Activities of Momchil NEKOV related to 2018/0206(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) (A8-0461/2018 - Verónica Lope Fontagné) BG
Amendments (30)
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) On 17 November 2017, the European Pillar of Social Rights was jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission as a response to social challenges in Europe. The twenty key principles of the pillar are structured around three categories: equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; social protection and inclusion. The twenty principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights should guide the actions under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). In order to contribute to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights the ESF+ should support investments in people and systems in the policy areas of employment, education and training and social inclusion, thereby supporting economic, territorial and social cohesion in accordance with Article 174 TFEU.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The Union is confronted with structural challenges arising from social inequalities, e.g. unequal access to education, economic globalisation, the management of migration flows and related integration challenges, the increased security threat, clean energy transition, technological change and an increasingly ageing workforce and growing skills and labour shortages in some sectors and regions, experienced especially by SMEs. Taking into account the changing realities of the world of work, the Union should be prepared for the current and future challenges by investing in quality and inclusive education and training, lifelong learning and relevant skills, making labour markets and growth more inclusive and by improving education, employment and social policies, including in view of labour mobility.
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The Union is confronted with structural challenges arising from economic globalisation, the management of migration flows and the increased security threat, clean energy transition, technological change and an increasingly ageing workforce and growing skills and labour shortages in some sectors and regions, experienced especially by SMEs. Taking into account the changing realities of the world of work, the Union should be prepared for the current and future challenges by investing in relevant skills, competences and knowledge making growth more inclusive and by improving employment and social policies, including in view of labour mobility.
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5 a) Furthermore, culture is a key contributor to combating marginalisation and poverty and promoting social cohesion. Cultural engagement empowers groups at risk of social exclusion, such as economically disadvantaged, ageing, disabled people, and minority groups to become an active part of society. Cultural participation is beneficial to society as a whole as it fosters intercultural dialogue and facilitates integration of displaced people.
Amendment 60 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The ESF+ should aim to promote quality employment through active interventions enabling (re)integration into the labour market, notably for youth, the long-term unemployed and the inactive, as well as through promoting self– employment, with the accompanying adaptation of social protection systems, and the social economy. The ESF+ should aim to improve the functioning of labour markets by supporting the modernisation of labour market institutions such as the Public Employment Services in order to improve their capacity to provide intensified targeted and personalised counselling and guidance during the job search and the transition from education to employment and to enhance workers’ mobility. The ESF+ should promote women's participation in the labour market through measures aiming to ensure, amongst others, improved work/life balance and access to childcare. The ESF + should also aim to provide a healthy and well-adapted working environment in order to respond to health risks related to changing forms of work and the needs of the ageing workforce.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The ESF+ should provide support to improving the quality, effectiveness and labour market relevance of education and training systems in order to facilitate the acquisition of key competences notably as regards digital skills which all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, employment, social inclusion and active citizenship. The ESF+ should help progression within education and training and transition to work, support lifelong learning and employability, and contribute to competitiveness and societal and economic innovation by supporting scalable and sustainable initiatives in these fields. This could be achieved for example through work-based learning and apprenticeships, lifelong guidance, skills anticipation in cooperation with industry, up-to-date training materials, forecasting and graduate tracking, training of educators, validation oftrainers and teachers, validation of non- formal and informal learning outcomes and recognition of qualifications.
Amendment 72 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14 a) In light of the digitisation of all parts of society, e.g. banking, welfare services and education, the acquisition of new key competences, notably digital skills, becomes the precondition of effective civic participation. Local actors, community and cultural spaces including museums, libraries, theatres and other cultural heritage institutions, play a key role in providing access to digital devices and the Internet as well as in fostering digital skills among EU citizens at basic and more advanced levels. The ESF+ should therefore support these actors in the training of their staff members so that they can keep pace with the changing demands upon their services as well as in providing training and education of digital skills, such as media literacy, to the people.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Support through the ESF+ should be used to promote equal access for all, in particular for disadvantaged groups, to quality, non-segregated and inclusive education and training, from early childhood education and care through general and vocational education and training and to tertiary level, as well as adult education and learning, and to cultural activities, thereby fostering permeability between education and training sectors, preventing early school leaving, improving health literacy, reinforcing links with non-formal and informal learning, namely in the field of arts, and facilitating learning mobility for all. Special attention should be given to early childhood education as the early years are the most formative in human life and they greatly influence people's education, employment and integration prospects. Synergies with the Erasmus programme, notably to facilitate the participation of disadvantaged learners in learning mobility, with special attention to learners with disabilities, should be supported within this context.
