64 Amendments of Brando BENIFEI related to 2017/2260(INI)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the employment rate in the EU is increasing and has reached 235.4 million people in jobs in the second quarter of 2017, which constitutes an employment rate of 72.3 %, meaning that the EU is on track to reach the 75 % employment rate target specified in the Europe 2020 strategy; whereas, nonetheless, employment rates diverge widely, ranging from much below the EU average of 65% in Greece, Croatia, Italy and Spain, to higher than 75% in the Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas employment measured in terms of hours worked per employee remains 3% below the pre-crisis level in the EU and 4% in the Euro Area due to increases in part-time work and reductions in the hours worked by full- time employees;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EU unemployment rate is at its lowest level in nine years and stands at 7.5 %; whereas, nonetheless, the vary on unemployment rates is still relevant, ranging from around 4% in Germany to almost 20% in Spain and 23.6% in Greece; whereas hidden unemployment was at 20% in 2016 (unemployed, willing to work but not actively searching for employment);
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas employment growth has been stronger among older workers, high- skilled employees and among men rather than young people, low-skilled workers and women;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas part-time work has increased 11% compared to 2008, and full-time employment has dropped by 2% in the same period, while involuntary part-time work still represents almost one- third of this type of contracts;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas labour market segmentation between permanent and atypical jobs remains worrying, with countries showing a percentage of temporary contracts ranging from 10% to 20%, with particularly low transition rates towards permanent contracts and temporary jobs representing "dead ends" rather than "stepping stones" towards permanent jobs; whereas this phenomenon is impeding large numbers of workers to benefit from secure, relatively well-paid employment and good prospects, creating a wage gap between permanent and temporary workers; whereas labour market segmentation worsens due to many EU countries adopting two-tier reforms in employment protection legislation, easing the use of temporary contract;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, although a slight improvement in the youth unemployment rate can be observed, it still remains disturbingly high at 16.6 % (18.7 % in the euro area); whereas in 2016 there were still 6.3 million young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training (NEETs); , according to the Draft Joint Employment Report, young people are more often employed under non- standard and atypical forms of employment, including temporary jobs, involuntary part-time work and lower wage jobs; whereas some countries have introduced measures such as reduced minimum wage to encourage employers to recruit young people, which constitutes an unacceptable treatment of young people based on the prohibition of discrimination as regards age in relation to article 19 of TFEU and the Directive 2000/78 on Employment Equality;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas in 2016 there were still 6.3 million young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training (NEETs); whereas the early school leavers rate stills score around 20% in several Member States as Malta, Spain, Romania and above the EU target of 10% in Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, United Kingdom and Greece; whereas early school leaving represents a complex challenge at individual, national and European levels; whereas young people who leave education and training early are often both socially and economically disadvantaged; whereas early school leaving is fundamentally due to the socio- economic situation of students, such as difficult family situations, unemployment, low household income and low levels of parental education; whereas early school leaving reduction is shaped by countries' broader policies for the economy, employment, social affairs, health and also rely on improvements in the socio- economic climate – on higher economic growth, measures to combat poverty and improve health, and the effective integration of migrants and minorities into society;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas, although the differences in unemployment rates among the Member States are smaller, they still remain above the pre-crisis level; whereas long-term unemployment remains above 50% of total unemployment in some Member States and represents 45,6% in the EU and 49,7% in the Euro Area; whereas unemployment rate only tracks individuals who do not have a job and have actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks and long term unemployment rate only measures the share of the economically active population aged 15 to 74 who has been unemployed for 12 months or more;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas wage growth remains subdued in the EU, increasing less than 1% in the last two years and dispersion of compensation of employees is rather wide in the EU, ranging from 4,6 euros per hour worked in Bulgaria to 43,3 in Luxembourg; whereas real wage growth lagged behind average productivity growth in 18 out of 28 Member States and is even lagging behind the drop of unemployment;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas gender employment gap still remain above 10 pps, scoring 11.6 % for the EU, with a 76.9% employment rate for men and 65.3% for women, and even wider gaps among non-EU born and Roma women;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas gender gap in part-time employment is even wider amounting a difference of 23 pps in 2016, and exceeding 30 pps in four Member States and scoring 23.5% of female involuntary part-time employment;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas the employment rate of women with at least one child under the age of 6 is 9 pps less than the employment rate of women without children and 19% of the EU potential female workforce in 2016 was inactive because of looking after children or incapacitated adults;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
