Activities of Elena GENTILE related to 2016/2269(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Combating inequalities as a lever to boost job creation and growth (debate) IT
Amendments (51)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 a (new)
Citation 28 a (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'Income inequalities and employment patterns in Europe before and after the Great Recession',
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 b (new)
Citation 28 b (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound overview report 'Sixth European Working Conditions Survey',
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 c (new)
Citation 28 c (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'Social mobility in the EU',
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 d (new)
Citation 28 d (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'New forms of employment',
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 e (new)
Citation 28 e (new)
- having regard to Eurofound's topical update 'The Posted Workers' remuneration gaps:Challenging the equal treatment principle', which provides a detailed overview of governments and social partners positions across Europe as regards the principle of equal remuneration for equal work,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 f (new)
Citation 28 f (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'Developments in working life in Europe:EurWORK annual review 2016', and specific chapter on Eurwork Annual review 'Pay inequalities at the workplace and beyond – Evidence and debates around Europe',
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 g (new)
Citation 28 g (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'Occupational change and wage inequality:European Jobs Monitor 2017',
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 h (new)
Citation 28 h (new)
- having regard to the Eurofound report 'Women, men and working conditions in Europe',
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 29 a (new)
Citation 29 a (new)
- having regard to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and more specifically to its sustainable development goal 10 "Reduce inequalities within and among countries",
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas Eurofound publication (2017) on social mobility in the EU provides evidence that the social background continues to determine life chances in many of the EU countries with only a few countries (Finland, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands) having high levels of social mobility;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas multiple inequalities in access to work and within work create a risk for individual's health and well- being, and financial opportunities;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. whereas social protection unequal coverage is analysed in Eurofound's New Forms of Employment Report1e; some focus is placed on the most problematic of these forms from a social protection perspective, namely casual work; examples are provided of legislation that specifically excludes casual workers, and others which act to include them, typically by compensating from income thresholds; voucher work and strategic employee sharing are examples of non-standard work that aim to address the inadequacy of social protection in occasional or part- time work; _________________ 1e https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/def ault/files/ef_publication/field_ef_docume nt/ef1461en.pdf
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
E d. whereas wage inequality derived from changes in occupational patterns is analysed in Eurofound's European Jobs Monitor 20171g, concluding that changes in increasing wage inequality between 2005 and 2014 were mostly an outcome of changes in the distribution of wages within occupations, linked to processes of labour market deregulation and destandardisation of employment contracts, with job polarisation and occupational upgrading, linked to technological changes and skills bias, playing a less relevant role; _________________ 1g https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/def ault/files/ef_publication/field_ef_docume nt/ef1710en.pdf
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas increased inequality is associated with poorer health and educational outcomes;societies with larger income inequalities have higher rates of poor health and violence, lower maths and literacy scores, higher obesity scores and imprisonment rates and also higher homicide rates; whereas mental illness and the quality of social relations is linked to income inequality as a social stressor irrespective of average living standards1f; _________________ 1fWilkinson, R., Pickett, K. (2017) Lancet Psychiatry. Published online 25.05.2017
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas according to recent studies although income inequality between countries have been reduced in recent decades, the global effect of its evolution is characterized by an increase in real income gains of people around the middle of the income distribution in Asian emerging economies, who are poorer than the lower middle-class in western countries, and by the gains of the richest top 1% of developed countries in contrast with the stagnation in real income gains of those people of developed countries ranging between 40% to 60% of the income distribution1a; _________________ 1aMilanovic, Branko (2016) Global Inequality.A new approach for the age of globalization
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas the global evolution of inequalities is consistent with a steady increase in inequality in developed countries since the 1980s, in which, according to OECD1b, inequality has grown, regardless of the economic cycle, with specific exceptions, raising the Gini coefficient by three points from 0.29 to 0.32 between 1980 and 2013, which is a 10% increase in the last decades; _________________ 1bOECD (2015) In It Together.Why Less Inequality Benefits All.OECD Publishing, Paris
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
H c. whereas on average the EU and the Eurozone as a whole have more equal societies with Gini coefficient scoring 0.31 in 2013 compared to developed countries such as the United States (0.39) or Japan (0.34);whereas during the first decade of the new century and until the beginning of the crisis in 2008 the EU had begun a process of convergence in terms of inequality characterized by increasing inequality in countries with lower levels such as France, Germany or the Nordic countries, while reducing in countries with higher levels of inequality, such as Italy, Spain or Greece;whereas this trend has stagnated and even reversed in most cases since 20071c; _________________ 1c European Commission (2015) Analytical Web Note 6/2015 ‘High and rising inequalities; what can be done about it (at EU level)?’
