8 Amendments of Dennis RADTKE related to 2024/0599(NLE)
Amendment 5 #
Recital 4
(4) In order to enhance economic and social progress and upward convergence, support the green and digital transitions, strengthen the Union industrial base and achieve inclusive, competitive and resilient labour markets in the Union, Member States should address labour and skills shortages and promote quality and inclusive education and training, with a particular focus on improving basic skills, especially among disadvantaged students, and on STEM (science, technology, enginerering and mathematiscs) in school and higher education, future-oriented vocational education and training, and lifelong upskilling and reskilling, as well as effective active labour market policies and improved working conditions and career opportunities. Member States should take prevention and prompt intervention measures to reduce early school leaving, with a particular focus on students at risk. Such measures will include psychological support, mentoring, career guidance and extracurricular activities to foster students' interest and participation, to ensure inclusive and quality education for all. This is of particular relevance for the less developed, remote and outermost regions of the EU, where the needs are the greatest. Shortages can be further addressed by improving fair intra- EU mobility, as well as among regions within the same Member State, for workers and learners and attracting talent from outside the EU. In addition, the links between the education and training systems and the labour market should be strengthenedWithin this context, special attention to NEETs, namely young people who are neither engaged in education nor in employment or training, is essential. Member states should promote specific policies to reintegrate NEETs into the education system or the labour market through targeted training, guidance and job placement programs. In addition, the links between the education and training systems and the labour market should be strengthened, fostering the acquisition of transversal knowledge and soft skills, as well as encouraging the internationalisation of the educational offer, especially for universities, and skills, knowledge and competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning recognised.
Amendment 9 #
Recital 4 a (new)
(4 a) Member States shall promote the development of digital and green skills by integrating specific courses into school and vocational curricula. This includes the creation and implementation of continuous training programmes for workers to adapt to new technologies and sustainable practices. Member States must encourage lifelong learning as well as further training for adult workers by promoting retraining and skills upgrading programmes in cooperation with companies and educational institutions. These programmes should be accessible, flexible and geared to the needs of the labour market. In particular, artificial intelligence should be used to identify at early stage, detect, and close skills gaps in the workforce, provide tailor-made educational support, and implement prevention and intervention tools against gender-based violence in the workplace.
Amendment 10 #
Recital 4 b (new)
(4 b) In accordance with the objectives of the European Year of Skills promoted by the European Union, Member States should increase their efforts to promote women's participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects through the introduction of specific support programmes for girls and young women, starting from primary school to higher education. Member States are also encouraged to integrate policies that promote the inclusion of women in STEM careers, thus reducing the gender gap in strategic areas for economic growth and innovation.
Amendment 38 #
Recital 12 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Despite the progress made, significant wage disparities between men and women still persist in many areas of the Union. Member States, starting with an effective and rigorous implementation of Directive 2023/970, are invited to take measures to ensure wage transparency, implement monitoring policies and stimulate companies to implement equal pay action plans.
Amendment 41 #
Recital 13 – paragraph 1
Discrimination in all its forms should be tackled, gender equality ensured and employment of young people supported. Equal access and opportunities for all should be ensured and poverty and social exclusion, in particular that of children, persons with disabilities and the Roma people, should be reduced, in particular by ensuring an effective functioning of labour markets and adequate and inclusive social protection systems, as set out in the Council Recommendation of 8 November 2019 and the Council Recommendation of 30 January 2023 (39). In addition, barriers to inclusive and future-oriented education, training, lifelong learning and labour- market participation should be removed and Member States should invest in early childhood education and care, in line with the European Child Guarantee and the Council Recommendation on early childhood education and care (the ‘Barcelona targets for 2030’), in making vocational education and training more attractive and inclusive in line with the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training, and in digital and green skills, in line with the Digital Education Action Plan and the Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development and the Council Recommendation on Pathways for School Success. Access to affordable housing, including through social housing, is a necessary condition for ensuring equal opportunities. Timely and equal access to affordable high-quality long-term care, in line with the Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care, and healthcare services, including prevention and healthcare promotion, are particularly relevant, in light of potential future health risks and in a context of ageing societies. It is also necessary to encourage the adoption of measures to reduce the existing wage differences between European regions, which particularly exist in certain job categories, such as teachers, considering that a more inclusive socio-economic convergence can positively affect the distribution of opportunities across the Union. Finally, Member States should include in their academic curricula programmes of European citizenship education and values, promoting understanding and appreciation of the fundamental principles of the European Union, such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, in order to foster greater awareness and active participation of young people in European democratic life. __________________ 39 Council Recommendation of 30 January 2023 on adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (OJ C 41, 3.2.2023, p.1).
Amendment 68 #
Annex I – paragraph 5
In the context of the digital and green transitions, demographic change and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Member States should promote sustainability, productivity, competitiveness, employability and human capital development, fostering acquisition of skills and competences throughout people’s lives and responding to current and future labour market needs, also in light of the Union and national headline targets for 2030 on skills. Member States should also modernise and invest in their education and training systems to provide high quality and inclusive education and training including vocational education and training, improve educational outcomes and the provision of skills and competences needed for the green and digital transitions, and ensure access to digital learning, language training (e.g. in the case of refugees including from Ukraine or in facilitating labour market access in cross-border regions) and the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. Member States should work together with the social partners, education and training providers, enterprises and other stakeholders, also in the context of the action plan to tackle labour and skills shortages put forward by the Commission in March 2024, to address structural weaknesses in education and training systems and improve their quality and labour-market relevance, including through targeted financial and technical support. This would also contribute to enabling the green and digital transitions, addressing skills mismatches and labour shortages, including for activities related to net-zero and digital industries, including those relevant for the EU’s economic security, and those related to the green transition, such as renewable energy deployment or buildings’ renovation. Attention should be paid also to entrepreneurial skills, which are not yet included in typical educational plans. Encouraging entrepreneurship from an early stage could significantly enhance its integration into academic and training programs throughout Europe.
Amendment 100 #
Annex I – paragraph 13
The mobility of learners, apprentices and workers should be increased and adequately supported, especially for learners in vocational education and training with fewer mobility experiences, with the aim of enhancing their skills and employability, exploiting the full potential of the European labour market and contributing to EU-level competitiveness. Obstacles to intra-EU labour mobility, including procedures to recognise professional qualifications or transfer acquired social security rights, should be tackled. This also involves reducing the complexity of the Single Market by ensuring that the information and documentation requirements for Member States are significantly simplified and standardized, for instance, within the framework of the SMET (Single Market Enforcement Taskforce). Additionally, Member States should allow the submission of documents in other European languages. Fair and decent conditions for all those pursuing a cross- border activity should be ensured by avoiding discrimination and ensuring equal treatment with EU nationals, enforcing national and EU legislation and stepping up administrative cooperation between national administrations with regard to mobile workers, benefitting from the assistance of the European Labour Authority.
Amendment 103 #
Annex I – paragraph 14
The mobility of workers in critical occupations and of cross-border, seasonal and posted workers should be supported in the case of temporary border closures triggered by public health considerations. Member States should further engage in talent partnerships to enhance legal migration pathways by launching new mobility schemes and provide for an effective integration policy for workers and their families, encompassing education and training, including language training, employment, health and housing. A swift and efficient adoption and implementation of the EU Talent Pool would provide Member States with a user- friendly tool, avoiding the creation of parallel systems. This should be paired with an ambitious transposition of the EU Blue Card Directive.