De. whereas, due to lower full-time equivalent employment rates, women suffer from a significant pay gap of 16.3% in 2015 in the EU on average, ranging from 26.9%in Estonia to 5.5% in Italy and Luxemburg;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas societies in the European Union are ageing, which presents additional challenges for Member States’ social security and healthcare systemduties for Member States to ensure well-funded and robust social security and health care systems; whereas life expectancy at birth in the EU-28 slightly declined in 2015, it was estimated at 80.6 years (0.3 years lower than 2014), reaching 83.3 years for women (0.3 years lower than 2014), and 77.9 years (0.2 years lower than 2014) for men; whereas this was the first decline in EU-28 life expectancy since the year 2002, when life expectancy data became available for all EU Member States, and it can be observed in the majority of the Member States; whereas according to Eurostat it is not yet possible to say whether the reduction in life expectancy observed between 2014 and 2015 is only temporary or whether the reduction will continue in the following years;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas disadvantaged socio- economic background, migrant origin students and those with special needs, are the most significant factors associated with low educational achievement, taking into account that the EU average proportion of low achievers in science within the bottom socio-economic quartile of the 2015 PISA student population is around 34%, 26 pps more than in the top socio-economic quartile;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas education is a crucial determinant of young people's integration into the labour market, taking into account that the employment rate of young people with higher education (aged 20-34) is 82.8% in the EU, more than 10 pps above those with upper secondary education;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas gross disposable household income (GDHI) per capita has still not recovered in different Member States from its pre-crisis levels, several of them recording levels from 20 to 30 pps lower than 2008;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas income inequalities increases have not been reversed from the onset of the crisis in several Member States, and in some cases even have worsened and taking into account that in the EU as a whole the richest 20% of households received an income share that is 5.1 times that of the poorest 20%, with ratios of 6.5 or above in some Eastern and Southern European countries, almost twice as high as values for some Center Europeans and Nordic best performers countries;
Amendment 84 #
Hc. whereas, according to the Commission publication ‘Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2017’, in 2015 there were 118,8 million people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE), 1,7 million above the 2008 level and far from the Europe 2020 Strategy target of reducing AROPE by 20 million, with wide disparities between Member States, ranging from 5% or less in the Czech Republic or Germany to around 20% in Greece and Spain; whereas children AROPE rate (0-17) in 2016 is 26,4%, higher than 24,2% of adult people (16-64) and almost10 pps higher than AROPE rate of 18,3% for elder people (65+); whereas, the number of children experiencing poverty remains alarmingly high in Europe, currently standing at more than 25 million and whereas the impact of poverty on children can last a lifetime and perpetuates the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
Hd. whereas increasing in-work poverty remains in Europe as a whole, with highest levels recorded in Spain (13.1%), Greece (14%) and Romania (18.6%), showing that employment alone is not always sufficient to lift people out of poverty and reflecting different labour market patterns, including part-time and/or temporary jobs, wage levels and work intensity in the households and poor working conditions;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)
Recital H e (new)
He. whereas, according to Eurofound research the involvement of the social partners in the elaboration of the National Reform Programmes is gradually improving in most Member States, although significant differences and outcomes remain in the quality and effectiveness of the national social partners engagement in the European Semester process;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H f (new)
Recital H f (new)
Hf. whereas the Eurofound forthcoming study on the involvement of the social partners in the European Semester reports a process of consolidation and growing awareness, following the Employment Guideline No.7; Nevertheless, the social partners highlight the need to ensure a proper engagement through facilitating meaningful and timely consultation, exchange of contributions and feedback, as well as giving visibility to their views;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomesNotes that the Annual Growth Survey 2018, as an important part of the European investment process, is once again based on a strategy of investment, structural reforms and responsible public finances; calls on the Member States to take account of the priorities identified in the survey in their national policies and strategies to promote growth, employment and social protectionbalanced budgetary policies and neutral fiscal stance; stresses that socially responsible public finances are those ensuring quality public services and better opportunities for citizens tackling income inequalities and promoting sustainable growth, decent job creation and social protection; highlights that the main priorities of the European Semester for coordination of employment