33 Amendments of João PIMENTA LOPES related to 2016/2061(INI)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the aim of pension policies is to make sure that pensionublic social security systems give all EU citizens a decent income that safeguards them against the risk of social exclusion;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the pension gap tends to leave women more at risk of economic vulnerability and, economic dependence and poverty than men;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas, owing to their longer life expectancy, women are likely, on average, to require more pension capital than men to cover their retirement the increase in average life expectancy, particularly among women, is not matched by the sustainability of social security systems, which have been weakened by specific measures and policies aimed at privatising these systems;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas that gap, which is the product of a range ofdifference involves several factors, is a reflection of the gender imbalance that exists in relation to careers and family life, as well as to the ability to make pension contributions, to position within the family group and to the way in which income is calculated for pension purposencluding the real situation of working women in the various sectors of activity, the viability of the public social security system and contribution periods;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the pension gap differs from one woman pensioner to another according to social, marital and/or family status; whereas, in view of this, a one-size- fits-all approach will not necessarily produce the best results;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas there appears tomay be a positive correlation between the pension gap and the number of children brought up; whereas, in view of this, the inequalities suffered by single mothers are likely to be exacerbated when they retire;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas, despite the efforts made to improve the situation in this area, the employment rate among women still falls short of the Europe 2020 strategy targets, which are in any case not very ambitious, and is still lower than that among men;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas the number of years worked has a direct impact onand the value of that work has a direct impact on the difference in the value of pension income; whereas women’s careers are on average more than 10 years shorter than men’s, and whereas the pension gap is twice as large for women who have worked for less than 14 years (at 64%) than for those who have worked for a longer period (32%); whereas this situation is the result of political and class options that foster discrimination between men and women, precarious employment and low wages that particularly affect women, labour deregulation and the attack on collective bargaining;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas there continues to be a gender pay gap in the European Union; whereas that gap, which stood at 16.3% in 2014, is caused in particular by discrimination and segregation resulting in the over-representation of women in sectors where pay is lower than in sectors dominated mainly by men; whereas this gap is part of the widening social, economic and gender inequalities in the European Union, a situation that is undeniably linked to the neoliberal and austerity policies imposed by the Commission and the EU, which are responsible for rising poverty (the EU-28 now has 124 million people at risk of poverty and social exclusion), rising unemployment (more than 20 million unemployed people in the EU-28) and greater inequalities in the distribution of wealth;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U
Recital U
U. whereas Member States have sole responsibility for the organisation of public social security systems and pension systems; whereas, nonetheless, the European Union has a supporting competence in this area;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U a (new)
Recital U a (new)
Ua. whereas elderly people have a right to economic security through decent retirement, and to enjoy family and community life in conditions which respect their individual autonomy and which prevent and overcome social isolation or marginalisation; whereas they must have the right to access a quality public network of facilities providing support for the elderly, accessible to all citizens regardless of their socioeconomic status, particularly day centres, residential homes and home help; whereas they have a right to quality public health services allowing universal access to a healthy ageing process;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U b (new)
Recital U b (new)
Ub. whereas public social security systems provide the only guarantee of the right to a decent pension;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U c (new)
Recital U c (new)
Uc. whereas the increase in average life expectancy, particularly among women, cannot under any circumstances be used as an argument to justify raising the retirement age, since the sustainability of social security systems is not linked to this development;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on Member States to take measures to eliminate the pay differential between women and men and put an end to all forms of precarious employment, investing in the creation of permanent jobs and lifelong learning and professional training;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that the sustainability and improvement of pension systems are obviously conditioned by the first pillar, as the financial crisis has shown; urges that pension systems need to be reformed, upholding universal and supportive public social security systems able to guarantee decent retirement conditions for all, reflecting true inter-generational solidarity;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that this strategy should seek tohelp address not only, at Member State level, the impact of the pension gap, in particular on the most vulnerable groups, but alsoas well as its underlying causes;
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regretcognises that the currentausterity policies pushed by the European Union encouraged and are continuing to encourage the freeze and cuts in pensions in some Member States, which is hitting people with low incomes, part-time jobs or interrupted careers (most of them women) hardest;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Takes the view that public social security systems will be sustainable only if new forms and sources of financing statutory pension schemes are adopted, making social security contributions payable on all financial income, and applying fiscal reforms under which people who have higher incomes and profits will be required to make a more decisive contribution to public social security systems;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. AsksRecommends that the Member States to increase minimum wages as annd pursue policies designed to raise wage levels as important tools for narrowing social inequalities and pension gaps;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the Member States to promote action to close the gap through their social policies, to raise awareness among decision-makers in this area and to develop programmes that will provide women with more information on the gap’s implications for them, as well as with the tools they require in order to devise sustainable pension funding strategies that are tailored to, through their policies, to promote the fight against unemployment and wage discrimination and to promote higher wages, as irreplaceable tools in the fight against low pensions for women, and to raise awareness among decision-makers in this area and to develop programmes that will provide women with more information on the need for an increase in their specific neednsions;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that EU legislation against gender discrimination is properly implemented, with a view to making sure that men and women have an equal ability to make pension contributions, which entails raising wages, safeguarding collective bargaining, combating all forms of precarious employment, including part-time work, most of which is done by women and which leads to only partial pension entitlements, creating permanent jobs and promoting lifelong learning and professional training;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Condemns unequivocally gender pay disparities resulting from discrimination and reiterates its call for Directive 2006/54/EC to be revised in order to ensure morewith a view to equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and pay and the application of the equal pay for equal work principle;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Points to the importance, in a context in which the burden of responsibility for pensions is shifting from state pension systems to self-funded schemes, of ensuring that access to the financial services covered by Directive 2004/113/EC is non-discriminatory; takes the view that transferring responsibility from public social security systems to personal finance schemes implies a downgrading of those systems and their underlying principle of inter-generational solidarity, whilst at the same time promoting the lucrative business of insurance companies and ending the universal nature of the public social security systems that guarantee access to ageing with dignity for all;
Amendment 172 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that the sustainability of pension schemes can be reinforced by complementing social security with tax contributionsublic social security and pension schemes is intrinsically linked to the preservation or creation of a public, universal system based on solidarity that can and must be reinforced by creating jobs, raising wage levels and hence boosting social security contributions; stresses, further, that strengthening these systems necessarily entails the correct management of the revenue generated through social security schemes for workers, as part of an effective fight against social security evasion and debt;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Points out that a proper work-life balance cannot be achieved unless decent childcare facilities are available for children - crèches, kindergartens and after-school services - and the elderly - homes, day centres and long-term care facilities; calls on Member States to meet the Barcelona targets at the earliest opportunity, and no later than by 2020;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Member States to introduce, in particular for the benefit of the most vulnerable groups, measures to address inequalities that are experienced throughout people’s working lives and could result in pension disparities; takes the view, in this connection, that account should be taken of the appropriate annual updating of pensions;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Urges Member States to comply with and enforce legislation on maternity rights so that women do not suffer disadvantages in terms of pensions because they have been mothers during their working lives;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18