56 Amendments of Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO related to 2016/2307(INI)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas unemployment in the EU has been fallingslowly and unevenly falling since the second half of 2013, 8 million new jobs have been created since 2013, and unemployment stood at 8.6 % in September 2016, reaching its lowest level since 2009;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. Whereas however employment rates are generally lower among women and in 2015, the employment rate for men aged 20–64 stood at 75.9 % in the EU-28, as compared with 64.3 % for women;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the youth unemployment rate at EU level stands at 18.6 % and 4.2 million young people are unemployed, including 2.9 million in the euro area; whereas the level of youth unemployment remains markedly higher than at its low point in 2008; Whereas in 2015 the share NEET's remains high and represents 14,8 % of 15-29 year olds not in employment, education or training, namely 14 million of NEET's;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. Whereas young people not in employment, education or training are estimated to cost the EU €153bn (1.21% of GDP) a year – in benefits and foregone earnings and taxes (Euro found report on youth unemployment) while the total estimated cost of establishing Youth Guarantee schemes in the Eurozone would be €21bn a year, or 0.22% of GDP ;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. Whereas also one of the five Europe 2020 targets aims at reducing by at least 20 million the number of people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas this objective is far from being achieved and in 2013 almost 123 million people in the EU are in this situation of whom 32,2 million persons with disabilities in 2012; whereas in 2013 26,5 million children in the EU28 were at risk of falling into poverty or social exclusion; whereas high levels of inequality reduce the output of the economy and the potential for sustainable growth;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. Whereas however the increasing of the employment rate in member states has been unfortunately accompanied by the increase of atypical, precarious and non-formal forms of employment, zero- hour contracts included; the weakening of social dialogue giving rise to negative impact on worker's rights, on purchasing power of EU citizens and growth;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas inequalities and polarization of incomes threaten social cohesion and sustainable growth and whereas in countries with decentralised collective bargaining and low collective bargaining coverage earning dispersion is higher and minimum salaries are lower
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
D d. Whereas growth in most of member states remains low, the EU growth rate for 2016 having even declined to stabilize at 2 % despite positive temporary aspects such as low oil prices, low interest for credits and unconventional monetary policies showing therefore that the EU can do more to boost the economic and social recovery so as to make it more sustainable in the medium term;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
D e. Whereas as stated by the European commission (Joint employment report 2016 - P.2), employment and social divergences within and between Member states persists and social developments still point to further divergence across the EU hindering growth, employment and cohesion; whereas societies which are characterised by a high level of equality and investment in people do better in terms of growth and employment resilience;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas, despite EFSI, last years total investment has continue to shrink, which might have been caused by the substitute effect of European investments on those that could had been made by the Member states, and therefore undermining the positive effect that the Juncker plan could have
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas in many Member States the working-age population and the labour force are continuing to shrink, notably as a result of low birth rates, ageing, emigration, and health-related exits from the labour marketWhereas women's participation in the labour market is an opportunity for Member states to cope with this issue and reinforce the work force in EU; The ongoing arrival of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers could also help to reinforce the work force in EU;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. Whereas free movement of workers is a fundamental principle of the Treaty enshrined in Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which must guarantee a fair competition between companies of each member states but also protect workers in accordance with articles 151 and 153.1 a, b of TFEU on fundamental social rights and the improvement of working conditions; therefore, social and fiscal dumping must be tackled at all level of the European Union through a fair collaboration between the various institutions of the Member States to the risk of being in contravention of the treaty;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that in the Annual Growth Survey 2017 emphasis is placed on the importance of ensuring social fairness as a means of stimulating more inclusive growth, as well as on creating quality and inclusive jobs and enhancing skills and on the need to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and productivity; stresses that the need to invest in social development is not just a means of guaranteeing that economic growth and convergence can be achieved, but must also be a specific target in itself; calls for measures preventing a race to the bottom in terms of taxation and social standards, building on better use of social indicators in this context; takes note of recent studies by the OECD (OECD, 'in it together : why less inequality benefits all", 2015) and the IMF (IMF report 'causes and consequences of income inequality", June 2015) underlining that social inequalities in Europe hamper economic recovery; stresses that more effort is needed to improve the political visibility and impact of the scoreboard of key employment and social indicators; calls for the commission to make sure that member states with low social performance adequately address the problems of social inequalities; Stresses that employment and social considerations should be put on equal footing with the economic ones in the framework of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP);
