Activities of Georgi PIRINSKI related to 2016/2269(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Combating inequalities as a lever to boost job creation and growth (debate)
Amendments (53)
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 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas instead of progress in achieving the Europe 2020 Strategy goal, in fact there has been an increase in poverty and social exclusion;
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 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 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas the lack of sufficient funding for public education is a major cause for future social disparities and for increasing inequalities;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas between 2005 and 2015 the Gini coefficient for the EU increased from 30,6 to 31 and the income inequalities between the top and bottom 20 % of the population increased from 4,7 to 5,2; whereas inequalities increased far more in some of the new Member States such as Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania; whereas inequalities increased in Member States between 2008 and 2014 in terms of household disposable income, mainly in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, or Cyprus19 ; _________________ 19 Eurofound (2017) Income inequalities and employment patterns in Europe before and after the Great Recession.
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 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 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Firmly believes that the reduction of inequalities must be an institutional priority at the European level, not only in order to tackle poverty or to promote convergence, but also as the precondition for economic recovery, quality job creation, social cohesion and shared prosperity;
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 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Commission by mid- 2018 to present to the European Parliament and to the Council an analysis and comparison of the impact and results achieved by the country specific recommendations, the measures taken within the scope of the European Semester and under different EU programmes for overcoming the inequalities resulting from the economic crisis, as well as to outline further measures for combating inequalities;
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 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls on the Commission to use social statistics data for establishing of an accurate and up to date picture of the differences in income and wealth, social cohesion and social inclusion between and within countries and to base its proposals and recommendations for political decisions on solid data;
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 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Underlines that the Union budget should establish as a top priority the implementation of appropriate policies for reducing inequalities and increased social cohesion;
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 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Acknowledges that quality and accessible education is the decisive factor for overcoming inequalities;calls therefore for increased investment in public education and life-long-learning;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to ensure, through the ESF and the European Semester Procedure, full implementation of the reforms at national level of the measures outlined in the Council Recommendation on the labour market integration of the long-term unemployed;
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 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member State to step up their efforts against the shadow economy and undeclared work;
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 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls for a comprehensive approach on minimum wage policies across the Member States aiming at achieving a minimum wage rate of at least 60 % of the average wage as a mean to attract the inactive and discouraged persons back to the labour market;
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 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission and the Members States to strengthen workers’ rights and foster the bargaining power of employees through structuralprogressive reforms of labour markets, widening collective bargaining coverage, and promoting unionisation;
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 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to undertake real actions against tax avoidance and tax fraud as an important means for reducing economic inequalities in Member States;