60 Amendments of Alicia HOMS GINEL related to 2020/2244(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 a (new)
Citation 37 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2020 on a strong social Europe for Just Transitions1a, _________________ 1a Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0371
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 b (new)
Citation 37 b (new)
- having regard to the European Commission and OECD’s report Health at a Glance: Europe 2020. State of Health in the EU cycle1a, _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/fil es/state/docs/2020_healthatglance_rep_en .pdf
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 c (new)
Citation 37 c (new)
- having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document Investing in Health, SWD(2013) 43 final1a, _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/fil es/policies/docs/swd_investing_in_health. pdf
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 d (new)
Citation 37 d (new)
- having regard to the Commission Communication on effective, accessible, and resilient health systems, COM(2014)2151a, _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/fil es/systems_performance_assessment/docs/ com2014_215_final_en.pdf
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 e (new)
Citation 37 e (new)
- having regard to the opinion by the European Commission’s Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (EXPH) of November 2020 on the organisation of resilient health and social care following the COVID-19 pandemic1a, _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/fil es/expert_panel/docs/026_health_socialca re_covid19_en.pdf
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 37 f (new)
Citation 37 f (new)
- having regard to the Council Conclusions of 17 October 2019 on the Economy of Wellbeing1a, _________________ 1a https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu ment/ST-13171-2019-INIT/en/pdf
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas according to the Commission’s autumn 2020 European economic forecast, EU GDP is forecast to contract by approximately 7.5 % in 2020 before rebounding by 4 % in 2021, and by a further 3 % in 2022, with the output in the European economy barely returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2022; whereas, according to this forecast, financial markets have held up well over the last few months, globally and in the EU, thanks mainly to central banks' massive liquidity provision around the world and this shows a ‘decoupling’ of the financial sphere from the real economy; whereas private consumption growth is, however, forecast to moderate in 2022, largely due to lingering uncertainty about job and income prospects which are likely to keep precautionary savings elevated; whereas, however, on the other hand, capital spending is set to benefit from highly accommodative monetary policies, increased public investment and targeted government support schemes for firms;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas Eurofound shows that of particular concern is that the decline in employment headcount in the EU 27 in the first wave of the pandemic was associated with a greater outflow to inactivity than to unemployment and a resulting weakening of labour market attachment1a; _________________ 1aEurofound (2021, forthcoming) COVID-19: Some implications for employment and working life
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the COVID-19 outbreak has reversed the positive trend of the employment rate of the last six years in the EU-27, resulting in a reduction of the number of persons in work of about 6.1 million in the second quarter of 2020 and a predicted decrease of 4.5 % over the year 202014 ; whereas workers who remain in the labour market have faced a considerable reduction in hours worked and, consequently, loss of income; affecting to different axis of inequalities, especially the gender ones; _________________ 14Commission proposal of 18 November 2020 for a joint employment report of the Commission and the Council for 2021 (JER 2021).
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas hours worked are set to increase faster than headcount employment and employment may also fall further when short-time work schemes are discontinued; whereas the reallocation of workers is usually a lengthy process and employment is therefore expected to decline slightly in 2021; whereas, despite the expected economic rebound next year, the EU unemployment rate is set to rise further from 7.7% this year to 8.6% next year and it is expected to decline in 2022 to 8.0%, with divergences between Members States will persist;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas before COVID-19, economic trends were generally described as positive in the European Semester annual reviews; whereas evidence shows that persistent and increasing inequalities remain among persons and between and within states and regions; ; while some regions facing more decarbonising challenges are targeted with just transition fund, others, that were too dependent on tourism and related services are not subject to specific transition funds and some of them are coincident with the territories with highest unemployment rates;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the COVID-19 crisis led to a worsening of wage inequality around the world, only partly offset by state subsidies and minimum wage policies; whereas lower paid workers, disproportionately women and the new precarious youth, are the most affected by the rise in inequalities; and the immediate pandemic burden of job loss has fallen disproportionately on low-paid women according to Eurofound;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas the ongoing twin transitions, green and digital will have important and unequal impact on employment by sector, region and type of worker; whereas the Covid crisis have accelerated those impacts especially in labour markets trends and should also affect education, skilling and upskilling demands;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the gender employment gap (11.4 %) , gender pay gap (14 %) and gender pension gap (30 %) remain unacceptably high; whereas closing the gender employment gap is a social and economic imperative, due to the implications for women’s lives, including their financial security and quality of life, and its persisting costs amounting to around €320 billion in 2018 (2.4% of EU GDP)1a; whereas improving employment opportunities for women, ensuring equal pay and facilitating a good work-life balance, including for men, are vital to sustainable economic growth and development, productivity, and long-term fiscal sustainability in the EU; _________________ 1aEurofound (2020), Women and labour market equality: Has COVID-19 rolled back recent gains? Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas unemployment among temporary workers has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas one in five workers in the EU holds a poor quality job; whereas it is expected that in the next decade, job polarisation and non-standard forms of employment will increase further and there will be more jobs at the higher and lower ends of the skills spectrum16 ; whereas technological change and the use of artificial intelligence might alter the labour market significantly; whereas this leads to further disparities in earnings; whereas labour demand has consistently been weakest in the middle of the job- wage distribution, most noticeably during the periods of recession and employment contraction between 2008 and 2013; whereas this trend is likely to be further reinforced by the pandemic; whereas low- skilled jobs will always be essential for societies and must offer decent pay and conditions; whereas digitalisation can create chances and opportunities for upskilling, but does not necessarily improve working conditions or create new quality jobs for all; _________________ 16 Eurofound (2018), Upward convergence in the EU: Concepts, measurements and indicators, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. whereas sustainable development is a fundamental objective of the European Union and social sustainability is a fundamental prerequisite for fair and inclusive green, digital and demographic transitions; whereas the social market economy is based on two complementary pillars, namely the enforcement of competition and robust social policy measures, which should lead to the achievement of full employment and social progress; whereas the three pillars of sustainable development are the economic, the social and the environmental; whereas sustainable development is based, among other things, on full employment and social progress; whereas this is a fundamental objective of the European Union laid down in Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU); whereas up till now priority has been given to economic and environmental sustainability;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
I b. whereas inequalities in health by socio-economic status already before the COVID-19 crisis have been substantial; whereas gains in increasing life expectancy in the EU have slowed down and faltered; whereas the COVID-19 crisis has worsened physical and mental health outcomes, especially of the most vulnerable groups;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I c (new)
Recital I c (new)
I c. whereas COVID-19 impact has been aggravated by the existence of pre- existing inequalities that have been increasing over the past decade; whereas the disinvestment in public services following the global financial crisis contributed to the widening of inequalities in health needs;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the pandemic has exacerbated health and social inequalities17 and whereas the poverty and child poverty rate is predicted to increase as one of the effects of the COVID-19: whereas Eurofound suggests complementing the Social Scoreboard accompanying the EPSR with additional indicators covering job quality, social justice and equal opportunities, robust social welfare systems and fair mobility; _________________ 17EuroHealthNet (2020), Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring health equity. The role of the European Semester.
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas social dialogue is crucial in the European social model for finding tailor-made solutions for the labour market; whereas social dialogue has been weakened and collective bargaining coverage has fallen across Europe as a result of a decentralisation process that followed the 2008 crisis and labour market reforms induced in some Member States, as pointed out in the European Semester country reports; whereas Eurofound shows that the involvement of social partners in devising labour market policy responses to COVID-19 has been more limited than would be the case in non- crisis situations in many Member States1a; _________________ 1aForthcoming reports; Eurofound (2021) COVID-19: Some implications for employment and working life and Eurofound (2021) Involvement of social partner in policy making during COVID- 19)
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the demographic challenge requires a comprehensive approach based on a mix of policy solutions in the fields of pensions, protection and social security, care services, housing, early childhood schoolseducation, long- term care, health systems, including preventative care and psychosocial support, social inclusion, integration of migrants and work-life balance, gender equality, healthy and active ageing, high levels of employment and wages; ; whereas good working and living conditions along the life course are key in preventing care needs, and adequate housing and high-quality local areas, along their physical, social and service dimensions, are important to prevent care needs and facilitate independent living;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
M a. whereas Eurofound shows that the long-term care workforce has grown by one-third over the past decade and is a key sector to consider, not only to guarantee quality of life for an ageing population, but also in terms of gender equality in three regards: currently most long-term care is provided by informal carers, most of whom are women, most workers in the sector are female and this has hardly changed, and most care receivers are women, who on average have higher life expectancy than man in all Member States1a; _________________ 1aEurofound (2020), Long-term care workforce: employment and working conditions. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas we face a critical time in our history, with the idea that economic growth automatically trickles down to all sectors of society being widely discredited; whereas we are witnessing a thinning of the middle class, increasingly precarious job and in-work poverty conditions for blue collar and platform workers and growing polarisation in terms of income and wealth;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas, contrary to the crowding- out hypothesis that has prevailed in economic thinking for the last three decades, public investment and its crowding-in effects should play a central role in this new economic paradigm; whereas, it has been indicated that the recovery from the pandemic and the post- pandemic resilience plans must be coherent with the EU’s ambitions outlined in the European Green Deal;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
O a. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis has shown that fighting homelessness is a public health matter; whereas on any given night in the European Union an estimated 700 000 homeless people have to sleep on the street or in shelters, which is an increase of 70 % in the past 10 years;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. States that 10 years after the introduction of the European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination, employment and social imbalances in Europe, such as labour market segmentation, wage dispersion and child poverty and homelessness, have not been resolved but have worsened, demonstrating that public policies at the national level are insufficient for building a robust social protection systems and fairer European labour market, and that stronger and further-reaching policies at EU level are needed;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses that the ASGS 2021 mentions delivering on the EU objective of competitive sustainability but that this is neither a concept defined as an objective in the EU Treaties nor does it feature in the UN SDGs; calls on the Commission, therefore, to deliver on the objectives defined in Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 9 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as well as to be more precise in the definition of resilience, understood beyond the ability not only to withstand and cope with challenges but also to undergo transitions in a sustainable, fair, and democratic manner1a; _________________ 1aCommission communication of 9 September 2020 entitled ‘2020 Strategic foresight report – Charting the course towards a more resilient Europe’ (COM(20200493).
