Activities of Thomas MANN related to 2014/2222(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2015 (A8-0043/2015 - Sergio Gutiérrez Prieto) DE
Amendments (30)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the economic and social context in thsome EU continues to be bleak, with negative growth rates in the eurozone for the past two years, and with growth now stalled at around 0 %; whereas forecasts have systemically been revised downwards by the Commission, as has been done for 2015 and 2016; whereas recovery is neither robust nor underpinned;Member States is difficult, due to negative or stalled growth rates; whereas recovery is not strong but will continue, according to the IMF, which estimates a growth of 1.2% in the Euro area 2015 and 1.4% in 20161 a; __________________ 1a IMF World Economic Outlook UPDATE,20.01.15, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2 015/update/01/pdf/0115.pdf
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas global economy growth is estimated to be on a low level for 2015 and 2016: according to the IMF, 3.5% this year, compared to 3.7% 20161 a; __________________ 1a IMF World Economic Outlook UPDATE,20.01.15, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2 015/update/01/pdf/0115.pdf
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas the sharp fall in oil prices can be an additional boost for the economy of many EU Member States;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EU needs to make a decisive change in an economic policy that has allowed the Union to drift away from the EU 2020 targets, and that has increased the risks of secular stagnation; debt crisis forced the Union to drift away from the EU 2020 targets; whereas the EU is worryingly losing weight in the world economy, while most other countries are showing solid signs of recovery;the IMF has reduced its expectations concerning the growth for many developed and emerging economies in the world over the next years, whereas in October 2014 the IMF estimated that the probability of a recession in the euro area had increased and would reach 35-40% at year’s end;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in spite of mildfor the first time since 2011, there has been a small increase in full time contracts and improvements in the situation of young people; whereas however, many of the new jobs created are part-time or temporary1 a ; whereas EU employment is foreseen to start growing, leading to a decline in the overall EU unemployment rate towards 9.5 % by 20161 b ; whereas in spite of these improvements, the unemployment rate remains historically high, with 25 million people out of work; whereas long- term unemployment is worryingly high, and 12 million people have been unemployed for more than a year (up 4 % over the previous year); whereas the labour market situation is particularly critical for young peoplehas improved for young people, with significant reductions in unemployment rates in most Member States; whereas nevertheless, youth unemployment remains very high in countries such as Greece and Spain, regardless of their level of education; __________________ 1a http://europa.eu/rapid/press- release_IP-14-1096_en.htm 1b Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2014, European Commission, 15th January 2015, http://ec.europa.eu/social, pages 15-17
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas due to the debt crisis, high unemployment levels, excessivea focus on wage depressions to regain competitiveness, and a decline in spending on social protection in almost all, have led in some Member States, have led to significant reductions in household gross disposable incomes, leaving millions of European familifamilies in those States at risk of exclusion, and have increased inequalities alarmingly there; whereas one in four Europeans are at risk of poverty; whereas underemployment and precariousness has peaked and, for 50 % of all job seekers, securing employment is not enough to lift them out of poverty;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas Parliament has for the past two years warned of the social risks of deflation in a context of low growth, high unemployment and downward pressure on wages; whereas the ECB has forecast low inflation in the long run, and has warned of the consequences of this on internal demand, growth and employment; whereas deflation has become a reality since August 2014 in eight Member States (six in the Eurozone); whereas demand and job creation in the EU is heavily constrained by the prevailing weakness of credit provision to SMEs and the need to reduce excessive public and private debt; whereas the drop in inflation rates significantly increases these difficulties, by raising real interest rates and the real debt burden, and could lead to a vicious circle of economic depression; whereas ECB reacted on all these aspects 22 January 2015 by the implementation of an expanded asset purchase programme with a combined monthly asset purchases to amount to 60 billion Euro, intended to be carried out until at least September 2016;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas austerity hasmay lessened as if the pace of fiscal consolidation has increased, and and structural reforms are increased to regain competitiveness; whereas new headline targets – focusing more on structural than on cyclical deficits – have been introduced; whereas, in spite of this, the size of fiscal multipliers in the current context is still very high, and the need governments should do their utmost to accomplish the medium-term objective and the debt objective will inevitably havto create a significant negapositive impact on economic growth and job creation;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas structural reforms, intense fight against corruption, investment in quality jobs, human capital, research and innovation must be the top priority for both the Commission and the Member States, as investment in these areas are essential not only to ensuring a recovery but also to expanding the EU’s economic potential to grow and to create prosperity;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the insufficient involvement of national parliaments, the European Parliament and social partners in EU decision making has impeded the ownership of reforms by the Member States, and has reduced citizens’ confidence in the EU project as shown in past European electioncitizens’ confidence in the EU project is crucial for the success of reforms by the Member States to overcome the debt crisis;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Emphasises, that as a principle countries in the Euro zone that received support from the partners to finance their economies must fulfil the according rules and agreements; underlines that this is a matter of respect for the tax payers in the partner countries in return for their big solidarity efforts;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. Underlines that solidarity is the core value on which the European Union is built on; thanks therefore the people and tax payers in Europe for showing great solidarity with the people in countries effected by the debt crisis;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 a. Calls on those Member States still suffering from the debt crisis to fully implement the structural reforms and to fulfil the obligations to regain competitiveness;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to introduce a much-needed, expansionarysupport Member States efforts to cope with the debt crisis by an economic policy to boost smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and to create quality jobs; stresses that low inflation is already increasing real interest rates as well as real public and private debt, which, together with high unemployment, depresses growth and increases poverty;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Underlines that Member States which imposed the structural reforms necessary are successful