Health and Social Affairs, gave the ESC plenary a preview of the Austrian Presidency report. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Padraig Flynn, for his part, called for ESC support in meeting the current challenge of harnessing the potential of EMU, particularly in the field of technology, by transforming the EU into the world's largest economic unit, while continuing to guarantee Europeans a society based on the principles of solidarity and security. He also urged the ESC not to delay in examining the legislative proposals submitted in relation to the new employment strategy, an issue which is of strategic importance and which of course merits in-depth consideration. EMU. The President of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenburg, confirmed that the main objective was price stability within the Euro zone, obtained by an intelligent mix of monetary, budgetary and wage policies; this was, he felt...