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reform the financial legal framework and the European Semester process in order to strengthen democratic accountability and the involvement of the European Parliament; stresses that the social progress objectives regarding social welfare systems and, care and health systems as well as quality employment must be shielded from the application of macroeconomic conditionality;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Believes that the Sustainable Semester Process has to equally focus on the sustainability of three dimensions: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability; reiterates that social sustainability can only be achieved through the reduction of inequalities, offering social opportunities and shared prosperity; stresses that social justice, decent work with living wages, equal opportunities, fair mobility and robust social welfare systems are essential elements in the just transition to a sustainable and social Europe; calls on the Commission to carefully assess the dimensions of the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey so that they are fully in line with article 3 of the TEU, which establishes sustainable development as the objective the EU has to work for, based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. SOCIAL DIMENSION WITHIN RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY Welcomes the agreement for the establishment of a Recovery and Resilience Facility; highlights that the European Semester, including the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, is the framework to identify national reform priorities and monitor their implementation; insists that reforms have to be based on solidarity, integration, social justice and a fair distribution of wealth, with the aim of creating quality employment and sustainable growth, ensuring equality of, and access to, opportunities and social protection, protecting vulnerable groups and improving the living standards of all citizens;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Stresses that creating quality employment is one of the objectives included in the Regulation and that this has to be done through ensuring stable contracts, decent wages, collective bargaining coverage and social protection floors, including decent pensions above the poverty threshold; calls on the Commission to include these indicators in the guidelines to assess social progress in the recovery and resilience plans; points out that labour market reforms undertaken in the national plans must go in line with the attainment of these objectives;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Recalls that the Commission outlined in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020 and the European Semester Spring and Summer Package 2020, that the European Semester should help achieve the implementation of the European Green Deal, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Believes that robust welfare systems built on strong economic and social structures help Member States to respond more efficiently and in a fair and inclusive way to shocks and to recover more swiftly from them; highlights that Social Welfare Systems guarantee to European societies and citizens the integral services and economic benefits for a decent life, covering the following areas of intervention: Social Security, Healthcare, Education, Housing, Employment, Justice and Social Services for vulnerable groups, and that they play a key role in achieving social sustainable development, promoting equality and social justice; warns that during the COVID crisis, the Social Welfare Systems are under an unprecedented situation of stress and pressure, as they were not foreseen to cover the social demand in a context of healthcare and economic emergency; calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen the social welfare systems so that they can perform and assist the entire population, particularly in situations of crisis or systemic shocks, including by establishing targets for social investment, comparable to the digital and green investments;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3 f. Acknowledges that the Recovery and Resilience Facility might have an impact in the European Semester process; underlines that the coordination between the two processes has to be transparent and support the overarching EU objectives such as the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the UN SDGs, the EU Gender Equality Strategy, the European Green Deal and the digital transition;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 g (new)
Paragraph 3 g (new)
3 g. Recalls that the Commission estimates the investment needed in social infrastructure in 192bn, with health and long-term care accounting for 62% of the investment needed (affordable housing 57bn, health 70bn, long-term care 50bn, education and life-long learning 15bn); highlights that social investment is important not only to support aggregate demand, but to support fairness, equality and sustainability; regrets that the MFF agreement does not reflect the serious social consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and the need for a robust response to invest in avoiding even further increase in unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, a response that leaves no one behind; calls on the Commission to propose an ambitious anti- poverty strategy including the European Child Guarantee with an increased budget, as well as the European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme without delay;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 h (new)
Paragraph 3 h (new)
3 h. Believes that sustainable and fairness enhancing reforms and investments in the national plan must address structural weaknesses of social services and social protection systems and strengthen their resilience; in this sense, points out that the reforms and investments in social and territorial cohesion should also contribute to fighting poverty and tackling unemployment and should lead to the creation of high-quality and stable jobs, the inclusion and integration of disadvantaged groups, enable the strengthening of the social dialogue, social infrastructure, as well as social protection and social welfare systems;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 i (new)
Paragraph 3 i (new)
3 i. Understands that social milestones and targets have not been defined in the Recovery and Resilience Facility; calls on the Commission to define them in accordance with those established by the European Parliament resolution on Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 j (new)