and social policies must be to reduce inequalities and poverty, to increase wages and the quality of employment, including by strengthening unions and collective bargaining systems, and to improve social protection and access and quality of public services;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls that inequalities threaten the future of the European project, erode its legitimacy and can damage trust in the EU as an engine of social progress and that the reduction of inequalities must be one of the main priorities at the European level, as recently stated by the Parliament; reminds, therefore, that the Commission should improve, within the framework of the European Semester, the process of policy coordination in order to better 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 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. States that after seven years from the onset of the European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination, some of the more relevant employment and social imbalances of Europe, as labour market segmentation, wage dispersion or child poverty, have not been resolved but have worsened, evidencing that public policies at the national level are insufficient for building a fairer European labour market, and stronger and wider policies at European level are needed to complement current national efforts; Notes that there have been positive steps to rebalance economic and social priorities in the European Semester, but fiscal flexibility to support social investment in social rights is vital as well as mainstreaming all principles enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights effectively at all stages;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for structural reforms aimed at improving labour market and social policies, in order to help the workforce to acquire the skills they need and to promote equal opportunities in the labour market, fair working conditions, increasing labour productivity to support wage growth, and sustainable and adequate social protection systemocially responsible reforms based on solidarity, integration, social justice and a fair distribution of wealth, a model that ensures equality and social protection, protects vulnerable groups and improves living standards for all citizens;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Interinstitutional Proclamation on the European Pillar of Social Rights and believes that the European Semester must be a tool to develop its 20 key principles regarding equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions and social protection and inclusion should serve as a point of reference when implementing the European Semester policy coordination cycle; Stresses, therefore, that the Proclamation has to be seen as a first step, and concrete legislative, financing and investment measures must be developed from 2018 and further to legally protect people’s labour and social rights and improve social justice in Europe and must be monitored by the European Semester in order to build a real Social Triple A for Europe, as stated by President Juncker;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission, within the framework of the MFF 2014-2020 revision, to increase substantially the European Social Fund aimed specifically to support the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to put forward a concrete legislative planning for the period 2018-2019 aiming to improve living and working conditions in the context of the Proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and specifically encourage the proclamation of a Social Protocol to be annexed to the Treaties to ensure that fundamental social rights take precedence over economic freedoms;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the new scoreboard, which provides for 14 headline indicators to screen the employment and social performance of Member States along three broad dimensions, identified in the context of the Social Pillar; underlines the fact, that for the EU on average, 11 of the 14 headline indicators recorded an improvement over the last available year, confirming the steady improvement in the labour market and social situation which has accompanied the economic recoverregrets, nonetheless, that 14 out of the 20 principles enshrined in the EPSR are not linked to any indicators in this new social scoreboard, and two of the remaining 6 are only covered partially;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission, once again, to develop and complement the scoreboard of the Joint Employment Report with new indicators covering topics of the European Pillar of Social Rights related to the situation of women in labour market beyond pay, grounds of equal treatment in employment, quality of employment, living wages, protection against dismissal, collective bargaining coverage, unionization, access to care other than childcare, healthy and safe work places, social protection coverage, unemployment benefits, minimum income schemes, adequate pensions, inclusion of people with disabilities, long term care, access to housing and access to essential services;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Underlines the fact, that for the EU on average, 11 of the 14 headline indicators recorded an improvement over the last available year, confirming the steady improvement in the labour market and social situation which has accompanied the economic recovery; notes, however, that action is required to achieve social upward convergence along the dimensions identified by the Social Pillar, as stated by the Commission, and that the analysis of the headlines indicators shows at least one "critical situation" for 17 out of 28 Member States;
Amendment 135 #