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The ESF+ should promote flexible upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all, notably digital skills and key enabling technologies, with a view to providing people of all ages across formal, non- formal and informal settings with skills adjusted to digitalisation, technological change, innovation and social and economic change, facilitating transitions from education to employment for young people, career transitions, mobility and supporting in particular low-skilled and/or poorly qualified adults, in line with the Skills Agenda for Europe. In this context, special attention should be paid to local actors, community and cultural spaces including museums, libraries, theatres and other cultural heritage institutions, that play an important role in supporting individuals to acquire skills, especially digital skills and media literacy.
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The ESF+ should promote flexible upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all, notably basic and advanced skills, as well as digital skills and key enabling technologies, with a view to providing people with skills, competences and knowledge adjusted to digitalisation, technological change, innovation and social and economic change, facilitating career transitions, mobility and supporting in particular low-skilled and/or poorly qualified adults, in line with the Skills Agenda for Europe.
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Synergies with the Horizon Europe programme should ensure that the ESF+ can mainstream and scale up innovative curricula supported by Horizon Europe in order to equip people with the skills and competences needed for the jobs of the future as well as for the active participation in a digitised society.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17 a (new)
Recital 17 a (new)
(17 a) Synergies with the Creative Europe programme should ensure that the ESF+ can mainstream and scale up innovative projects that aim at equipping people with the skills and competences needed for the jobs of the future as well as for the active participation in society, at connecting all layers of society and at fostering social inclusion.
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18 a) With a view to fully tapping into the potential of cross-sectoral cooperation, to improving synergies and coherence with other policy fields and to achieving the general objectives of the ESF+, sport and physical activity as well as culture should be used as tools in ESF+ actions aimed, in particular, at improving social inclusion and active citizenship.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 b (new)
Recital 18 b (new)
(18 b) To strengthen the European dimension of the programme, the ESF+ should also support transnational actions and activities, with due simplification of rules and procedures, in order to foster peer learning and the exchange of good practices.
Amendment 117 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In the light of persistently high levels of youth unemployment and inactivity in a number of Member States and regions, in particular affecting young people who are neither in employment, nor in education or training, it is necessary that those Member States continue to invest sufficient resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management towards actions to promote youth employment including through the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes. Building on the actions supported by the Youth Employment Initiative in the 2014-2020 programming period targeting individual persons, Member States should further promote employment and education reintegration pathways and outreach measures for young people by prioritising, where relevant, long-term unemployed, inactive and disadvantaged young people including through youth work. Member States should also invest in measures aimed at facilitating school-to-work transition as well as reforming and adapting public employment services with a view to providing tailor-made and personalised support to young people, and increasing their outreach to the most vulnerable in particular. Member States concerned should therefore allocate at least 105% of their national resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management to support youth employability.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In the light of persistently high levels of youth unemployment and inactivity in a number of Member States and regions, in particular affecting young people who are neither in employment, nor in education or training, it is necessary that those Member States continue to invest sufficient resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management towards actions to promote youth employment including through the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes. Building on the actions supported by the Youth Employment Initiative in the 2014-2020 programming period targeting individual persons, Member States should further promote employment and education reintegration pathways and outreach measures for young people, especially NEETs, by prioritising, where relevant, long-term unemployed, inactive and disadvantaged young people including through youth work and formal, non- formal and informal learning. Member States should also invest in measures aimed at facilitating school-to-work transition as well as reforming and adapting employment services with a view to providing tailor-made support lifelong career guidance to young people. Member States concerned should therefore allocate at least 10% of their national resources of the ESF+ strand under shared management to support youth employability.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Efficient and effective implementation of actions supported by the ESF+ depends on good governance and partnership between all actors at the relevant territorial levels and the socio- economic actors, in particular the social partners and civil society. It is therefore essential that Member States encouragsure the participation of social partners and civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the ESF+ under shared management.
