19 Amendments of Heinz K. BECKER related to 2018/0206(COD)
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5a) The continuing high level of youth unemployment in Europe is deplorable, and many Member States still need to take urgent action in this area, including Greece, where the youth unemployment rate is roughly 40%. The objective of reducing youth unemployment must continue to be given priority in the country-specific recommendations.
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The ESF+ should provide support to improving the quality, effectiveness and labour market relevance of education and training systems in order to facilitate the acquisition of key competences notably as regards digital skills which all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, employment, social inclusion and active citizenship. The ESF+ should help progression within education and training and transition to work, support lifelong learning and employability, and contribute to competitiveness and societal and economic innovation by supporting scalable and sustainable initiatives in these fields. This could be achieved for example through work-based learning and apprenticeships, focusing in particular on the proven dual system combining teaching and work experience, lifelong guidance, skills anticipation in cooperation with industry, up-to-date training materials, forecasting and graduate tracking, training of educators, validation of learning outcomes and recognition of qualifications.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14a) In future the allocation of ESF+ funding to Member States should be made contingent on provision of proof of effective involvement in projects to introduce or enhance, in the context of the Youth Guarantee, the dual system combining teaching and work experience.
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) The ESF+ should contribute to the reduction of poverty by supporting national schemes aiming to alleviate food and material deprivation and promote social integration of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion and the most deprived. With a view that at Union level at least 4 % of the resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management supports the most deprived, Member States should allocate at least 2 % of their national resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management to address the forms of extreme poverty with the greatest social exclusion impact, such as homelessness, child poverty, old-age poverty and food deprivation. Due to the nature of the operations and the type of end recipients, it is necessary that simpler rules apply to support which addresses material deprivation of the most deprived.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 a (new)
Recital 19 a (new)
(19a) Old-age poverty is a European and a predominantly female problem. In 2014, the gender gap in pensions, which may be defined as the gap between the average pre-tax income received as a pension by women and that received by men, stood at 39.4% in the 65-and-over age group, and has increased in half of the Member States in the past five years. The financial and economic crisis which has affected Europe in recent years has had a negative impact on many women’s incomes and in the long term on average is having a greater impact on women’s incomes than men’s. In some Member States between 11 and 36% of women have no pension entitlements whatsoever.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) The ESF+ should support policy and system reforms in the fields of employment, social inclusion, healthcare and long-term care, and education and training. In order to strengthen alignment with the European Semester, Member States should allocate an appropriate amount of their resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management to implement relevant country-specific recommendations relating to structural challenges which it is appropriate to address through multiannual investments falling within the scope of the ESF+. The Commission and the Member States should ensure coherence, coordination and complementarity between the shared- management and Health strands of ESF+ and the Reform Support Programme, including the Reform Delivery Tool and the Technical Support Instrument, and that the sustainable development objectives set in the European Pillar of Social Rights are met. In particular, the Commission and the Member State should ensure, in all stages of the process, effective coordination in order to safeguard the consistency, coherence, complementarity and synergy among sources of funding, including technical assistance thereof.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) To ensure that the social dimension of Europe as set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights is duly put forward and that a minimum amount of resources is targeting those most in need Member States should allocate at least 25 % of their national ESF+ resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management to fostering social inclusion and combating old-age poverty effectively.
Amendment 169 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23 a (new)
Recital 23 a (new)
(23a) The proven Austrian model of a dual system combining teaching and work experience is an effective way of combating youth unemployment. Member States should, therefore, introduce the dual system which is established as the leading model in the EU.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23 b (new)
Recital 23 b (new)
(23b) EURES must be strengthened on a long-term basis, in particular through the comprehensive development of the internet platform and the active involvement of the Member States. Member States should use the existing model more effectively and publish details of all vacant jobs in the EURES system.
Amendment 213 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) Lack of access to finance for microenterprises, social economy and social enterprises is one of the main obstacles to business creation, especially among people furthest from the labour market. Appropriate funding is available, for example through the European Fund for Regional Development and the European Programme for Social Change and Innovation. In that connection, it is important to make effective use of the budget, and access to EU funding must be made easier. The ESF+ Regulation lays down provisions in order to create a market eco- system to increase the supply of and access to finance for social enterprises as well as to meet demand from those who need it most, and in particular the unemployed, women and vulnerable people who wishin order to start up or develop a microenterprise. This objective will also be addressed through financial instruments and budgetary guarantee under the social investment and skills policy window of the InvestEU Fund.
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33 a (new)
Recital 33 a (new)
(33a) The Commission should introduce at Union level a ‘European Social Economy Label’ for social and solidarity- based enterprises, based on clear criteria designed to highlight the specific characteristics of these enterprises and their social impact, increase their visibility, create incentives for investment and facilitate access to funding and to the single market for those willing to expand nationally or into other Member States, in a manner consistent with the different legal forms and frameworks in the sector and in the Member States.
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34 a (new)
Recital 34 a (new)
(34a) With a view to supporting EU initiatives designed to bring EU citizens and the European Union closer together, a second measure should be funded alongside the Interrail ticket for young people: the ‘99 Euro Europe Ticket’ for air, rail or bus travel, which any citizen can use to travel cheaply from any place in Europe in order to visit the EU institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Council) in Brussels, their country’s permanent representation and the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Predetermined proof of attendance at an information event must be provided.
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
The ESF+ shall support, complement and add value to the policies of the Member States to ensure equal opportunities, access to the labour market, particularly for young people, and to help men and women aged over 40 to find employment again and acquire the skills for it, fair working conditions, social protection and inclusion, and a high level of human health protection.
Amendment 328 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point iii
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point iii
iii) promoting women’s labour market participation, particularly in the case of women aged over 40, and promoting a return to the labour market for older people, a better work/life balance including access to childcare, a healthy and well– adapted working environment addressing health risks, adaptation of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs to change, and active and healthy ageing;
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point v
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point v
v) promoting equal access to and completion of, quality and inclusive education and training, particularly the introduction of dual-training systems, in particular for disadvantaged groups, from early childhood education and care through general and vocational education and training, and to tertiary level, as well as adult education and learning, including facilitating learning mobility for all;
Amendment 358 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point viii
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point viii
Amendment 519 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1
The resources referred to in Article 7(4) shall be programmed under a dedicated priority or programme. The maximum co- financing rate for this priority or programme may be increased to no more than 85 % for these ESF+ allocations of the actions under Article 7(4).
Amendment 586 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
This Chapter applies to ESF+ support under points (x) and (xi) of Article 4(1).
Amendment 765 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – title
Annex II – title
Common indicators for ESF+ support for promoting social integration for the most deprived people Output indicators (1) Total number of people who receive help towards social inclusion. Of which: (a) number of children aged 15 or younger; (b) number of persons aged 65 or older; (c) number of women (d) number of migrants, participants with foreign backgrounds; minorities (including marginalised communities such as Roma) (e) number of people with disabilities (f) number of homeless people