Activities of Paloma LÓPEZ BERMEJO related to 2016/2307(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2017 PDF (385 KB) DOC (94 KB)
Amendments (28)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11
Citation 11
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12
Citation 12
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17
Citation 17
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20
Citation 20
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 31
Citation 31
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas unemployment in the EU has been falling, 8 million new jobs have been created since 2013, and unemployment stood at 8.6 % in September 2016, reaching its lowest level sincestood at 8.6 % in September 2016, still above 2008 levels; whereas unemployment rates are still higher in the Eurozone, reaching 10.0% in September 200916;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas if the current trends continue, the Europe 2020 employment rate target of 75 % could in fact be reachedenduring stagnation and the deepening of neoliberal reforms make it improbable that the Europe 2020 employment rate target of 75 % is reached; whereas female employment rates are still some 10 points lower than male employment rates, demonstrating an enduring gender gap;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the youth unemployment rate at EU level stands at 18.6 % and 21.0% at Eurozone level; whereas 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;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the long-term unemployment rate (relating to unemployment of more than one year) fell by 0.7 % in the year to the first quarter of 2016, torepresent 4.2 % of the labour force; whereas the very long-term unemployment rate (relating to unemployment of more than two years) fell torepresents 2.6 % of the labour force; whereas the number of long- term unemployed remains high, at around 10 million and is still above 2011 levels;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas there are a number of positiv European economy is still far from recovering from the 2008 crisis and its overall performance is below the dlevelopments in the EU, signalling the resilience and recovery of the European econom of similar economies; whereas financial instability still poses a major risk for many European economies, in part as a result of the enormous concentration of financial activities in a few institutions (e.g. too-big-to-fail); whereas neoliberal reforms have reduced social protection, wages and job quality, resulting in increasing inequalities that further threaten meaningful economic recovery;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas there is considerable concern that the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) has already approved 69 projects in 18 countries and signed 56 operations,is merely substituting for other forms of EIB credit and thius is expected to lead to more than 22 EUR billionhas failed to demonstrate any additionality in its investment and to involve around 71 000 SMEss; draws attention, in this regard, to the recent ECA opinion 2/2016;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas in many Member States the working-age population and the labour force are continuing to shrink, notably as a result of low birth rates, ageing, emigration, and health-related exits from the labour marke, high unemployment rates push workers outside of the labour market; whereas new employment is often precarious in nature, considering stagnating wages and the growth in in-work poverty, bogus self- employment, involuntary part-time jobs, non-paid over-time and other forms of non-quality employment;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomNotes the fact that in the Annual Growth Survey 2017 emphasis is placedspeaks onf the importance of ensuring social fairness as a means of stimulating more inclusive growth, as well as on creating jobs and enhancing skills and on the need to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and productivity; highlights, however, that these recommendations are incompatible with its overall policy outlook, which remains concerned with fiscal consolidation and deregulation of labour markets;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that the implementation of the Youth Guarantee should be strengthened at national, regional and local level, and stresses its importance for school-to-work transitionswith the active participation of the social partners and strengthened public job services; expresses its concern at the lack of available funds and lack of control over the quality of job and educational opportunities created and considers that the concerns by ECA (3/2015) in this regards have not been properly addressed; stresses the need for an evaluation of the programmes currently financed at Member State level since some, such as direct subsidies to firms, have proved both expensive and ineffective in fighting youth unemployment;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomNotes the increase in the employment rate, but expresses doubts over its sustainability and the quality of jobs created; encourages the Member States to make further efforts in order to reach the Europe 2020 employment rate target of 75 %, by means of increased fiscal spending, stronger collective bargaining, higher wages and extended social protection, in order to boost final demand; calls, in this regard, to revert the labour reforms promoted by the EU after the crisis, since they have led to a decreased coverage of collective bargaining and protection against firing in several Member States; highlights that the reduction of weekly working hours without a reduction in wages is a useful tool in increasing decent employment;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that the integration of long-term unemployed individuals through individually tailored measures is a key factor for fighting poverty and social exclusion and contributing to the sustainability of national social security systemsthrough decent job creation; expresses concern, however, at the increasing administrative controls over the long-term unemployed, which often result in a loss of benefits and search fatigue, rather than in improved itineraries towards decent job creation; highlights, in this context, the importance of recognising skills and competences acquired in non-formal and informal learning