Activities of Dragoş PÎSLARU related to 2020/0310(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Adequate minimum wages in the European Union (debate)
Amendments (53)
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Pursuant to Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union, the aims of the Union are, inter alia, to promote the well-being of its peoples and to work for the sustainable development of Europe based on a highly competitive social market economy aiming at full employment and social progress.
Amendment 110 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Article 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union36 provides for the right of workers and employers, or their respective organisations, in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices, to negotiate and conclude collective agreements at the appropriate levels and, in cases of conflicts of interest, to take collective action to defend their interests, including strike action. Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union367 provides for the right of every worker to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity. __________________ 36Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2012/C 326/02 OJEU C326/391 of 26.10.2012. 37 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2012/C 326/02 OJEU C326/391 of 26.10.2012.
Amendment 113 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) TArticle 2 of the European Social Charter establishes that all workers have the right to just conditions of work. ItArticle 4 recognises the right of all workers to a fair remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. Article 4 of the Charter recognises and the role of freely concluded collective agreements as well as of statutory minimum wage setting mechanisms, to ensure the effective exercise of this right. Article 5 recognises the right of workers and employers to form local, national or international organisations for the protection of their economic and social interests and to join those organisations. Article 6 recognises the right to bargain collectively.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Chapter II of the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed at Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, establishes a set of principles to serve as a guide towards ensuring fair working conditions. Principle No 6 of the European Pillar of Social Rights reaffirms the workers’ right to fair wages that provide for a decent standard of living. It also provides that adequate minimum wages shall be ensured, in a way that provides for the satisfaction of the needs of the worker and his/her family in the light of national economic and social conditions, whilst safeguarding access to employment and incentives to seek work. Furthermore, it recalls that in-work poverty shall be prevented and that all wages shall be set in a transparent and predictable way according to national practices and respecting the autonomy of the social partners.
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Guideline 5 of Council Decision 2020/ 1512/EU on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States37 calls on Member States to ensure an effective involvement of social partners in wage-setting, providing for fair wages that enable a decent standard of living and allowing for an adequate responsiveness of wages to productivity developments, with a view to upward convergence. The Guideline also calls on Member States to promote social dialogue and collective bargaining on wage setting. It also calls on Member States and the social partners to ensure that all workers have adequate and fair wages by benefitting from collective agreements or adequate statutory minimum wages, and taking into account their impact on competitiveness, job creation and in- work poverty. The Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 202138 states that Member States should adopt measures to ensure fair working conditions. In addition, the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 202039 recalled that in the context of growing social divides, it is important to ensure that each worker earns an adequate wage. Several Country Specific Recommendations have also been issued to some Member States in the field of minimum wages. However, individual countries may be little inclined to improve their minimum wage settings because of the perception that this could negatively affect their external cost competitiveness. __________________ 37Council Decision 2020/1512/EU of 13 October 2020 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (OJ L 344, 19.10.2020, p. 22–28). 38 Commission Communication COM(2020) 575 final. 39 Commission Communication COM(2019) 650 final.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Better working and living conditions, including through adequate minimum wages, benefit both workers and businesses in the Union and are a prerequisite for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth. Addressing large differences in the coverage and adequacy of minimum wage protection contributes to improving the fairness of the EU labour market and promote economic, social progress and upward convergence. Competition in the Single Market should be based on high social standards, creation of quality jobs, innovation and productivity improvements ensuring a level playing field.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) When set at adequate levels, minimum wages protect the income of disadvantaged workers, help ensure a decent living, and limit the fall in income during bad times, as recognised in Convention 131 of the International Labour Organisation on the establishment of a system of minimum wage fixing. Minimum wages contribute to sustaining domestic demand, strengthen incentives to work, boost economic resilience, reduce wage inequalities and help to prevent and combat in- work poverty.
Amendment 149 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7 a (new)
Recital 7 a (new)
(7 a) Member States that have ratified Convention 131 of the International Labour Organisation and are implementing it have made substantial progress on establishing a system of fixing minimum wages, which should not be undermined.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Women, young and low-skilled and migrant workers and persons with disabilities have a higher probability of being minimum wage or low wage earners than other groups. During economic downturns, such as the Covid-19 crisis, the role of adequate minimum wages in protecting low-wage workers becomes increasingly important and is essential to support a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery. AddressingEnsuring and improving the adequacy of the minimum wage contributes to gender equality, closing the gender pay and pension gap as well as elevating women and children out of poverty.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the labour market generally and in particular the services sector and small and micro firms, which both have a high share of minimum wage earners. In addition, minimum wages are also important in view of the structural trends that are reshaping labour markets and which are increasingly characterised by high shares of non-standard and precarious work. These trends have led to an increased job polarisation resulting in an increasing share of low-paid and low- skilled occupations in most Member States, as well as to higher wage inequality in some of them.