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
H d. whereas inequalities increased between mid-1980s and late 2000s, in terms of Gini coefficients, in various European countries in the OECD:Italy, United Kingdom, but also in Continental countries (Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark)1d; _________________ 1dOECD (2011) ‘Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising’
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)
Recital H e (new)
H e. whereas the proportion of people at risk of monetary poverty is closely linked to income inequality and monetary poverty has increased steadily since 2005, most sharply in Hungary, Sweden and Spain;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H f (new)
Recital H f (new)
H f. whereas meritocracy and equality of opportunities are core values of the European social market economy;whereas wealth is far worse distributed than income and disposable household income;whereas the role played by inheritances and gifts are key in the asset position of households and in wealth inequality in the euro area1h; _________________ 1hWestermeier, C., Tiefensee, A., Grabka, M. (2016) Inheritances in Europe:High Earners Reap the Most Benefits.DIW Berlin
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Affirms that growing inequalities threaten the future of the European project, erode its legitimacy and damage trust in the EU as an engine of social progress;2a; _________________ 2aAntonucci, L., Horvath, L., Krouwel, A. and Y.Kutyski (2017) “The malaise of the squeezed middle: Challenging the narrative of the left behind Brexiter” Competition & Change, Special Issue:Brexit:a year later, Vol. 21 (3), pp. pp. 211–229.
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reminds the Commission and the Member States that the European Union must fulfil its commitments under the Treaties in terms of promoting the wellbeing of its peoples, full employment and social progress, social justice and protection, equality between women and men, equality between citizens from different socio-economic backgrounds, solidarity between generations, and protection of the rights of the child20 ; _________________ 20 Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Preamble of the TFEU.
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Asks the Commission and the Member States to evaluate the performance and outcomes of economic policy coordination, taking into account the evolution of social progress and social justice in the EU; warns that the European Semester has not been successful in the achievement of these aims and in reducing inequalitiesprioritised the achievement of these aims and the reduction of inequalities; Urges the Commission to initiate a process of policy coordination to monitor, prevent and correct negative trends that could increase inequalities and weaken social progress or negatively affect social justice, putting in place preventive and corrective measures when necessary;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Considers that the social scoreboard of the Joint Employment Report must play a more prominent role in the European Semester as an "early warning system" for excessive social imbalances at the same footing than the macroeconomic ones, and should be extended by an additional inequality indicator more focused on how income inequalities between and within countries contribute to explain EU-wide inequality levels;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Urges the Commission to extend the scope of the European Semester and the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP), from 2018 onward, by adding new binding indicators to estimate individual imbalances in inequalities as a way to link economic coordination with employment and social performanceits Scoreboard with specific country-by-country thresholds, to estimate country-specific imbalances measured in terms of income and wealth distribution, which must entail individual in-depth review (IDR) reports if imbalances are detected, as a way to link economic coordination with employment and social performance, detecting and addressing labor and social deficits affecting potential economic growth;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Warns of the lack of a strong Social Agenda in Europe; Reiterates its call for the establishment of an authentic European Pillar of Social Rights and the building of a deeper and fairer social dimension of the EMU; Urges the Commission to go much further than the strict description of scenarios in the 'reflection paper on the Social Dimension of Europe' and the mere enumeration of labor and social principles in its Recommendation on the 'European Pillar of Social Rights'; calls on the Commission to put forward a concrete 'Roadmap completing the Social Dimension of the EMU' with no delay, with the necessary legislative, institutional and financial means being devoted to guaranteeing true social progress;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to broaden the scope of the Europe 2020 Strategy to include the fight against inequality among its goals, in addition to its focus on tackling poverty, among its goals and ensure progress towards its achievement, which should be aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Asks the Commission to embed the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy targets deeper in the European Semester procedure, adjusting Country Specific Recommendations to the deviations observed country-by-country in the Eurostat scoreboard on Europe 2020 headline indicators;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reiterates its call for a European Social Protocol to ensure that fundamental social rights take precedence over economic freedoms;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses its concern about the increasing number of atypical work contracts and forms of non-standard employment, such as involuntary part- time and temporary work, on-demand work and the use of temporary agency workers to replace workers on strike or the use of fixed-term contracts for permanent tasks, linked with precarious working conditions, undeclared work, lower wages, exploitation and poorer social security contributions, and rising inequality in particular amongst young workers;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Considers that the deterioration of the quality of jobs all over Europe is unsustainable and action is needed to improve living wages, job security, access to education and lifelong learning and occupational health and safety;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13 b. Considers crucial to establish limits on non-standard forms of work and to ban zero-hour contracts and unpaid internship and traineeships, the use of temporary agency workers to replace workers on strike or the use of fixed-term contracts for permanent tasks;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13 c. Calls on the Commission to support further research in relation to monitoring and improving quality job creation, based on Eurofound's research and to delegate to Eurofound the implementation of the Pilot Project on Monitoring Job Quality to ensure Europe's competitiveness;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a Framework Directive on decent working conditions for all forms of employment, ensuring for every worker a core set of enforceable rights, eliminating discrimination based on contractual status, equalizing non-standard arrangements to the conditions of workers in standard employment, ensuring a minimum number of working hours and facilitating decent working times and the right to negotiate schedules; Calls on the Commission to ensure that employees in non-standard forms of employment are able to make their rights enforceable, have access to unionisation and share collective bargaining coverage to the same extent as any other employee;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Considers that the New Skills Agenda must provide a Skills Guarantee scheme ensuring affordable access for all workers to lifelong learning and adaptation to digitalisation and permanent technological changes;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for a common approach across Member States regarding the introduction of a Minimum Income Scheme, in order to support people with insufficient income, ease access to fundamentalnsure equal access to high quality, affordable and integrated social, health, education and leisure services, combat poverty and foster social integration;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Calls on the Commission to improve workers' occupational health and safety, including the proper enforcement of the Working Time Directive;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Highlights that collective bargaining coverage has declined in the majority of the European countries hit harder by the crisis due to recent labour market reforms and government-induced decentralization, which has entailed the removal of national general collective agreements, prioritizing company over sectorial agreements, the introduction of opt-out clauses for employers and permitted the recognition of non-union bargaining representatives;is concerned that reforms have increased precarious working conditions and decreased wages2c; _________________ 2cILO (2015) Issue Brief 'Trends in collective bargaining coverage:stability, erosion or decline?'