environments;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that matching skills and qualifications with demand and job opportunities is a precondition for creating a competitive EU labour market; calls on Member States to better align educationremains to be improved in several Member States, with due participation of the social partners and straining with labour market needs across the EUengthened public job services; takes the view that mutual recognition of qualifications will be beneficial for overcoming the gap between skills shortages on the European labour market and jobseekers, especially young peopleis important to support the fundamental right to mobility, without undermining national competences on regulating professions;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that insufficient investment in education, and especially including digital skills, may undermine Europe’s ecompetitive position and the employability of its workforcenomy; laments, in this regard, the budgetary cuts on education and research that have resulted from austerity measures; calls on the Member States to prioritisensure comprehensive training in digital skills and to take into account the shift towards the digital economy in the context of upskilling and retraining; underlines that collective bargaining must be strengthened to ensure a fair transition to the digital economy;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to provide labour inspectorates or other relevant public bodies with adequate resources to address the issue of undeclared work, as well as to reinforce labour inspection mechanisms and design measuresanctions to enable workers to move from the grey to the formal economy in order to have access to employmenbe legally employed, in line with ILO standards; stresses, in this regard, the need for cooperation between Member States, for instance through European Platform on undeclared work; underlines that workers should not be penalized and that andy social protection systemanctions must fall on those responsible for their situation, namely their employers;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives are important for sustainable and inclusive development and job creation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to give greater consideration to the interests of MSMEs and cooperatives in the policy-making process without lowering current employment standards, for instance through increased administrative and technical support;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the EU and the Member States to make more active use of theensure that European Structural and Investment Funds in support of the icontribute to decent empleoymentation of the country- specific recommendat and improved social cohesions;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights that European funds and programmes such as Erasmus for Entrepreneurs, the European Employment Services (EURES), the programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprishave different objectives, and should not be conflated, but may be coordinated in order to ensure their best and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), the programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and thevailable use; calls, in this regard, for a stronger streamlining of social issues, by ensuring European Ffund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) have the potential to facilitate access to financing and boost investment and, therefore, entrepreneurships and programmes effectively contribute to the creation of quality jobs and increased social cohesion; highlights the need to ensure effective cooperation between different public authorities, so as to maximize the impact of their activities; recalls the importance of the partnership principle, the bottom-up approach and adequate resource allocation; calls on the Commission to ensure the close monitoring of the use of EU funds;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points out to the Member States, in view of the ageing of Europe’s citizens, the need to ensure the sustainability, safety, adequacy and effectiveness of social security systems over the coming decades; encourages the Member States, therefore, to develop strategies to ensure that more people can continue to be active participants in society the need to ensure a progressive system of financing for public social security systems, that ensure they provide a decent earning after retirement without need for complementary private pension schemes; believes that the creation of decent employment remains the best tool to ensure the sustainability of public social security systems;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that an increased effort is required in many Member States to educate the workforce, including adult education and vocational training opportunitieimprove vocational training systems and permanent education, requiring an extension of public funding and the participation of social partners;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. WelcomeRegrets that in the AGS 2017 emphasis is placed on the need to promote tax and benefit reforms aimed at improving work incentives and making work pay, asenalize the unemployed and decrease social security financing and the progressivity of taxation, under the misguided belief that these actions will somehow promote employment; notes that these actions will have to be reversed if tax systems can alsare to contribute to combating income inequalities and poverty; stresses, in this regard, the need to increase the coverage of minimum income schemes, so that they are universal and individualized and guarantee to every citizen an income above the absolute and relative poverty tresholds;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Member States to set minimum social standards in line with the principles of the European Social Charter; believes that the European Social Charter should also act as a reference point for minimum standards in the upcoming European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. WelcomesLaments that the involvement in the European Semester process of the social partners, the national parliaments and other relevant stakeholders from civil society is limited to rubber-stamp those reforms already agreed at EU-level; reiterates that meaningful social dialogue must be pursued in all phaseis incompatible with the aims of the Semester;