28 Amendments of Kira Marie PETER-HANSEN related to 2022/2151(INI)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas recent studies have shown that social inequalities are the biggest concern of people in the EU, and in particular the cost of living, poverty, and social exclusion1a; whereas high income inequalities can have damaging effects on economic growth and endanger social cohesion; _________________ 1a EP Autumn 2022 Survey: Parlemeter https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/ detail/2932
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas poverty and in-work poverty remains a challenge for the Member States;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas rapid increases in energy prices and inflation across the EU are placing a burden on households; whereas the cost of living crisis has negative implications on housing affordability, with the risk of further increasing homelessness;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas gender equality and gender mainstreaming should be at the core of the 2023 annual sustainable growth strategy;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas skilled workers, education, training and life-long learning are of key importance to ensure the sustainable and just transition of the European economy; whereas upskilling, reskilling and training programmes must be available for all workers, including those with disabilities, free of cost for the worker, and should also be adapted to the needs and capacities of workers;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
F c. whereas workers have the right to a high level of protection of their health and safety, with an accessible work place and environment that lives up to and contributes to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and Occupational Safety and Health standards;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)
Recital F d (new)
F d. whereas the upcoming review of the economic governance framework represents a unique opportunity to support social investment and expenditure and prevent damaging austerity policies when the next crisis hits;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the fact that the swift and coordinated EU policy action during the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented economic shocks and protected the population from the most adverse consequences of the crisis; believes that, although the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses multiple new economic, social and geopolitical challenges to the EU economy and society, other, longer- standing social challenges and inequalities continue to grow and must also be tackled;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Endorses the Commission’s ambition of further strengthening coordinated EU policy responses to mitigate in the short term the burden that high energy and food prices, inflation, supply-chain disruptions, rising debt levels and the increased cost of borrowing and especially mortgages are placing on European households and businesses; highlights the fact that social investment is essential to allow for sustainable and inclusive growth in the medium and long term and that national welfare systems have an essential stabilisation function; highlights the need for a permanent fiscal capacity or EU Sovereignty Fund to ensure all Member States have the fiscal leeway to tackle the social, climate, and environmental challenges;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Is concerned that 21.7% of the EU population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, with women and young adults more likely to be at risk2a; Notes that the headline target of reducing poverty by 15 million will not be reached without addressing the most vulnerable; calls on the European Commission and Member States to develop targeted ways of supporting the long-term unemployed and homeless, as well as persons facing multiple barriers and discriminations; Stresses that minimum incomes are needed to lift people out of poverty and urges the Commission to come forward with EU legislation to guarantee a minimum income for those most at risk of exclusion; _________________ 2a https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics- explained/index.php?title=Living_conditi ons_in_Europe_- _poverty_and_social_exclusion&oldid=54 4210
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Stresses that the cost of living crisis makes the child guarantee, the Reinforced Youth Guarantee and the EU Disability Rights Strategy even more important to be implemented at national level; calls on the Commission to be more active in combating poverty, especially child poverty and in-work poverty;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Stresses that the aim of sustainable economic growth must be to ensure an inclusive socio-ecological transformation of our economies, preventing social, economic and environmental imbalances by fighting poverty, reducing inequalities, creating decent jobs with adequate wages and working conditions, and be in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 61 #
3. Stresses that quality public services, including social services, are pillars of democracy and a bulwark against populism, ensure core democratic values including respect for fundamental and human rights and play a crucial role in overcoming crises; calls for the revision of the legal framework for services of general economic interest to ensure that households in need have access to good-quality essential services, particularly housing, energy, transport, water, the internet and sanitation, as well as social services; Stresses the importance of financing public health and care systems, including early childhood education and care; welcomes the adoption of the Council recommendations on early childhood education and care and free high-quality long-term care; calls for the ambitious implementation of the European Care strategy;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Underlines the need of the country-specific recommendations in the European Semester to invest in adequate disability allowance that is compatible with other forms of income, to reduce the risk of poverty faced by persons with disabilities;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Believes that gender equality policies must be anchored and mainstreamed in all phases of economic governance; stresses the need to ensure gender equality, non-discrimination and social equality in employment relationships;calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the feminisation of poverty in all its forms, particularly by improving working conditions in feminised sectors; calls for the strengthening of gender-sensitive policies at the EU level, essential to ensure that the impact of the cost of living crisis does not widen gender inequality;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Supports a more democratic European Semester process, with Parliament strongly involved in setting economic policy priorities as well as in the taking of socio-economic governance decisions, especially those with a strong social dimension; considers that the European Semester process should follow the community method and be agreed between the Council and Parliament;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Supports a shift towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth model, strengthening the sustainable development and resilience of the EU’s economy and societies and the full implementation of the EPSR, including its relevant headline targets for 2030, a social progress protocol and promoting future- oriented investments focused on the just green and digital transitions, with a strong social dimension, including gender