31 Amendments of Maria ARENA related to 2018/2120(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the employment rate for those aged between 20 and 64 stood at 73.2 % in 2017, indicating that the EU is well on track to reach the 75 % employment rate target specified in the Europe 2020 strategy; whereas however the employment rate of women in 2017 is 66.5 %, yet the gender employment gap remains substantial, as does the gender pay gap;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas in the Commission’s Annual Growth Survey 2019 there is more recognition of the need to strengthen the EU’s social dimension, to respond to inequalities inside and between regions and in terms of access to education, and to achieve coordination between policy instruments; whereas it remains to be specified how these objectives are to be achieved;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas increasingly employees are being hired on temporary and part- time contracts, the majority of whom would prefer a standard, full-time contract1a.The proportion of part-time workers increased from 16.8% to 18.7% of the total in employment from 2008 to 2017, with higher levels and a larger increase for younger people. Although more people are now working, the total hours worked in 2017 was still slightly below the level of 2008; __________________ 1a COM(2018) 761 final, p. 14.
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the youth unemployment rate at EU level stands at 18.6 % and 4.2 million young people are unemployed, including 2.9 million in the euro area; whereas the level of youth unemployment remains markedly higher than at its low point in 2008; whereas in 2015 the share NEETs remains high and represents14,8 % of 15-29 year olds not in employment, education or training, namely 14million of NEETs;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas young people not in employment, education or training are estimated to cost the EU €153bn (1.21% of GDP) a year – in benefits and foregone earnings and taxes (Eurofound report on youth unemployment) while the total estimated cost of establishing Youth Guarantee schemes in the Eurozone is €21bn a year, or 0.22% of GDP;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas an amount of € 1bn is currently allocated to the Youth Guarantee plan which is to be matched by €1billion from the European Social Fund for the period 2017 - 2020;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the increasing of the employment rate in Member States has been unfortunately accompanied - due to the economic crisis, austerity policies and structural reforms - by the increase of atypical, precarious and non-formal forms of employment, zero-hour contracts included, the weakening of social dialogue, the decentralisation of the collective consultation in some Member States giving rise to negative impact on workers’ rights;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the most precarious work involve the inability of individuals to enforce their rights, where social insurance protection is absent, where health and safety is put at risk and where work does not provide sufficient income to enable people to live decently; whereas insecurity is another key element of precariousness and it encompasses work uncertainty, income insufficiency, lack of protection against dismissal, an unknown length of employment and uncertainty about future employment;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas as opposed to precarious work, decent jobs with employment security must be promoted and required to help tackle unemployment across the EU but also to boost the domestic demand and stimulate growth;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the total number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) stands at 22.5 % and while this is below pre-crisis levels, the Europe 2020 headline target of reducing AROPE by 20 million remains far from being reached; whereas the AROPE rate for children continues to decline but is still unacceptably high; points out that high levels of inequality reduce the output of the economy and the potential for sustainable growth;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas globalisation has helped to drive and underpin economic growth but its benefits are unequally shared;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses the urgency of actions against climate change, which may become irreversible in three years. Budgets should also be made available at all levels of governance (both public and private investment) to modernise and decarbonise industry, transport and energy;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU economy is now entering its sixth year of continuous growth and the dispersion of growth rates across the euro area is the smallest in the history of the EMU; regrets that the growth benefits are unequally shared.
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Recommends the Commission to change the title of AGS to Annual sustainable growth survey.
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that the need to invest in social development is not just a means of guaranteeing that economic growth and convergence can be achieved, but must also be a specific target in itself; calls for measures preventing a race to the bottom in terms of taxation and social standards, building on better use of social indicators in this context; takes note of recent studies by the OECD (OECD, “in it together: why less inequalities benefits all”, 2015) and the IMF (IMF report ‘causes and consequences of income inequality”, June 2015) underlining that social inequalities in Europe hamper economic recovery; stresses that more effort is needed to improve the political visibility and impact of the scoreboard of key employment and social indicators; calls for the Commission to make sure that Member States with low social performance adequately address the problems of social inequalities; stresses that employment and social considerations should be put on equal footing with the economic ones in the framework of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Reminds the invite of the European Council to use the gender equality annual reports in the context of the European Semester to enhance gender mainstreaming; reiterates that the goal of coordinating economic, social and fiscal policies in the Member States can only be achieved if policies on equality are also coordinated;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that all Member State economies are forecast to continue growing but at a slower pace; highlights the need to bridge the investment gap for research and innovation in infrastructure; calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts in investing in affordable, accessible and high-quality education and training, including digital and transferable skills, and to promote lifelong learning and skills development; highlights the importance of reinforcing the initial training and continuous professional development of teachers and trainers; calls on the Member States to strengthen their vocational education and training systems and increase their alignment with labour market needs;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes the importance of skills and competences acquired in non-formal and informal learning environments; stresses, therefore, the importance of creating a validation system for non-formal and informal forms of knowledge, especially those acquired via voluntary activities; insists in the implementation of the lifelong learning framework approach towards a flexible education path recognizing formal, but also non-formal and informal learning to foster equity and social cohesion and allowing employment opportunities for more vulnerable groups;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Welcomes the recognition of the importance of the social pillar, repeating the urgency of making it a reality in view of the poor economic and social performance in many countries since 2008. The social pillar should be fully integrated into the European semester. It should not feature only as an annex. The