Amendment 184 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Minimum wage protection set out by collective agreements in low-paid occupations is adequate in most cases; statutory minimum wages are low compared to other wages in the economy in several Member States. In 2018, the statutory minimum wage did not provide sufficient income for a single minimum- wage earner to reach the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in nine Member States. In addition, the use of reduced minimum wage rates (variations) and deductions from statutory minimum wages, the limited use of which in some instances is justified, can negatively affect their adequacy.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Not all workers in the Union are protected by minimum wages. In some Member States some workers, even though they are covered, receive in practice a remuneration below the statutory minimum wage due to the non-respect ofcompliance with existing rules. In particular, such non- compliance has been found to affect notably women, young workers, people with disabilities and agricultural workers. In Member States where minimum wage protection is provided only through collective agreements, the share of workers not covered is estimated to vary from 2% to 55% of all workers.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) While strong collective bargaining at sector or cross-industry level contributes to ensuring adequate minimum wage protection, traditional collective bargaining structures have bseen erodinga declining trend during the last decades, in part due to structural shifts in the economy towards less unionised sectors and to the decline in trade union membership related to inter alia the increase of atypical and new forms of work.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) This Directive establishes minimum requirements at Union level to ensure both that minimum wages are set at adequate level and thatboth improve the adequacy of statutory minimum wages and workers have access to minimum wage protection, in the form of a statutory minimum wage or in the form of wages set under collective agreements as defined for the purpose of this Directive.
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) In a context of declining collective bargaining coverage, it is essential that the Member States protect the right to engage in and promote collective bargaining to enhance workers’ access to minimum wage protection provided by collective agreements. Member States with a high collective bargaining coverage tend to have a low share of low-wage workers and high minimum wages. Member States with a small share of low wage earners have a collective bargaining coverage rate above 70%. Similarly, the majority of the Member States with high levels of minimum wages relative to the median wage have a collective bargaining coverage above 70%. While all Member States should bare encouraged to promote collective bargaining and increase collective bargaining coverage, those who do not reach this level of coverage should, in consultation and/or agreement with the social partners, provide for or, where it already exists, strengthen a framework of facilitative procedures and institutional arrangements enabling the conditions for collective bargaining. Such a framework should be established by law or by tripartite agreement.. Member States should establish and implement an action plan to promote collective bargaining in cooperation with the social partners. This action plan should be made public, notified to the European Commission, reviewed and, where necessary, revised at least every three years. It must be acknowledged that Member States’ collective bargaining coverage rates differ significantly owing to a number of factors including national tradition and practice and their historic contexts and this must be taken into account when assessing progress with regard to the enabling framework and action plan to promote collective bargaining.
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) Sound rules,, clear rules, transparent procedures and practice for setting and updating statutory minimum wages are necessary to delivfoster adequate minimum wages, while safeguarding jobs and the competitiveness of firms including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. They include a number of elements to preservomote the adequacy of statutory minimum wages, including guiding criteria and indicators to assess adequacy, regular and timely updates, the existence of consultative bodies and the involvement of social partners. A timely and effective involvement of the latter is another element of good governance that allows for an informed and inclusive decision-making process.
Amendment 295 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Minimum wages arcan be considered adequate if they are fair in relation to the wage distribution in the country and if they provide a decent standard of living taking into account general economic conditions in the country. The adequacy of statutory minimum wages is determined in view of the national socio- economic conditions, including employment growth, competitiveness as well as regional and sectoral developments. Their adequacy should be assessed at least in relation to their purchasing power, to the productivity develop taking into account the cost of living and the contribution of taxes and social benefits in kind or in cash, to the requirements of economic development, national labour productivity levels, attaining and maintaining a high level of employments and to their relation to the gross wage levels, distribution and growth. The use of indicators commonly used at international level, such as 60% of the gross median wage and 50% of the gross average wage, can help guide the assessment of minimum wage adequacy in relation to the gross level of wages.
Amendment 322 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) To promote adequacy of minimum wages for all groups of workers, variations and deductions from statutory minimum wages should be provided for by law and strictly limited to a minimum, while ensuring that social partners are duly consulted in their definition and continuous assessment. Some deductions to statutory minimum wages may be justified by a legitimate aim, including overstated amounts paid or deductions ordered by a judicial authority. Others, such as deductions related to the equipment necessary to perform a job or deductions of allowances in kind, such as accommodation, may bare unjustified orand disproportionate and should not be permitted.
Amendment 331 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) An effective enforcement system, including reinforced controls and field inspections, is necessary to ensure the functioning of and compliance with national statutory minimum wage frameworks particularly in at-risk sectors. To strengthen the effectiveness of enforcement authorities, a close cooperation with the social partners is also needed, including to address critical challenges such as those related to abusive sub- contracting, bogus self-employment or non-recorded overtime. Moreover, workers should havebe able to easily access to appropriate information on applicable statutory minimum wages to ensure an adequate degree of transparency and predictability as regards their working conditions. and enforcement of their rights. Member States should ensure this through, inter alia, the establishment of dedicated public websites and awareness raising campaigns.
