Activities of Paloma LÓPEZ BERMEJO related to 2016/2101(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (A8-0309/2016 - Alfred Sant) ES
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (debate) ES
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities PDF (471 KB) DOC (95 KB)
Amendments (51)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13
Citation 13
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
- having regard to the protocol 26 of the Treaties,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 b (new)
Citation 17 b (new)
- having regard to the FMI report "Fiscal Monitor. Taxing times" of October 2013
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Commission’s spring 2016 forecast indicates growth rates of 1.6 % for the eurozone and 1.8 % for the EU in 2016. whereas this growth rate is unequally distributed, with rising inequality both across and within Member States;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A. whereas the EU, along with its Member States, is continuing to struggle with the most serious economic and social crisis in its history; whereas neo-liberal EU policies and the austerity-oriented policies imposed by the EU for the purposes of economic governance have added to government debt and, as was to be expected, exacerbated socio-economic inequalities within and among Member States, reflected in the increase in the numbers at risk of poverty and social exclusion (who in 2015 accounted for 24.4% of the population in EU-28);
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe still flaceks a huge investment deficit, even though the current account surplus in the eurozone continues to rise, theoretically creating more favourable conditions for public and private investment due to the exceptionally low interest rates on government borrowingfrom public investment, capable of steering away the economy from market-driven dynamics to a more robust model for economic growth, capable of ensuring social and regional cohesion in the EU;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe still faces a huge investment deficit, even though the current account surplus in the eurozone continues to rise, theoretically creating more favourable conditionswhich indicates the need for pubolic and private investment due to the exceptionally low interest rates on government borrowingies geared toward internal demand and public investment;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas unemployment in the EU remains one of the main challenges that Member States are facing as ithere are currently stands at a very over 21,1 million unemployed (of whigch rate (10.5 million long-term unemployed in the EU), even if the numbers have improved slightly compared with previous year); whereas official figures underestimate real unemployment, registering workers as underemployed or inactive or otherwise failing to register them accurately due to national statistical practices;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas unemployment in the EU remains one of the main challenges that Member States are facing as it currently stands at a very high rate (10.5 million long-term unemployed in the EU), even if the numbers have improved slightly compared with previous years; whereas, however, this improvement is due in part to the fall in the working population caused by rising emigration, especially in the countries hardest hit by the crisis, and to the way in which unemployed workers in many countries are counted and defined for statistical purposes;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas it is imperative to break with the neo-liberal principles that have been governing the policies imposed by the EU on the peoples and workers of Member States, and whereas sustainable economic growth, that is to say, based on decent wages, work with rights, state control of strategic economic sectors, universal free access to all levels of education, and the promotion and socialisation of innovation, is the only way to boost the Member States’ economies and their competitiveness;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ca (new)
Recital Ca (new)
Ca. whereas unemployment rates remain significantly higher in the Eurozone and the European periphery, which have suffered most from neoliberal policies; whereas these divergences are in fact much higher, but are disguised due to forced migration flows of the workforce in the periphery;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the European Semester and the related instruments, which are basically intended to make Member States, regardless of the letter of their constitutions and the will of the people, institutionalise austerity-based fiscal and economic policies in line with the debt and deficit targets laid down in the Stability and Growth Pact, the economic reform plans set out in their country- specific recommendations, and the Europe 2020 growth and employment targets, are by nature profoundly neo- liberal and anti-democratic;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas depressed wage dynamics, slow economic growth and falling oil prices at the start of 2016 appear to be the key reasonre dragging down the inflation rate to below zero levels;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fa (new)
Recital Fa (new)
Fa. whereas putting an end to tax evasion and tax fraud of corporations and wealthy individuals would suffice to close the remaining public deficit; whereas public spending is not constrained but available resources, but by the political constraints imposed by the EU and particularly, its governance structure and the euro;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fb (new)
Recital Fb (new)
Fb. whereas Ireland has shown a 26% growth rate for 2015. Whereas this data demonstrates the way how a model of growth could be based in protect transnational capital interest and foster capital mobility with no impact on the real economy. Whereas Ireland has been a model country for the European Commission;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fc (new)
Recital Fc (new)