4c. Regrets that the way data is presented in the Joint Employment report is not clear and often inconclusive, especially in the area of poverty and social exclusion, or difficult to compare, for instance regarding the evolution of wages, productivity and capital gains, or the tax wedge for labour and capital; warns that multifactor productivity is not being measured, which is essential to understand the evolution of productivity in the European economy;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reiterates its concern about the level of youth unemployment, which remains high, with the number of NEETs having stagnated; welcomes, in this respect, an increase ivariability in employment and unemployment rates recorded in different Member States and is particularly concerned by the level of youth unemployment and long-term unemployment that threaten the ability to integrate in the medium and long term of a large number of young and elderly unemployed; warns about the worrying degree of and rising trend towards underemployment and hidden funding for the Youth Employment Initiative by EUR 2.4 billion for the period 2017-2020employment and that unemployment rate might capture only about two-thirds of the extent of European underemployment;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers that is specially worrying the high level of NEETs and early school leavers that still remain in several countries, as well as the very long- term unemployed pockets with increasingly scarce opportunities to integrate in a normal way in the labour market; Notes, in this respect, that the increase in funding for the Youth Employment Initiative by EUR 2.4 billion for the period2017-2020 seems insufficient and calls on the Commission and the Member States to raise the funding level of the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) for the period 2018-2020 to at least EUR 21 billion, including young people under 30;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the Commission to strengthen their efforts through the ESF and the European Semester to support comprehensive public policies in the Member States, focused to provide smoother transitions from education and (long-term) unemployment to work and specifically for the full implementation of the measures at national level outlined in the Council Recommendation on the labour market integration of the long- term unemployed;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Considers that labour market segmentation, which especially affects young people, must be stopped, therefore it is necessary to prohibit and control the use of atypical contracts and non- standard forms of work, such as zero- hour contracts or unpaid traineeship, as well as guarantee fair and non- discriminatory working conditions for all workers;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Welcomes the Commission Proposal for a Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union replacing the current Written Statement Directive, but calls on the Commission to reconsider further expanding the scope and enforcement of the proposal in the Member States, with the aim of effectively extending to all workers not only rights but also minimum working conditions across Europe, regardless the type of contract or job that is exercised;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5e. Recalls that the creation of the European Labour Authority as an inspectorate body with powers to carry out controls and impose sanctions and penalties on non-compliant companies, would be a guarantee of the enforcement of labour and social legislation in the European single market to combat social dumping, exploitation and abuse of workers;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5f. Calls on the Commission to create the European social security card in order to facilitate information exchange and to provide people with a record of their current and past entitlements and to prevent abuse;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 g (new)
Paragraph 5 g (new)
5g. Recalls to the Commission that access to social protection is fundamental for creating fair working conditions and that following up the consultations of the social partners it is needed to come along with concrete proposals to ensure that all people in all forms of work build up social security entitlements, including for adequate pensions;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 h (new)
Paragraph 5 h (new)
5h. Considers that despite the general increase of employment rates in Europe, these have not been accompanied by a decline in the levels of inequality and risk of poverty or social exclusion; Gains produced in recent years have been distributed unevenly, with the majority of the population, especially the most needy, receiving scarcely nothing of these profits;
Amendment 157 #
5i. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reverse the downward tax competition through coordination of tax rates and compensation schemes between countries; Calls on the Commission to support the establishment of a UN intergovernmental body for tax cooperation and to initiate discussions on a European financial register;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 j (new)
Paragraph 5 j (new)
5j. Calls on the Commission to encourage tax systems reforms focused in increase the top rate of income tax specifically capital income taxation, generating resources for transferring public goods and services and reversing threatening trends on growth and job creation because of income and wealth inequalities, affecting mostly 40% of the population at the bottom of income distribution;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 k (new)
Paragraph 5 k (new)
5k. Notes that wealth is more unequally distributed than income and that the rate of capital return is much higher than the economic growth rate, and considers worrying that the real estate market in some countries is generating arbitrary effects on inter- generational distribution of wealth ; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to coordinate tax reforms in order to establish annual tax on wealth holdings and inheritance tax rates aimed to reduce wealth inequality and promote meritocracy and redistribution;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 l (new)
Paragraph 5 l (new)