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that in the Annual Growth Survey 2017 emphasis is placed on the importance of ensuring social fairness as a means of stimulating more inclusive growth, as well as on creating jobs and enhancing skills and on the need to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and productivity; Highlights that, according to the European Commission (1), 2.398 labour market reforms have been undertaken in the EU between 2008 and 2014 favouring flexibility at the expense of security; Calls on the Commission that any CSR on Labour Market Reforms is made on the basis of strengthening active labour market policies and to reverse the reforms of labour markets imposed previously by European Semester in Member States which have resulted in a loss of rights for workers, such as decentralization of collective bargaining; (1) https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/labref/public /result.cfm
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Is concerned about the raise of inequalities in the European Union, especially in the aftermath of the economic crisis and as a consequence of the restrictive fiscal policies, guided by austerity, and conservative structural reforms, which have affected labour markets and have reduced welfare state and citizens' rights; Highlights that combating inequalities is not only a socially beneficial ethical duty, but a fundamental commitment to economic growth and quality job creation, as it has been repeatedly expressed by various international institutions, such as the IMF or the OECD; It is shown that countries that have implemented measures to redistribute income and wealth in its exit strategy from the crisis, have performed better and earlier in its return to the path of economic growth; Calls on the Commission to include among their CSRs a specific focus on combating inequalities, both in economic and social terms and to promote indicators on the current situation of inequality and to assess the development among Member States and within them, of their levels of relative and absolute inequality;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Believes that economic growth should guarantee a positive social impact; Calls for the introducing of a social imbalances procedure in the design of the CSRs so as to prevent a race to the bottom in terms of social standards, building on effective use of the social and employment indicators in macroeconomic surveillance; takes the view that in case of placing employment and economic indicators on an equal footing it should go hand in hand with upgrading the role of the EPSCO Council in the European Semester
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Reminds the invite of the European Council to use the gender equality annual reports in the context of the European Semester to enhance gender mainstreaming; reiterates that the goal of coordinating economic, social and fiscal policies in the Member States can only be achieved if policies on equality are also coordinated;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Is of the opinion that the data contain on the Employment and Social Scoreboard is useful but it is not enough to assess the evolution of the employment and social situation in the European Union; calls on the Commission and the Member States to complement the Scoreboard with data on the quality of employment and poverty, with especial emphasis on multi-dimensional child poverty
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Calls on the Commission to present employment and social data in connection with the evolution of the macroeconomic data so that the analysis presents a comprehensive picture of the interconnection and impacts of different policy choices
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. entitle 1 - Education and skills as a pillar of creating jobs
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Underlines that insufficient investment in public education system, may undermine Europe's competitive position and the employability of its workforce; Stresses the need to invest in people as early as possible in the life cycle to reduce inequality and foster social inclusion at a young age; Stresses also the need to fight against stereotypes from the youngest age at school by promoting gender equality at all level of education;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Notes the importance of skills and competences acquired in non-formal and informal learning environments;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2 d. Calls therefore on the Member States to implement policies guaranteeing an access to quality, inclusive Education and training at an affordable cost but also the implementation of the lifelong learning framework approach towards a flexible education path recognizing formal, but also non formal and informal learning to foster equity and social cohesion and allowing employment opportunities for everyone;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2 e. Calls on the Member States to introduce policies to implement and monitor more inclusive forms of social protection systems and income support, in order to ensure that these systems offer a decent standard of living for the unemployed and those at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and provide access to education, training and opportunities to enter the labour market;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. entitle 2 : Access and participation in the labour market
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Underlines that the implementation of the Youth Guarantee should be strengthened at national, regional and local level, and stresses its importance for school-to-work transitions; points out that special attention has to be paid to young women and girls, who could face gender-related barriers to obtaining good-quality offers of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship.; Emphasises the need to ensure that the Youth Guarantee reaches young people facing multiple exclusions and extreme poverty;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Deplores Gender inequalities in terms of employment rate, gender pay and pension gap and so on; Emphasises that a better work-life balance is essential for supporting the participation of women in the labour market;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to put in place proactive policies and appropriate investment aimed and designed to promote women's participation in the labour market; Calls also