equality;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to present a regulation on a social convergence framework, establishing a new mechanism to monitor social convergence risks, prevent other policy actions or economic shocks from having negative social spillover effects on upward social convergence, detect potential setbacks for the proper implementation of the EPSR and establish mandatory social targets to be achieved; believes that social divergence risks should be included in the country- specific recommendations and taken into account when defining fiscal adjustment paths; calls for the introduction of a Social Imbalances Procedure in the context of the European Semester to ensure that social and employment imbalances that have the potential to erode social cohesion within a member state or could have negative spillover effects on others, are detected at an early stage and properly corrected;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the importance of better assessing the distributional impact of existing and new policies and reforms monitored through the European Semester process; calls on the Commission to includeset up distributional impact assessment requirements infor the NRPs; points out that fiscal consolidation can only be fair and sustainable if the distributional impact of reallocated expenditure or shifts in revenues is well calibrated and contributes to reducing inequalities;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Welcomes the Commission’s inclusion of social dialogue and collective bargaining provisions in the country- specific recommendations of 2020-2021; regrets that while social dialogue was included in 15 CSR recommendations in 2020, it only appears in 2 CSRs in 2022; urges the Commission to promote collective bargaining, democracy at work, and social dialogue through the European Semester, and specifically in the country- specific recommendations, in order to ensure sustainable, decent wages through collective bargaining;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers that the revised social scoreboard does not properly cover the 20 EPSR principles; calls, therefore, for the improvement of the social scoreboard and the inclusion of relevant indicators to identify social divergencesand disaggregation of data by various factors, such as gender, age, and socio-economic status, to identify social divergences and the impact of policies on various groups, particularly those in vulnerable situations, through a dynamic assessment; draws attention to the importance of including indicators that fully reflect the trends in and causes of inequality, such as indicators on good- quality employment, wealth distribution, access to good-quality public services, adequate pensions, minimum income schemes, occupational diseases (including mental health conditions) and unemployment benefits, as well as indicators measuring the social impact of environmental degradation and climate change; reminds the Commission that the ‘at risk of poverty or social exclusion’ (AROPE) indicator does not capture the wider and more complex causes of inequalities;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Acknowledges the Commission proposal for the revision of the economic governance framework to strengthen debt sustainability and enhance sustainable and inclusive growth through investment and reforms; points out that cyclical expenditure for unemployment as well as other social expenditure and investment, including the ones required to comply with NRRP milestones, must be excluded from excessive-deficit calculations in order to increase fairness in the green and digital transitions, social resilience and the implementation of the EPSR, while ensuring the sustainability of public finances in the Member States; highlights that the new framework should allow fiscal flexibility to target a fully employed economy with decent and well-paid jobs available to all; stresses the need to adopt legislative proposals before the general escape clause is lifted and the current legislature comes to an end; suggests the European Semester should mirror the medium-term nature of the future economic policy coordination framework;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is concerned about the current economic landscape, forecasts for the near future and the impact that insufficient wage increases that keep real wage growth well below the inflation rate and do not meet the increasing cost of living could have on living standards in the EU; calls on the Member States to rapidly implement the provisions established in the Minimum Wages Directive1 , so that minimum wages are increased to at least 60 % of a country’s gross median salary or 50 % of the gross average; calls on the Commission to monitor the state of play in relation to minimum wages and ensure that low-end salaries, and particularly minimum wages, reflect the soaring cost of living; _________________ 1 Directive (EU) 2022/2041 ofcalls on the Commission to strengthen the collective bargaining coverage by revising the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, OJ L 275, 25.10.2022, p. 33.public procurement directive in order to establish conditionality for companies to comply with collective bargaining agreements, including strengthening the social clause and excluding companies from tenders which have engaged in union-busting or have refused to participate in collective bargaining;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Welcomes the recent adoption of the Pay Transparency Directive and calls for its swift implementation; calls on Member States to assess work of equal value in accordance with objective gender-neutral criteria;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 15 – point e a (new)
e a) skill development and anticipation strategies with the objectives of improving generic, sectoral and occupation-specific skills for the green economy;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19 b. Calls on the Commission to develop a mandatory EU ‘Youth Test’ so that all EU legislation and policy is subject to a youth focused impact assessment, consultation with youth, youth organisations and experts focused on youth, and the development of mitigation measures in case a negative impact is identified; calls on the Member states to consider a youth clause assessing the impact of an initiative on young people when putting forward new initiatives across all policy areas;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls for the EU green industrial strategy to ensure that the jobs of tomorrow are not only green, but above all decent, well paid and based on good working conditions, with health and safety at work, robust social protection and gender equality; calls also for it to ensure that people are adequately remunerated in line with their qualifications and certified competences; Calls for the EU industrial strategy to ensure that the jobs of tomorrow are not only green, but above all decent, well paid and based on good working conditions, with health and safety at work, robust social protection and gender equality; calls also for it to ensure that people are adequately remunerated in line with their qualifications and certified competences; invites the Commission to make state aid and public procurement dependent on social conditions such as a commitment to effective social dialogue and collective bargaining with trade unions as well as a ban on dividend payments while a company is in receipt of State aid; Stresses that an EU green industrial policy can become one of the main source of job creation in Europe in the coming years, in both emerging and traditional sectors, reflecting the fact that sustainable economic activities are more labour- intensive than the activities they replace;