33 Amendments of Monica SEMEDO related to 2020/2079(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
- having regard to Articles 4, 9, 145, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 158, 165, 166, 174 and 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the free movement of workers is a fundamental principle of the European Union and essential to the proper functioning of the Internal Market;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the COVID-19 crisis is a symmetric shock affecting all Members States, though the impact of the crisis is set to be uneven; whereas the COVID-19 crisis requires a coordinated European response ensuring social and territorial cohesion;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas effective European economic, social and health policy coordination with the European Semester at its core is crucial for mitigating the effects of the crisis and ensuring a recovery which is economically innovative, socially fair and environmentally responsible;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the urgency of the recovery must go hand in hand with the commitments of the European Union and its Member States to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the objectives of the Green Compact and the Paris Agreement;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas austerity policies resulted in less protective andcertain political choices made in the wake of the financial and economic crisis had regrettable consequences on the level of protection provided by the sometimes underfunded social and healthcare systems, which aggravated the effects of the pandemic in certain Member States;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the euro area unemployment rate is expected to increase from 7,.5 % in 2019 to about 9,.5 % in 2020, with substantial differences among Member States; whereas many companies have either been forced to close or are likely to have to do so; whereas national short-time working systems, supported by European measures, enable jobs to be maintained and salaries to be broadly kept unchanged; whereas many jobs remain at very high risk in the medium term;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the crisis will have a significant impact on social conditions, in particular for vulnerable groups;; whereas the COVID-19 crisis affects vulnerable groups in particular, resulting in increased inequalities, fragility, poverty, unemployment and social divergences, as well as undermining social and employment standards in Europe; whereas young people and non- standard workers are at greatest risk of losing their jobs and falling into poverty,
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the pay and pension gaps between men and women remain and are likely to widen with the COVID-19 crisis; whereas across the EU, women still earn on average 16% less than men and the gender gap for pensions is around 37.2% in the EU;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas social protection systems are under severe pressure to mitigate the social impact of the crisis and ensure decent living conditions for all as well as access to essential services such as health, education and housing;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas global challenges such as digitalisation and the fight against climate change persist and require a just transition so as to leave no one behind;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Takes note of the Commission’s 2020 country-specific recommendations (CSRs); expresses its concern that Member States have made limited or no progress in six out of 10 CSRs addressed to them in 2019; regrets the fact that too many CSRs are not implemented and urges the Member States to implement them, particularly those concerning employment and social aspects;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned about the devastating social effects of the COVID-19 crisis, in particular on vulnerable groups, especially workers who were in the front line during the crisis; stresses that only a decisive and coordinated European response will offset the consequences of the current crisis; calls in this context on the Member States to use the REACT-EU package to ensure aid for the most deprived by guaranteeing adequate funding for the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), to support retention and the return to employment by prioritising young people in the funding provided by the European Social Fund (ESF), and to take specific action in support of cohesion and the territories of the Union, in particular the outermost regions;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that, despite the importance of sound and responsible fiscal policies, budgetary stability should not be detrimental to; calls, nonetheless, on the Member States and the Commission, in response to the health crisis, to boost public investment, especially in education, social and healthcare systems;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes Next Generation EU, the EU’s recovery plan; insists that the recovery plan must contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, implementing our growth strategy as set out in the Green Compact, and fulfilling the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights; calls on the Member States to make full use of the general escape clausepotential offered by the general escape clause to support companies which are in difficulty and lack liquidity, particularly SMEs; safeguard the jobs, wages and working conditions of European workers; and invest in people and social welfare systems; calls for specific social progress plans to ensure more effective and stronger welfare states;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’s SURE proposal as an emergency measure in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, and calls on the Member States to reach a swift agreement to allow its urgent implementation and, as a result, to increase the chances of companies obtaining the liquidity necessary for resuming economic activity and safeguarding jobs;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Underlines the Commission’s commitment to mobilising the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in response to the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on employment; calls therefore on the Member States to rapidly submit to the Commission applications for funding to support European workers who have lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 in their retraining, requalification and reintegration into the labour market;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to prioritise the fight against youth unemployment, particularly in the context of the European ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery; to make full use of financial instruments such as the Youth Guarantee and European programmes such as Erasmus +; and to take appropriate measures to tackle youth unemployment and improve the employability of young people;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the