on the Member States to set minimum social standards, including maternity, paternity, parental leave provisions and appropriate policies to support women and men entering, returning to, staying and advancing in the labour market, after periods of family and care-related types of leave, with sustainable and quality employment, in line with Article 27 of the European Social Charter;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Calls for policies encouraging and supporting women to build a career in entrepreneurship, facilitating access to finance and business opportunities, offering tailor-made trainings and creating environment allowing for reconciliation of professional and private life;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3 f. Calls on the Commission to continue to provide CSRs with regard to improved childcare services and to pay particular attention to flexible working time arrangements, to the needs of ageing men and women and other dependent persons as regards long-term care and to the elimination of gender pay and pension gaps;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that the integration of long-term unemployed individuals into quality jobs with living wages through individually tailored measures is a key factor for fighting poverty and social exclusion and contributing towill ultimately contribute towards the sustainability of national social security systems; highlights, in this Considers that is necessary, taking into accountext, the importance of skills and competencsocial situation of these citizens and their needs in terms of sufficient incomes, acquired in non-formal and informal learning environmentsdequate housing, public transport, health and childcare as well as a better monitoring at the European level of the policies implemented at the national level;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Entitle 3 - Upward social convergence between Member states
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Stresses the primacy of fundamental rights; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and enhance social dialogue, which plays a critical role in achieving high-level working conditions; emphasises that labour law and high social standards have a crucial role to play in rebalancing economies, supporting incomes and encouraging investment in capacity; stresses that, in this context, EU law and policy documents must respect trade union rights and freedoms, comply with collective agreements and uphold equal treatment of workers;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls for policies that respect and promote collective bargaining and its coverage to reach as many workers as possible while at the same time also aiming better wage floors in the form of minimum wages set at decent levels and with the involvement of social partners - all this with a view to end the competitive wage race to the bottom, to support aggregate demand and economic recovery, to reduce wage inequalities, to fight in-work poverty;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Calls for new policies that in order to promote employment participation and decent job creation, dedicate their efforts to tackle labour market wage polarization in order to reduce the income gap between the higher and lower wages, therefore helping to reduce poverty and stimulating internal demand;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4 e. Warns about the fact that in recent decades, corporate management have been taking a greater share of the economic share while workers' wages have stagnated or have been reduced; considers that this excessive dispersion in wages increases inequalities and damages productivity and competitiveness of companies; recalls that in order to boost demand, it is crucial to enable sustainable and inclusive growth and reduce inequalities; Calls on the Member states to establish a national wage floors through legislation or collective bargaining with the objective of attaining at least 60 % of the respective national median wage;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4 f. Calls on the Member States to introduce policies to re-establish security in employment by providing pro-active protection, including in case of dismissals.
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 g (new)
Paragraph 4 g (new)
4 g. Calls on the member states to ensure and increase their investment in social protection systems in order to guarantee their performance in tackling and preventing poverty and inequalities while ensuring their sustainability; Highlights the importance of the automatic stabilisation dimension of welfare systems to absorb social shock waves caused by external effects as recessions; considers that pensionable ages should reflect, besides life expectancy, other factors including socio economic differences, labour market trends, productivity growth, immigration, the economic dependency ratio, the birth rate and differences in job arduousness; recalls that the best way to tackle the challenge of ageing is to increase the overall employment rate, building, inter alia, on social investment in active ageing;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 h (new)
Paragraph 4 h (new)
4 h. Deplores the persistence of the gender pay and pension gap; calls on the EU and the Member States, in cooperation with the social partners and gender equality organisations, to set out and implement policies to close the gender and pension pay gap; calls on the Member States to carry out wage-mapping on a regular basis as a complement to these efforts;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 i (new)
Paragraph 4 i (new)
4 i. Calls on the Member States to ensure that people on temporary or part- time contracts or who are self-employed enjoy equal treatment -also regarding dismissals and pay-, have adequate social protection and access to training and that framework conditions are set to enable them to make a career; calls on the Member States to implement the framework agreements on part-time work and fixed-term employment and to effectively enforce the Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 j (new)
Paragraph 4 j (new)
4 j. believes that it is crucial to ensure a level playing field and fair competition across the EU and to eliminate social and fiscal dumping; Calls on the Member states to provide labour inspectorates or other relevant public bodies with adequate resources for their control bodies but also calls on Member states to improve cross- border cooperation between inspection services and the electronic exchange of information and data, in order to improve the efficiency of controls intended to combat and prevent social fraud, bogus self-employment and undeclared work;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 k (new)