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Emphasises the need for a multidimensional approach to the achievement of greater equality and social cohesion as reflected in the horizontal social clause (article 9 TFEU), focusing on the social dimension of union policies;stresses that the implementation of article 9 depends on the commitment to apply the principle of social mainstreaming to all Union policies;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22 b. States that social progress as defined in the European social progress index, is the capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Member States to reform their welfare systems (education, health, pensions and transfers) in order to achieve more effective redistribution and promote fairer distributionbased on high-level social safeguards in order to achieve comprehensive protection of everyone and to make sure that no one is left behind , taking into account the new social risks and vulnerable groups that have arisen from the social and economic challenges confronting society;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take the appropriate measures to ensure universal and affordable access to quality public education from early ages (0-3), which is key for combating inequalities in the long-term;
Amendment 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Commission to put forward a European legal framework in line with the related ILO recommendation 2012 (No. 202) to guarantee every European citizenone living in the EU a social protection floor with universal access to healthcare, access and support for education, basic income security and access to the goods and services defined as necessary at national level;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Calls for legislation to ensure universal access to affordable housing, protecting vulnerable households against eviction and over-indebtedness, and promoting an effective second chance framework for individuals and families at the European level;
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Affirms that universal access to public, solidarity-based and adequate retirement and old-age pensions must be granted to all; cConsiders that the best way to ensure sustainable, safe and adequate pensions for women and men is to increase the overall employment rate and quality jobs across all ages, improve working and employment conditions and commit the necessary supplementary public spending; Affirms that privileging private pension solutions over public or occupational ones will be neither fair nor sustainable; Calls on the Commission to support Member States in strengthening public and occupational pension systems to provide an adequate retirement income well above the poverty threshold and to allow pensioners to maintain their standard of living;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Considers that international trade has been an engine for growth in many countries, but also can be perceived as a source of inequalities; calls on the Commission and the Member State to promote fairer international trade agreements that respect European labour market regulations and ILO conventions, while protecting quality employment and workers’' rights and ensuring intra- European and national mechanisms for the compensation of workers and sectors negatively affected;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Considers that the current inequality of opportunities for children and young peopleutcomes for everyone living in the EU, but especially for children and young people, is often aggravated by the non-egalitarian design of education systems and has damaging consequences for their wellbeing and ‘'wellbecoming’' as individuals, thereby contributing to the estrangement of European youth, especially those on the wrong side of thelacking resources and opportunity gapies.;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up the fight against child poverty, especially among children, and ensuring the coordinated implementation of the Investment in Children Initiative through thea Child Guarantee scheme;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to facilitate a common approach towards a National Child Basic Income toEuropean-wide Child Basic Income (ECBI) scheme co-funded by National Governments and using a specific mechanism of the European Fiscal Capacity; Calls on the Commission for setting a European index of necessity (at PPP) as income threshold, ensureing that every child receives a minimum inco(aged from 0-18) receives a basic income above this threshold under this ECBI programme, thereby helping to achieve the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy on reducing poverty and the risk of social exclusion;
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to promote and further develop socially just tax systems that ensure the sound financing of social safeguards;
Amendment 399 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Calls on Member States to re- establish the role of the taxation of inheritances and gifts which are not currently effective in reducing gaps in terms of inequality of opportunity resulting in economic inequality in the majority of the European countries;Additionally, as the European Economic and Social Committee states in its recent Draft Opinion on Wealth inequality in Europe, measures are needed, in areas such as financialisation of economy, further coordination and harmonisation of tax policy, measures against tax havens, tax fraud and evasion, measure to tackle undeclared work, and measures to optimise the mix of taxes and their weight as a share of Member State tax revenue between labour-based tax revenues and wealth-based ones;