Fc. whereas the Juncker Plan has failed to increase investment and has only served as another avenue for financial speculation, as many critics had noted before its implementation; whereas the funds diverted have had serious consequences for public spending through the EU budget, in programs such as Horizon 2020 and Connecting Europe Facility;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the challenges in the EU are linked to the deteriorating international environment and the divergences in the economic and social performance achieved in different parts of the Unioninadequacy of the neoliberal economic model, which depresses economic growth and increases divergences in the economic and social performance in different Member States of the Union by reducing public spending and wages, while fostering market-driven economic policies regardless of its economic and social effects;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that the worsening global outlook means that domestic sources of growth need to be strengthened, involving a different policy mix to boost public and private investment, above all with a view to expanding and upgrading infrastructure, production equipment, and production and organisation methods and techniques, and to stimulate domestic demand, in particular by restoring the income lost as a result of so-called austerity policies and by implementing a genuinely redistributive and progressive tax policy;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s focus in its 2016 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) on the three main priorities to further strengthen economic growth: supporting investment, pursuing structural reforms and presConsiders the country-specific recommendations to be a blatant affront to sovereign, democratic decision-taking by the Member States’ peoples and workers concervning responsible public financthe future of their countries;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomeRejects the Commission’s focus in its 2016 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) on the three main priorities to further strengthen economic growth: supporting investment, pursuing structural reforms and preserving responsible public finances, as they continue the failed stance of current policies;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomNotes the Commission’'s continuing approach to limit the number of recommendations and its effort to mainstream the semester by covering mainly key priority areas of macroeconomic and social relevance, when setting the policy objectives for the next 18 months; reiteratdeplores that this facilitatenhances the implemnterventation of recommendations according to a comprehensive and meaningful range of social benchmarksthe Commission over the democratic will of its elected, national authorities; underlines that, notwithstanding the introduction of alleged "social" indicators and benchmarks, the overall aims of the recommendations have single-mindedly pushed for the same neoliberal agenda, with dramatic effects on the social cohesion and the economic development of the Member States under supervision;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Fully supports the efforts made to ensure greater Highlights that ‘national ownership’ in the process of formulation and implementation of CSRs as an ongoing reform process; only refers to the ad hoc involvement of national authorities and civil society organisation in the deepening of the EU's neoliberal agenda, rather than a genuine expression of national sovereignty and democracy;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that Europe’'s long economic crisis has shown that there is a strong need to focus on public and private investment, in order to enhance the EU’s competitivenesmobilise investment and generate growth and jobs;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the still-too-high unemployment rates show that the capacity to create jobs in most Member States is still limited; emphasises that further action is needed, in consultation with social partners and in accordance with national practices, to make labour markets more inclusive overallcalls for a radical shift in economic policies; stresses, as a first set of priorities, the need to increase public employment, reduce working-hours without a reduction in wages and strengthen social protection for the unemployed, including through minimum income schemes; emphasises that further action is needed, in consultation with social partners, to increase wages and protect workers’ rights;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Expresses disquiet aboutit concerns that the deeply ideologised monetary policy of the ECB has led to the current ‘liquidity trap’ theat EU economy seems to have fallen intois facing, with interest rates at the Zero Lower Bound (ZLB), weak demand prospects, and restricted investment and spending by households and companies, not least in surplus countrie; Stresses that an alternative monetary policy focused on purchases of sovereign debt of Member States in secondary markets, as well as debt mutualisation through instruments such as Eurobonds, would have avoided the contagion of the financial crisis to the sovereign debt markets;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Points to the need for fiscal policies to stimulate economic growth; notes that debt renegotiation is necessary in some countries in order to bring down government and household debt to sustainable levels; draws attention to the disastrous effects of the austerity policies (not least in the countries being bailed out by the Troika), whereby fiscal consolidation strategies have put public investment, the social functions of the State, and economic growth in jeopardy;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the Commission’'s recommendation for three Member States to exit the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), but stresses the need to abolish the economic governance structure of the EU, as implemented by the SGP, the Two-Pack and the Six-pack; agrees with the Commission that large and consistent current account surpluses reflect a clear need to stimulate demand and investment in order to cope with the; challenges ofn the future regarding transport and communications, the digital economy, education and research, climate change, energy, environmental protection and the ageing population; calls