Commission’s second phase consultation of the social partners on an EU framework for minimum wages; calls on the Commission to present a European framework for minimum wages to ensure upward social convergence and eliminate in-work poverty by ensuring decent living wages above the poverty threshold for all workers through collective agreements or through national law, in line with national traditions; calls for EU-level safeguards for decent old-age pensions for all workers;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Notes with concern the inadequacy of access to social protection systems and the lack of such access for non-standard and self-employed workers; calls on the Member States to take measures to remedy these problems, in particular by following the Council Recommendation of 8 November 2019 on access to social protection for workers and the self- employed; welcomes, once again, the adoption of this recommendation as a first measure and the Commission’s commitment to strengthening social protection systems in Europe, but stresses the need to make universal access to social protection a reality, especially in the current difficult situation;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Asks the Commission to propose legal instruments to ensure decent working conditions for all workers, strengthen collective bargaining coverage, bancombat the improper use of precarious and non- standard contracts, particularly zero- hour contracts, end and cases of bogus self- employment, set strict limits on subcontracting practices, and improve social protection standards; calls on the Commission to present a European directive on decent working conditionsconduct a comprehensive assessment of the working conditions of non-standard workers and to present a European regulatory framework aimed at strengthening and ensuring decent working conditions, rights and access to social protection for platform workers and non-standard workers;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for an EU teleworking agenda, including a legislative proposal to ensure decent working conditions including respect for working hours, leave and the right to disconnect, taking into account the special circumstances regarding tax and social security coordination of frontier workers teleworking;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for an EU teleworking agenda, including a legislative proposal to ensure decent working conditions including respect for working hours, leave and the right to disconnect, and to ensure a work-life balance;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. ACalls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen the portability of rights and ensure fair and just working conditions for mobile, cross- border and seasonal workers in the EU; calls on the Member States to commit fully to the digitalisation of public services in order to facilitate fair labour mobility, particularly with regard to the coordination of social security systems; therefore asks the Commission to put forward a proposal for a digital EU Social Security Number;
Amendment 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Is concerned about the limited intergenerational social mobility and increasing income inequality; stresses that national tax and benefit systems must be designed in a way that reduces inequalities, promotes fairness and provides incentives for labour market participationsocial mobility that hinder labour mobility and the realisation of a well-functioning single market; Stresses the need to improve opportunities for mobility responding to labour market shortages in Member States;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to present an EU child guarantee in 2020, a rights- based, comprehensive and integrated anti- poverty strategy, an EU framework on national homelessness strategies by adopting the ‘Housing First’ principle, to conduct a comparative study on the different minimum income schemes in the Member States, and to highlight best practice cases with a view to presenting a framework in this regard;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to put forward specific proposals to ensure a just transition in terms of improving the energy efficiency of housing and to adequately address the problem of energy poverty in relation to the objectives and principles of the Green Compact;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to introduce binding pay transparency measures, and urges their swift adoption in order to avoid further gender-based inequalities; further stresses the need for gender budgeting as well as for the monitoring of this spending and gender mainstreaming across all budgetary, policy and legislative proposals, following its commitments in the Gender Equality Strategy;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls for accessible and affordable quality childcare and early education services, as well as short- and long-term care services, including for the elderly and people with disabilities; calls, in this regard, on the Member States to swiftly and fully implement the Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers;
Amendment 361 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to put forward a comprehensive and long-term post-2020 EU Disability Strategy; notes that the guiding principles underlying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, such as full and effective participation and inclusion in society, equal opportunities and accessibility, must be fully applied at both EU and national level;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to put forward a comprehensive and long-term post-2020 EU Disability Strategy which addresses accessibility to goods and services as well as to leisure activities, such as sports;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Member States to improve the quality, accessibility and inclusiveness of their education systems, and to ensure high-quality basic skills training with tailored support, especially for the most marginalised groups in society; calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to invest in quality, accessible education and training, strengthening requalification and retraining measures, in particular the acquisition of digital skills, and to promote lifelong learning; stresses that matching qualifications with skills on the one hand and job opportunities on the other is a prerequisite for the creation of a competitive European labour market and that this should be achieved by facilitating closer cooperation of education systems with businesses, for example by promoting learning, work experience and lifelong learning;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Stresses that small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in sustainable and inclusive development, economic growth and job creation in the EU; calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their support for SMEs and their workers in the resumption of economic activity and in the transition towards a more digital and greener economy;