accompanying scoreboard indicates the scale of the task ahead if the EU is to achieve a "social triple-A rating". An acceptable level of incomes, living standards, social security, welfare provision, educational attainment and digital access has clearly not been achieved across all Member States[1]; [1]EESC opinion on Funding the European Pillar of Social Rights, OJC 262, 25.7.2018, p. 1;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls on the Commission to use the Pillar of Social Rights as a means to measure recommendations to Member States. The Pillar’s 20 principles should be used as markers for assessing countries’ success in integrating their commitment to the Social Pillar into their economic policies;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. As well as being used as a guide to policy recommendations, the scoreboard attached to the social pillar should be used as an example for similar analyses of performance of individual countries in relation to environmental and climate- change polices, so that they can be assessed at a similar level of seriousness;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that decent wages are important not only for social cohesion, but also for maintaining a strong economy and a productive labour force; calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement measures to improve job quality and reduce wage dispersion, including by raising wage floors also in the form of, where applicable, minimum wages set at decent levels; in this context, calls for policies that respect, promote and strengthen collective bargaining and workers’ position in wage-setting systems which plays a critical role in achieving high level working conditions; believes all this should be done with a view to supporting aggregate demand and economic recovery, reducing wage inequalities and fighting in-work poverty; stresses in this context, that European legislation and policies must respect trade union rights and freedom, comply with collective agreements and uphold equal treatments of workers;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Deplores the persistence of the gender pay and pension gap; calls on the EU and the Member States, in cooperation with the social partners and gender equality organisations, to set out and implement policies to close the gender and pension pay gap; calls on the Member States to carry out wage-mapping on a regular basis as a complement to these efforts;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes with concern that skills mismatches are considerable, and calls on the Member States to prioritise quality public investment in education and training as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth; recalls that the role of Member States is to guarantee an access to quality education and training at affordable cost notwithstanding the labour market need across the EU; however, stresses that convergence between qualifications and skills with job opportunities is a precondition for creating a competitive EU labour market; calls therefore Member States to monitor the labour market needs and to promote key sectors which generate jobs;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines that the integration of the long-term unemployed individuals through individually tailored measures is an important key factor for fighting inequalities, poverty and social exclusion and contributing towill ultimately contribute towards the sustainability of national social security systems; considers that it is necessary to take into account the social situation of these citizens and their needs in terms of sufficient incomes, adequate housing, public transport, health and childcare as well as a better monitoring at the European level of the policies implemented at the national level;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Notes that the EU continues to suffer from structural problems that need to be addressed; recognises that austerity measures are not appropriate to provide sustainable solutions for these problems; underlines the crucial need to boost the domestic demand by promoting public and private investment, by promoting socially and economically balanced structural reforms that reduce inequalities and promote quality and inclusive jobs, sustainable growth and social investment and responsible fiscal consolidation, thus reinforcing a favourable path towards more cohesion and upward social convergence environment for business and public services with a view to creating more quality jobs while balancing the social and the economic dimensions; stresses that those priorities will only be achieved if investment in human capital is prioritised as a common strategy;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Highlights that socially responsible reforms must be based on solidarity, integration, social justice and a fair wealth distribution - a model that ensures equality and social protection, protects vulnerable groups and improves the living standards for all citizens; stresses also the need to reorientate the Union’s economic policies towards a social market economy;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Highlights the importance of the automatic stabilisation dimension of welfare systems to absorb social shockwaves caused by external effects as recessions; calls therefore on the Member States to introduce policies to re-establish security in employment by providing pro- active protection, including in case of dismissals; with a view to ILO Recommendation No 202 which defines the social protection floors, calls also on the Member States to ensure and increase their investment in social protection systems in order to guarantee their performance in tackling and preventing poverty and inequalities while ensuring their sustainability;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take all necessary measures to improve work-life balance and boost gender equality; calls for the development of accessible and affordable high-quality care services and childcare and early education services, as well as adequate forms of support for family carers, who deliver the greater part of care in the EU; deplores the continuing gender pay and pension gap; recognises that this issue requires a multifaceted response, and calls on the Member States to address it as a matter of urgency; calls on the EU and the Member States, in cooperation with the social partners and gender equality organisations, to set out and implement policies to close the gender and pension pay gap; calls on the Member States to carry out wage-mapping on a regular basis as a complement to these efforts;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Highlights that universal access to public, solidarity-based and adequate retirement and old age pensions must be granted to all; acknowledges the challenges faced by Member States to strengthen the sustainability of pension systems but stresses the importance of safeguarding the solidarity in the pension systems; believes 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, improving working and employment conditions, and by committing the necessary supplementary public spending; believes that reforms of pension systems should focus amongst others on the effective retirement age and reflect labour market trends, birth rates, the health and wealth situation, working conditions and the economic dependency ratio; considers that these reforms must also take account of the situation of millions of workers in Europe, particularly women, youngsters and self-employed, suffering insecure, atypical employment, periods of involuntary unemployment and working- time reduction;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Recalls that the AGS favours a number of areas of social investment, including health, long-term care systems and public housing. The EESC has argued for the many positive effects of well-planned, effective and efficient future-oriented social investment which should be viewed not as a cost but as an investment in Europe’s growth and employment potential. Implementing these objectives requires space for public spending;