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) With a view to rendering policies more responsive to societal change and to encourage and support innovative solutions, support for social innovation is crucial. In particular, testing and evaluating innovative solutions before scaling them up is instrumental in improving the efficiency of the policies and thus justifies specific support from the ESF+.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) Lack of access to finance for microenterprises, notably in the cultural and creative sectors, social economy and social enterprises is one of the main obstacles to business creation, especially among people furthest from the labour market. The ESF+ Regulation lays down provisions in order to create a market eco- system to increase the supply of and access to finance for social enterprises as well as to meet demand from those who need it most, and in particular the unemployed, women and vulnerable people who wish to start up or develop a microenterprise. This objective will also be addressed through financial instruments and budgetary guarantee under the social investment and skills policy window of the InvestEU Fund.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
The ESF+ aims to support Member States to achieve fair and inclusive societies, high employment levels, fair social protection and a skilled and resilient workforce ready for the future world of work, in line with the principles set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 17 November 2017.
Amendment 157 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
The ESF+ shall support, complement and add value to the policies of the Member States to ensure equal opportunities, access to quality formal and non-formal education and training, access to the labour market, fair working conditions, social protection and inclusion, and a high level of human health protection.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point iv
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point iv
(iv) improving the quality, effectiveness, inclusiveness, and labour market relevance of education and training systems, to support acquisition of key competences including digital skills and cultural awareness and expression, while recognising the relevance of non-formal and informal learning and the value of cooperation with social partners and civil society;
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point v
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point v
(v) promoting equal access to and completion of, quality and inclusive education and training, aiming at breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation across generations, in particular for disadvantaged groups, from early childhood education and care through general and vocational education and training, and to tertiary level, as well as adult education and learning, including facilitating learning mobility for all;
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point vi
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point vi
(vi) promoting lifelong learning, notably flexible and learner-centred upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all taking into account digital skills, better anticipating change and new skills requirements based on personal, societal and labour market needs, facilitating career transitions and, promoting professional mobility, fostering participation in society and tackling societal challenges;
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point x
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point x
(x) promoting social integration of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including the most deprived and children, by supporting the use of innovative measures, including social inclusion through sport, physical activity and culture;
Amendment 218 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. Each Member State shall ensure adequate participation of social partners and civil society organisations in the delivery and monitoring of employment, education and social inclusion policies and initiatives supported by the ESF+ strand under shared management.
Amendment 220 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Member States shall envisage actions intended to help small beneficiaries to fully comply with the regulatory requirements in the ESF+, including monitoring and reporting, aiming at diversifying the type of recipients of the Fund and increasing the participation of non-traditional beneficiaries in co-funded projects especially at local and regional levels.
Amendment 226 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall support actions of social as well as socio-cultural innovation and social experimentations, or strengthen bottom-up approaches based on partnerships involving public authorities, the private sector, and civil society such as the Local Action Groups designing and implementing community-led local development strategies.
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
1. Programmes benefitting from the general support of the ESF+ strand under shared management shall use common output and result indicators, as set out in Annex 1 to this Regulation to monitor progress in implementation, with flexibility to adapt those indicators to national, regional and local needs where appropriate. The programmes may also use programme- specific indicators.
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1
1. Priorities addressing material deprivation shall use common output and result indicators, as set out in Annex II to this Regulation to monitor progress in implementation. These programmes may also use programme-specific indicators. Projects may as well establish additional quantitative and qualitative indicators that measure soft outcomes and the progress made by participants towards the common results and indicators.