on the Commission to continue to support budgetary policies that underpin growth and recovery in all Member States and support sustainable structural reformCommission to end its support for austerity budgetary policies and structural reforms in all Member States;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that further measures are neededboosting aggregate demand is needed in order to reduce non- performing loans (NPL) in the euro area and to increase the ability of banks to lend to the real economy, notably to SMEs;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the fact that private investment has so far lagged and failed to lead to sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU and that under the current circumstances, monetary policy alone is unlikely to bring about recovery, even though the rules made necessary by banking union have imposed more stringent financial criteria on banks; considers that a coordinated fiscal expansion is also needed in the EU, therefore, in line with the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and its flexibility clauseswill bring no recovery; considers that a coordinated fiscal expansion is also needed in the EU, in order to place emphasis on public and private investment;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls for an immediate end to the so-called memoranda of understanding and the counter-productive and socially devastating austerity and neo-liberal policies that they have imposed; takes the view that these memoranda have imposed unfair tax policies which violate the principle of proportional equality and progressive taxation; calls for emergency plans to be drawn up to support the economies of countries under the Troika regime in order to provide for financial resources and for the necessary exceptions to the operation of the single market and common policies;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Urges the EU institutions to embark on and support a process to renegotiate government debt in the most heavily indebted countries (covering amounts, payment deadlines, and interest rates) with a view to substantially reducing debt levels and annual charges so as to restore sustainability, thereby making debt service compatible with economic and social development in the countries concerned;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Recommends that measures be taken as a matter of urgency to aid the productive sectors which are vital to every economy and hence play an essential role in the potential development of individual countries; calls for the promotion of public projects and support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and local government, and for Union funds to be boosted and channelled in that direction;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Calls for support programmes to be set up for Member States should they wish – having realised that their participation in EMU has become unsustainable and intolerable – to negotiate their exit from the euro, and considers that programmes of this kind should provide for the compensation necessary to make good such social and economic damage as the countries in question might have suffered because they adopted the single currency;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises the need to improve the EU’s overall capacity to create and sustain quality jobs and thus to tackle high levels of unemployment, while considering that migration could play an important role in compensating for the negative effects of the ageing population; emphasises, however, that this alone cannot be the main response to address structural demographic, labour market or fiscal challenges but and in-work poverty, through a strengthening of collective bargaining and the protection of social and labour rights; emphasises that ithis should be complemented with efficient public expenditure, especially in high-quality social and environmentally sustainable investments and an expansion of the welfare state;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the importance of resilient labour markets where an appropriate trade-off is maintained between economic, social and human costs in accordance with the EU values of solidarity and subsidiarity, with a focus on the upgrading of educational systems and vocational educationith a focus on maintaining and improving social and workers’ rights, also in the design and implementation active employment policies;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Invites the Commission to give priority to measures that reduce the obstacles to greater investment flows, which arise at both an EU level from a lack of clarity regarding strategies that are to be followed, especially in the fields of energy, transport, communications and the digital economy, as well as from the effect on bank lending in the wake of the adoption of the banking union, and a national level from cumbersome legal systems, corruption, lack of transparency, outdated bureaucracy, inadequate digitalisation of public services, lack of mutual recognition of academic and technical qualifications in the professions and certain services sectors, and educational systems that remain out of synch with modern requiremensupport the improvement of public services, particularly in those countries most deeply affected by past budgetary cuts;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Deeply deplores the fact that with regard toneoliberal approach of the Europe 2020 strategy, the biggest failure to be recorded concerns the goal of reducing the scale of poverty in the Union, aswhich explains the lack of progress in achieving its most significant goal, lifting 20 million Europeans out of poverty and social exclusion, since not only will the goal not be reached, but poverty will in fact have increasedincrease under the current policy framework;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Greatly deplores the fact that Portugal and Spain are currently being blackmailed and consequently threatened with a series of penalties, resulting in intolerable instability incompatible with the need to revitalise economic growth and overcome the social crisis which the two countries are undergoing; calls, therefore, for the above process