5l. Taking into account the intensive dependence of middle-class earns on nominal wages, is concerned about the negative relationship between market wage inequality and trade union organizational density and notes the positive link between worker’s share in the production value and the coverage of collective bargaining; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reverse the most aggressive labour market reforms carried out in the past and encourage unionisation, wider coverage of collective bargaining agreements and strengthening coordinated forms of wage- setting, aimed to promote nominal wage growth in line with the sum of productivity growth plus the inflation target of the ECB;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 m (new)
Paragraph 5 m (new)
5m. Calls on the Commission to coordinate the Member States in the adoption of duly designed frameworks of Minimum Wages Systems at national level, in accordance with their national practices and the involvement of Social Partners, aimed to reach a universal minimum level of earns according with a national living wage as the income needed to meet a family’s basic needs for each Member State and region;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 n (new)
Paragraph 5 n (new)
5n. Notes that one of the most relevant public policies to promote equal opportunities is encouraging equal and affordable access to high-quality public goods and service specially ensuring universal access to health, (early-age) education, childcare, social housing and public transport;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 o (new)
Paragraph 5 o (new)
5o. Is concerned about the remaining high levels of poverty in Europe almost a decade after the onset of the crisis and the inter-generational divide produced including those Member States performing better in terms of share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion; Is especially worried about the increasing rates of child poverty and in- work poverty registered in several Member States despite the macroeconomic recovery recorded in recent years; Notes that more than a third of Member States report a critical situation in relation to the share of children participating in early childhood care and education; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in the design and implementation of structural reforms evaluating the social and distributional impact of them;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 p (new)
Paragraph 5 p (new)
5p. Asks the Commission to adopt all the necessary measures to drastically reduce poverty in Europe, and particularly child poverty, and therefore to put forward a regulation establishing a European Child Guarantee with corresponding funds, according with their Recommendation on Investing in Children, the preparatory actions established by the EU Budget 2017 and 2018, and the EP Resolutions, by ensuring that every child at risk of poverty will have access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition; Stresses the need for the Member States to adopt national plans to reduce child poverty, specifically addressing the limited impact of social transfers in reducing the risk of poverty;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 q (new)
Paragraph 5 q (new)
5q. Highlights that the modernisation of benefit systems must be a priority for the Member States and Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the unemployed are provided with adequate income and social benefits for enough time and parents have access to generous child-allowances schemes and affordable quality pre-school childcare and education; Calls on the Commission to encourage more progressive means-tested benefit systems in the Member States aimed to achieve affordability and universal access;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 r (new)
Paragraph 5 r (new)
5r. Points out that social protection systems should ensure the right to minimum income benefits for people lacking sufficient resources and promote social inclusion by encouraging all to participate in the labour market and in society; Calls on the Commission to coordinate the Member States in the adoption of a common framework to implement such Minimum Income Benefits Systems according with their national practices and the involvement of social partners;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 s (new)
Paragraph 5 s (new)
5s. Is convinced that the development of a European Unemployment Insurance Scheme duly designed as a complement of the National Benefits Systems, would improve not only the possibilities of absorbing economic crises with asymmetric results, but also a way to strengthen the Social Dimension of the EU;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 t (new)
Paragraph 5 t (new)
5t. Stresses the higher unemployment rates of young people and low-skilled workers compared with adult high-skilled workers; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to speed up the implementation of the New Skills Agenda aimed to up-skill persons with specific skills problems to re-integrate the labour market;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts in investing in affordable and universal access to high-quality education and training in order to guarantee that the skills acquired will match labour market demandare adequate to facilitate labour market integration of workers; underlines, in this respect, the growing demand for digital and other transferable skills and insists that the development of these skills is urgent and particularly necessary;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take all the necessary measures to improve the services and legislation that are important for a proper work-life balance; calls for the development of accessible and affordable childcare and early education services, and for the creation of favourable conditions for parents and carers by allowing for advantageous family leave take-up and flexible working arrangements which tap into the potential of new technologies; underlines, in this respect, the potential of public-private