Paragraph 3 j (new)
3 j. Is concerned about the lack of clarity regarding the time frame of the activation of the general escape clause under the Stability and Growth Pact; insists that any future macroeconomic adjustment programmes must be coherent and not hamper reforms and investments on social progress towards the social milestones and targets identified by the Semester and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans; points out that financial support through the Facility will have to be ensured in order for Member States to achieve these social milestones and targets; stresses that fiscal consolidation programs must respect social investment and that they need to be done in a way that keeps ensuring progress towards the reduction of poverty and inequalities;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 k (new)
Paragraph 3 k (new)
3 k. Regrets the limited size of the EU budget, as this will limit its redistribution and stabilisation functions; calls on the Member States to take full advantage of all possibilities under the MFF, the NGEU and the own resources system to support social objectives and social justice in their national recovery, in order to compensate for the lack of social ambition in both the MFF and the Recovery and Resilience Facility;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 l (new)
Paragraph 3 l (new)
3 l. Believes that both the Next Generation EU as well as the MFF and the EU Budget must dedicate investments towards the social objectives, and in particular, social progress, as defined in article 3 TEU and 9 TFEU, comparable to those investments in the Green and digital areas, and that the reduction of poverty and inequalities should also be a transversal consideration across all expenditure;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 m (new)
Paragraph 3 m (new)
3 m. Warns that the recovery and resilience scoreboard provided under the regulation does not include social indicators linked to the social objectives outlined in it, in particular the implementation of the EPRS principles, quality employment, upward social convergence, equality of, and access to, opportunities and social protection, education and skills, and investing in access and opportunity for children and youth related to education, health, nutrition, jobs and housing, also in line with the objectives of the Child Guarantee and Youth Guarantee; calls on the Commission, in the context of the recovery and resilience dialogue, to identify the social indicators that will be used to assess the investments and reforms of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, as well as, the proposed measures to protect progress towards these goals once the general escape clause is deactivated;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 n (new)
Paragraph 3 n (new)
3 n. Remarks that if full respect of the Stability and Growth Pact is imposed once the general escape clause is deactivated, this will only fuel and force procyclicality, which will result in increases in poverty and inequalities and a deviation from the social objectives agreed in the Recovery and Resilience Facility; calls for the potential social negative consequences of the deactivation of the general escape clause to be evaluated ex-ante; calls on the Commission and the Member States, in the context of the Recovery and Resilience dialogue and the Interinstitutional Agreement for Better Law-making, to work together with the European Parliament in order to propose the necessary changes in the Stability and Growth Pact that will ensure social progress and protect the most vulnerable from bearing the consequences of the future adjustment programs;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 o (new)
Paragraph 3 o (new)
3 o. Calls on the Member States to include in the recovery and resilience plan, a social progress section, including the social targets and milestones and estimated investments regarding the implementation of the EPSR, as well as the impact on quality job creation, upward social convergence, youth and children investments, gender equality and equal opportunities for all;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 p (new)
Paragraph 3 p (new)
3 p. Calls on the Commission to include in the common indicators related to the social objectives, to be used for reporting on progress and for monitoring and evaluation of the Facility, those included in the Social Scoreboard of the Semester, as well as the objectives adopted by the European Parliament Resolution on a Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions, as well as to include in the methodology for reporting on social investment, including the Child Guarantee and the Youth Guarantee; stresses that the European Parliament will closely analyse the delegated act that the Commission will present on this matter, in order to establish if the social indicators, scoreboard and social methodology comply with the objectives, and verify that there are no objections to be made;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 q (new)
Paragraph 3 q (new)
3 q. Warns that the EU and its Member States face the greatest challenges on goals related to the eradication of poverty, climate change, biodiversity, circular economy, as well as in strengthening the upward social convergence of wellbeing standards; reiterates the importance of putting the SDGs at the core of the European Semester and developing synergies also in the Recovery and Resilience investments and reforms; calls on the Commission and the Member States to engage, together with the European Parliament, on a transformational process that serves to generate policy responses to address these challenges through a European eco-social approach, combining economic shared prosperity, social progress and sustainable development;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the need to integrate social progress as an investment priority, together with green and digital transitions, in order to protect vulnerable people against the negative impact of the current crisis and mitigate the widening of inequalities, including in the health area; recalls that social progress plans must be included in national recovery and resilience plans, outlining the implementation of the EPSR and of social investment in order to reduce the investment gap in social infrastructures;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. SOCIAL