and the mechanisms underlying it to be halted immediately; maintains that the European institutions have to respect the sovereignty of each Member State and the decision taken by citizens to move towards development, growth, and social cohesion, and that no country should be penalised for stimulating its economy, whether through public investment plans or through redistributive fiscal and progressive tax policies;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Rejects macroeconomic conditionality whereby cohesion policy is made subject to EU economic governance; stresses that regional policy is an important tool for promoting economic and social cohesion, as its main aims are to reduce disparities among regions – especially where poorer regions and the outermost regions are concerned – promote real convergence, and encourage growth and employment; maintains that cohesion policy should not be used as a means of financial punishment if a region or Member State rejects deregulation and privatisation policies;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of better addressing the high tax wedge on labour given that high taxation diminishes incentives for the inactive, the unemployed, second earners and low- wage earners to returntax reform to eliminate its current regressive bias; deeply rejects the shift towards indirect taxation due to its strong regressive nature; calls for a shift towards redistributive direct taxation with an special focus on corporate and wealth taxation in order to eimployment, by promoting a growth-friendly tax shift towards consumption and environmental taxrove public budget revenues and addressing the rising problem of inequality in EU Member States;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16a (new)
Paragraph 16a (new)
16a. Calls for a coordinated EU approach in order to increase the progressivity of national tax system by ensuring progressive taxation of the wealthiest and of corporations where their income flows are generated and where their real assets are located; notes that the implementation of CCCTB in this regard can be successful only if it ensures a clear link between real production and corporate profits and minimum rates are set at a level that does not encourage further tax competition; stresses the need for further progressivity in capital, wealth and corporate taxes, as well as labour taxes, to fight inequality and reduce the financing needs of the public sector;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points out that efforts should be made to remove remaining barriers to investment in the Member States and allow for a more suitable policy mix, including a genuine focus on research and development spending; believes that public and private spending and support for research and higher education institutions are crucial factors and that the weakness or absence of this infrastructure places certain countries at a massive disadvantage; In this regard, urges the creation of co-financing exception clauses that allow room for budgetary manoeuvre, in order to provide liquidity for public investment purposes, the development in the fields of education, culture and health and social development as a whole, which will facilitate the creation of quality jobs, as well as the strengthening of the welfare state;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points out that efforts should be made to remove remaining barriers to investment in the Member States and allow for a more suitable policy mix, including a genuine focus on research and development spending; believes that public and private spending and support for research and higher education institutions are crucial factors and that the weakness or absence of this infrastructure places certain countries at a massive disadvantage; calls for exception clauses to be established – pending the final repeal of the Fiscal Stability Treaty – in order to afford a degree of fiscal latitude to provide liquidity for investment, for development in the spheres of education, culture, and health, and for holistic social development to help create secure employment of high quality and strengthen the Welfare State;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17a (new)
Paragraph 17a (new)
17a. Calls for the exclusion of public investment from the calculation of the deficit of the Member States in order to boost investment in the EU;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Firmly rejects the idea that the EU economic governance framework would be improved by strengthening its social dimension;
Amendment 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Calls for the treaties governing integration to be made reversible, in particular the Lisbon Treaty with a view to its repeal, together with the repeal of the EMU Fiscal Compact and the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, the European Semester, the six-pack, and the two-pack; calls, therefore, for an intergovernmental conference to be convened by the European Council to discuss the reversibility and repeal of the treaties; maintains that Member States must, as a matter of urgency, regain the ability to determine the economic policies best suited to their needs;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17b (new)
Paragraph 17b (new)
17b. Rejects the use of sanctions against Spain and Portugal by the European Commission as they will increase inequalities and prevent the recovery of their economy; underlines that any sanctions represents an undemocratic attempt to impose neoliberal measures; highlights the serious impact that the freeze of European funds will have on both economies, with negative cumulative effects over time; stresses that the proposed path of fiscal consolidation will further depress economic activity by reducing public spending and slowing down the de-leveraging of the private sector;
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17c (new)
Paragraph 17c (new)
17c. Calls to the Commission and Member States to open a process of renegotiation of public debt in the most indebted countries, substantially reducing its level and the annual charges, and bringing it down to sustainable levels, thereby making the debt service compatible with economic and social development;