Paragraph 4 k (new)
4 k. Calls on the commission and the Member states to take adequate measures to help refugees settle and integrate, as well as ensuring that public services are sufficiently resourced and early anticipation of the requirements to facilitate their integration;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Notes that the EU continues to suffer from structural problems that need to be addressed; underlines the crucial need to boost the domestic demand by promoting public and private investment, by promoting socially and economically balanced structural reforms that reduce inequalities and promote quality and inclusive jobs, sustainable growth and social investment and responsible fiscal consolidation, thus reinforcing a favourable path towards more cohesion and upward social convergence environment for business and public services with a view to creating more quality jobs while balancing the social and the economic dimensions; stresses that those priorities will only be achieved if investment in human capital is prioritised as a common strategy;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Highlights that socially responsible reforms must be based on solidarity, integration, social justice and a fair wealth distribution - a model that ensures equality and social protection, protects vulnerable groups and improves the living standards for all citizens; stresses also the need to reorientate the union's economic policies towards a social market economy;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Calls on the Commission and Member States to take adequate measures to improve job quality in order to reduce labour market segmentation combined with measures raising minimum wages to a decent level and strengthening collective bargaining and workers position in wage- setting systems in order to reduce wage dispersion;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8 d. Calls on the Commission and Member States to take adequate measures for guaranteeing to digital workers the same rights and level of social protection agreed in the sector concerned then to the same type of workers;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are important for sustainable and inclusive development and quality job creation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to give greater consideration to the interests of MSMEs in the policy-making process;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to free up public investment via a revision of the Stability and Growth Pact rules and to stimulate private investment ; Calls on the Member States to make more active use of the European Structural and Investment Funds in support of the implementation of the country- specific recommendations;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Calls on the Commission to present data on the percentage of ESF fund that have been dedicated to finance measures consisting of subsidies for companies in the form of financing hiring costs, wages or social security contribution or as cash bonuses. Calls also on the Commission to specify how much of that percentage corresponds to the 20% dedicated to social inclusion and poverty reduction; calls on the Commission to also assess the quality of the employment subsidised through those measures.
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Invites the Commission and the Member states to involve all levels of governments and relevant stakeholders in the identification of obstacles to investments, focusing on the most needed regions and sectors as well as making available adequate instruments bringing together public and private financing;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Recalls that the problem of Consumers Over-indebtedness is a problem with social causes and consequences that 'has a European dimension', as the Commission recognized in the report "Towards an operational common European definition of over-indebtedness" published in 2008; Shares the viewpoint expressed in the Report recently released by the Commission "Study on a new approach to business failure and insolvency" that 'the Commission Recommendation of 12th March 2014 aimed to facilitate the efficient restructuring of viable enterprises in financial difficulty and give honest Entrepreneurs a second chance, may also be relevant to the treatment of Consumer Over-indebtedness, where the aim is to help the Consumer recover and allow a 'fresh' start'; Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure, where Consumer Over- indebtedness cannot be avoided, that the related circumstances of financial and social exclusion are mitigated by putting in place mechanisms that support the debtor, including the opportunity for a second chance, or a 'fresh start' as outlined in the Commission Recommendation of 2014;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Welcomes that in the AGS 2017 emphasis is placed on the role of wages in tackling inequalities as well as the need to promote tax and benefit reforms aimed at improving work incentives and making work pay, as progressive tax systems can also contribute to combating income inequalities and poverty; welcomes that minimum wages should prevent in-work poverty;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the involvement in the European Semester process of the social partners, the national parliaments and other relevant stakeholders from civil society; reiterates that social dialogue must be pursued in all phases of the Semester; highlights the need to make the involvement more effective by ensuring useful timing, access to all documents and dialogue with interlocutors at the appropriate level;
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Reiterates its call on the Commission and Member States to use gender disaggregated data in European Semester monitoring process, and to define additional gender-specific indicators for example to monitor the gender employment, pay and pension gaps;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18 b. Calls on Member States to pay specific attention to the gender dimension throughout their National Reform Programmes under the European Semester, in particular as regards systematic measures for advancing gender equality in the fields of employment, social inclusion, fight against poverty, education and research and innovation;