The essence of what I’ve said thus far is that the challenges of globalization cannot be overcome with the current, real economic race to the bottom. [ . . . ] The answer to the globalization of markets cannot lie in the renationalization of politics, nor can it be found in the erection of protectionist barriers. The proper response to the internationalization of the economy can only be the improvement of international cooperation, because the same rule applies to both national and international economic relations: The market needs a politically defined regulatory framework [ . . . ] that responds to the increasing internationalization of the economy. The globalized world economy needs a new global economic order.
The eco-social market economy is also the European Union’s political coordinate system. The Social Democrats are advocating the adoption of this model – the market economy with social and ecological responsibility – as the foundation of a new world economic order. Market effectiveness must be combined with a more balanced distribution of resources and moral responsibility for [the fate of] future generations, because I can think of no convincing reason why this basic system of economic and political values should not be fundamentally transferable to the large market of the world economy. Such a transfer could create the best prerequisites for competition between companies in the areas of performance and innovation and for fair trade that will benefit all participants. There is no reason for politics to capitulate.
We cannot let globalization lead to an erosion of the social security system, not least because the basic rules of the economy dictate against such a development. People need social security in order to take the economic risks that are necessary for economic and technological progress. The international community needs binding norms that lay down the elementary rights of employees in order to prevent social dumping and exploitation. These rights include freedom of association, collective bargaining autonomy, prohibition of forced labor, elimination of all “exploitative forms of child labor,” and non-discrimination in the hiring and employment of workers. These basic labor rights and social standards are a matter of fundamental human rights.
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