DIMENSION Calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively tackle the digital divide in access to public services, many of which have been digitalised during COVID-19, by ensuring EU financial support for social innovation at local level for making public services more easily accessible, including capacity-building and the scaling up of innovative bottom- up initiatives for e-inclusion and data literacy, so as to ensure that all citizens have access to high-quality, accessible and user-friendly services of general interest;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Points out that Member States will design their own tailored National Recovery and Resilience Plans, based on the investment and reform priorities identified as part of the European Semester, in line with National Climate and Energy Plans, Just Transition Plans and Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes under EU funds; calls on the Commission and the Member States to add Social Progress Plans so that reforms and investments financed through the facility can also be aligned with the EPSR and CSR related to the social scoreboard;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop a quality employment package, including legislative initiatives aimed at improving wages and protecting decent working conditions for all, with a particular focus on telework, the right to disconnect, mental well-being at work, occupational health and safety, the rights of platform workers, ensuring quality jobs for essential workers, and strengthening democracy at work and the role of the social partners and collective bargaining; notes that macroeconomic policies that guarantee high levels of employment, as well as fair taxation, are essential for the sustainability of our national pension systems in a demographic context of ageing European populations;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Is concerned about the large amounts of tax revenue foregone due to large-scale tax avoidance; calls on the Council to speed up the negotiations on legislation regarding public country-by- country reporting and a common consolidated corporate tax base, and to revise the criteria for both the Code of Conduct Group for business taxation and the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets that the way data is presented in the joint employment report is not clear and that the data is often inconclusive or difficult to compare, regarding the evolution of wages, productivity, capital gains and profits, subsidies and tax breaks for corporations, or the tax wedge for labour and capital; stresses that to understand the new demands, behaviours and responses, better gathering, monitoring and use of existing and new forms of data and evidence is needed; warns that multifactor productivity is not being measured; calls on the Member States to include the Gender Equality Index as one of the European Semester’s tools and to analyse the structural reforms from a gender perspective;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the European Commission and Member States to address needs of children and take measures to ensure equitable access for all children to early years support, to learning new technologies, skills and ethical and safe use of digital tools, and to opportunities for social, mental, cultural and physical wellbeing that are paramount in recovery measures; calls on the Member States to take appropriate measures to tackle child poverty via fully implementing the Child Guarantee;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States to ensure equal access to high-quality healthcare and to refocus health systems on preventive care and health promoting, notably by implementing relevant country- specific recommendations; and providing dedicated investments in the field; Eurofound research shows that there are signs that access to healthcare has become more dependent on income and employment, with a particular important role for employer-provided supplementary insurances, therefore access to healthcare becomes less resilient to economic crises1a; calls on Member States to ensure adequate social protection floors for all workers (in particular those in vulnerable positions such as in non-standard forms of work, migrants and those with disabilities) and including the self- employed; _________________ 1aEurofound (2020), Access to care services: Early childhood education and care, healthcare and long-term care, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publicat ions/report/2020/access-to-care-services- early-childhood-education-and-care- healthcare-and-long-term-care
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Welcomes the inclusion of housing affordability in the European Semester; calls on the Commission to propose an EU framework for National Homelessness Strategies, and further calls on the Member States to adopt the principle of Housing First, which helps to substantially reduce the rate of homelessness by introducing determined action plans and innovative approaches; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure equal access for all to decent housing;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that implementing the EU skills agenda equitably is critical for promoting health systems and tackling skills shortages for people in new fields of work, which also applies to wider public health workforces as well as within health promoting health and care systems; warns, however, that a skills agenda is not enough to tackle the increasing precariousness and in-work poverty in the EU labour market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure high-quality skills training is developed through the obtention of qualifications and recognition and validation of competences, with tailored support and active outreach, especially for the most marginalised groups in society avoiding stereotyping;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls for better coordination between economic, environmental and social policies and between the different recovery funds and structural funds, in order to improve synergies and boost social investment resources; calls for more integration across sectors in whole of government approaches and at all levels;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to include all relevant national, regional and local authorities to contribute to design and implementation of the Semester-related actions, in particular in health and social fields which often fall out of the economic and fiscal considerations;