in regaining competiveness in the global market, in creating growth and jobs, as well as in building up confidence on the financial markets;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Is deeply concerned that slowing down structural reforms or withdrawing parts of them leads to imminent capital flight with sharp consequences for growth and job creation;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Calls on the partners to use the flexibility already built into the rules and agreements, if Member States should face excessive macroeconomic imbalances, without changing these rules and agreements;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. RegretWelcomes the fact that the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) will be based on recycled EU resources and will not raise public ‘fresh’ money, apart from an extra EUR 5 billion from the EIB; stresses the risks of an insufficient fund based on overly optimistic assumptions about the likelihood ofupports the strategy of EC President Jean-Claude Juncker to attracting the bulk of the financing needed from private investors; calls on the Commission to consider using the EIB’s annual profits and undisbursed dividends to increase resources without endangering the bank’s AAA rating; calls on the Commission to explore ways of using the EU budget and other, new resources to ensure that it will not fail to deliver;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the fact that the EFSI must be focused on creating new investments in areas where investor appetite is subdued rather than on substituting investments that would have been produced elsewhere (crowding out), or on focusing on highly profitable investments that would have occurred in any case (deadweight); calls on the Commission to include and promote social investments that not only generate financial returns butand promote positive social spillovers, such as investments in human capital or investments with high impact in job creation or poverty reduction; reiterates its call for the implementation of the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP);
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to review in- depth and improve the EU-EIB Project Bond Initiative, launched as a pilot project in 2012 to sum up the investment plan, with a view of giving it a greater role in promoting employment; recalls, in this context, also a detailed review of the social impact bonds included in the SIP;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that the European Investment Plan is a necessary complement to efforts to boost job creation, butand is in itself insufficient to fully compensate for the lack of private and national investments; welcomes the fact that the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) 2015 continues to call for more efforts from countries with fiscal margins of manoeuvre as a means of encouraging European demand andan important instrument to stimulate private investments;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the extension of the pace of fiscal consolidation, and further efforts for structural reforms, as well as the introduction of new headline targets – focusing more on structural than on cyclical deficits – that will have a positive effect on employment and growth; notes, however, that the size of fiscal multipliers in the current context is nevertheless still very high and that this will inevitably have a negative impact on economic growth and job creation; calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of introducing escape clauses, or of delaying these targets, in order to avoid weakening demand further and destroying jobsunderlines that governments should do their utmost to regain competitiveness to create a significant positive impact on economic growth and job creation;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that decisive investment plans for growth and job creation can only be fully realisedas well as ECB measures can only be succesful if they are coupled with national structural reforms that enhance competitiveness, quality labour participation, boost productivity and develop human capital; believes that structural labour market reforms should introduce internal flexibility measures aimed at maintaining employment in times of economic disruption, ensure job quality and security in employment transitions, and provide unemployment benefit schemes that are based on activation requirements and linked to reintegration policies;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to design tailor-made policies to support quality job creation for the long-term unemployed, senior unemployed people, women and other priority groups hit especially hard by the crisis, such as immigrants or people with disabilities;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Is concerned that the Commission’sWelcomes the Juncker strategy to regain competitiveness has been more focused onby reducing costs than onand raising productivity via investments especially in human capital; stressesis concerned that more than 20 Member States have reduced their education expenditures in relative terms (as percentages of their GDPs), thereby jeopardising their growth, job potential and competitiveness;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses the importance of active labour policies for some Member States in the current context; calls on those Member States to increase the coverage and effectiveness of active labour market policies;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates its warning of the socioeconomic challenges facing some Member States of the Union and the risks to its sustainability and its stable growth potential posed by a reversal in regional convergence; recalls that more than 122 million EU citizens are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including in- work poverty and child poverty, and that these levels are unacceptable and need to be reduced immediately; calls for a true ‘social pillar’ to be implemented within the EMU as part of the process of improving economic governance mechanisms;
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Considers it regrettable that the AGS 2015 does not mention European social stabilisers; recalls the importance of such stabilisers like labour mobility in addressing asymmetrical shocks, in avoiding excessive depletion of national welfare states and, thus, in strengthening the sustainability of the EMU; reiterates its call on the Commission to produce a Green Paper on automatic stabilisers in the eurozone; underlines that an Unemployment Insurance Scheme for the Euro zone is no suitable instrument, as it would base on fiscal transfers in monetary union, and because of the heterogeneity in labour market systems of the Member States;
Amendment 416 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Points out that emerging new forms of poverty emerged due to the debt crisis – such as in- work poverty compounding difficulties such as e.g. paying mortgages, or high utility prices creating energy poverty – have resulted in an increase in the number of evictions, foreclosures and homeless people; calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement integrated policies favouring social and affordable housing, effective prevention policies aimed at reducing the number of evictions, and policies tackling energy poverty;
Amendment 458 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Expresses its deep concern over the limited role that it, the national parliaments as well as civil society have to play in the formulation of economic and social priorities in the European Semester; stresses that the persistent lack of democratic accountability in the measures and reforms that have been implemented is significantly reducing confidence in the EU project, as witnessed in the last European electioncitizens' confidence in the EU project is crucial for the success of reforms by the Member States to overcome the debt crisis;