partnerships; Is concerned about the lack of gender perspective and indicators in the framework of the European Semester and calls for greater inclusion of the gender mainstreaming perspective in the formulation of country-specific recommendations, convergence programmes and national reform programmes; urges the need for monitoring of social and gender progress and impact of reforms overtime;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enforce at European and National level wage transparency and conducting pay audits on the company level in order to achieve equal pay for the same work in all sectors and professions; Calls on the Commission to put forward initiatives, if necessary, to remove any kind of gender pay gap, setting penalties for Work places that violate the right to equality, establishing different wages for identical job categories, depending on whether they are occupied mainly by men or by women;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines the potential of SMEs in job creation and the economy as a whole; considers it vital to but points out that entrepreneurship alone does not promote industrialization or solve unemployment or poverty problems and it is a solution that does not fit everyone; considers it vital to assess the high rate of start-up failure in order to draw lessons on how to better support entrepreneurship and to improve the business environment by removing administrative burdens,, considers important improving access to finance and supporting the development of tax models and simplified tax compliance procedures favouring SMEs, entrepreneurs, micro- entities and start-ups promoting a progressive tax collection, avoiding tax evasion and the lack of records of the fundamental information to identify the tax bases and their real owners;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recalls that increasing life expectancy requires the adaptation ofPoints out that life expectancy declined in 2016 for the first time since 2002 and that it is necessary to assess whether this is going to be a trend before adapting pensions systems in order to; stresses that ensureing a good quality of life for elderly people; stresses that this can be achieved by linking retirement age not only can be achieved by universal access to public, solidarity-based and adequate retirement schemes; calls on the Commission to support Member States in strengthening public and occupational pension systems to provide an adequate retirement income above the poverty threshold and to allow pensioners to maintain their standard of living and to lifve expectancy but also to insurance contribution years, and by preventing early exit from the labour marketin dignity and independence; reiterates its call for care credits in pension systems to compensate for lost contributions of women and men due to child and long-term care responsibilities as a tool to reduce the gender pension gap; highlights that while personal pension schemes can be important tools to improve pension adequacy, statutory solidarity-based pension systems remain the most efficient tool to combat old-age poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is of the opinion that Cohesion Policy, as the main investment policy of the European Union, has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing inequalities and should therefore be maintained at at least a similar budgetary level in the future multiannual financial framework; considers that the European Social Fund should be retained as the main EU instrument for the integration and reintegration of workers into the labour marketincreased to ensure that they reach at least the equivalent of 30% of the current Structural and Investment Funds in the next MFF targeted to tackle inequality, reduce poverty and implement the principles enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up efforts for further inclusion of people with disabilities into the labour market by removing legislative barriers and creating incentives for their employment; calls on the Commission to include in the social scoreboard indicators regarding labour and social inclusion of people with disabilities;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines the fact that the non- alignment of labour demand with labour supply is a problem that encompasses all EU regions, including the most developedand that cannot be solved by forcing people into insecure working lives, with discontinuous careers, with constant changes in jobs, sectors and cities, with very little prospect for stability and professional progress and promotion; calls on the Commission and the Member States to tackle this issue by introducing measures to ensure stability and decent working conditions that will facilitate the mobility of workers across jobs, sectors and locations in order to meet labour demand in less and better developed regions alike; calls on the Commission and the Member States, furthermore, to devote particular attention to the unique circumstances of cross-border workers and workers in peripheral regions;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the role of the social partners, as essential stakeholders, the national social dialogue practices and the civil society, in the reform process and the added value of their active involvement in the drafting, sequencing and implementation of reforms; stresses that being effectively involved in the design of the policies will allow social partners to feel more engaged in the national reforms adopted as a result of the Country-specific recommendations of the Semester and therefore their ownership of the outcomes will be reinforced; supports the opinion that new forms of employment in the globalised market call for new forms of social dialogue; affirms that the Member States need to help people build the skills required in the labour markend calls on the Commission and the Member States to support the creation of these new forms of social dialogue and the extension of collective agreements and protection to these new forms of employment;