Amendment 341 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) The effective implementation of minimum wage protection set out by legal provisions or provided by collective agreements is essential in the performance of public procurement and concession contracts. Non-respect of collective agreements providing for minimum wage protection in a given sector may indeed occur in the execution of such contracts or in the sub-contracting chain thereafter, resulting in workers being paid less than the wage level agreed in the sectoral collective agreements. To prevent such situations, economic operators and their subcontractors have to apply to their workers the wages set byapplicable obligations in the fields of social and labour law concerning wages and working conditions including the right to organise and collectively bargain set by Union and national law, collective agreements including for the relevant sector and geographical area in order to abide by applicable obligations in the field of labour lawor by the relevant international social and labour law provisions listed in their respective annexes, in accordance with Articles 18(2) and 71(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and the Council on public procurement40 , Articles 36(2) and 88(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and the Council41 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and Articles 30(3) and 42(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and the Council42 on the award of concession contracts. __________________ 40Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65). 41 Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 243). 42Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contract (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 1).
Amendment 349 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Reliable monitoring and data collection are key to ensure the effective protection of minimum wages protection. The Commission should report every year to the European Parliament and to the Council its assessment of developments in the adequacy and coverage of minimum wages and the coverage of collective bargaining on the basis of annual data and information to be provided by Member States in consultation with social partners. In addition, progress should be monitored in the framework of the process of economic and employment policy coordination at Union level. In that context, the Employment Committee should examine every year the situation in the Member States on the basis of the reports produced by the Commission and Eurofound as well as other multilateral surveillance tools such as benchmarking.
Amendment 355 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Workers and their representatives and trade union members should be in a position to exercise their right of defence when their rights relating to established minimum wage protection are violated. In order to prevent that workers are deprived from their rights, and without prejudice to specific forms of redress and dispute resolution provided for in collective agreements, including systems of collective dispute resolution, Member States should take the necessary measures to ensure that they have access to effective and impartial dispute resolution and a right to redress, including to adequate compensation, as well as effective protection from any form of detriment in case they decide to exercise their right of defence.
Amendment 361 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) The reforms and measures adopted by the Member States to promote adequate minimum wage protection of workers, while being steps in the right direction, have not been comprehensive and systematic. Moreover, individual countries may be little inclined to improve the adequacy and coverage of minimum wages because of the perception that this could negatively affect their external cost competitiveness. Since the objectives of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather, by reason of their scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
Amendment 370 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) This Directive lays down minimum requirements, thus leaving untouched Member States' prerogative to introduce and maintain more favourable provisions. Rights acquired under the existing national legal framework should continue to apply, unless more favourable provisions are introduced by this Directive. The implementation of this Directive cannot be used to reduce existing rights for workers, nor can it constitute valid grounds for reducing the general level of protection, including, inter alia, the existing levels of statutory minimum wages, already afforded to workers in the field covered by this Directive.
Amendment 388 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. With a view to improving working and living conditions, upward social convergence and gender equality in the Union, this Directive establishes a framework for:
Amendment 400 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) setting adequate levels ofimproving the adequacy of statutory minimum wages;
Amendment 445 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply while respecting Member States national law and legal labour market practice:
Amendment 460 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
(3) ‘collective bargaining’ means all negotiations which take place in accordance with national law and practice between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations, on the one hand, and one or morea group of workers’ organisat one or more trade unions , on the other, for determining working conditions and terms of employment; and/or regulating relations between employers and workers; and/or regulating relations between employers or their organisations and a worker organisation or worker organisats or their trade unions;
Amendment 525 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. Member States, where collective bargaining coverage is less than 70% of the workers defined within the meaning of Article 2, shall in addition provide for a framework of enabling conditions foror, where it already exists, strengthen a framework of enabling conditions to protect the right to engage in and promote collective bargaining, either by law after consultation of the social partners or by agreement with them, and. Member States shall establish and implement an action plan to promote collective bargaining in cooperation with the social partners in order to progressively increase collective bargaining coverage across the Union. The action plan shall be made public and, shall be notified to the European Commission and be reviewed and where necessary revised at least every three years.
Amendment 549 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – title
Article 5 – title
Adequacy of statutory minimum wages
Amendment 558 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Member States with statutory minimum wages shall take the necessary measures to ensure that their setting and updating of statutory minimum wages are guided by criteria set to promote adequacy with the aim to achieve decent working and living conditions, social cohesion and upward convergence and prevent and combat in-work poverty. Member States shall define those criteria in accordance with their national practices and socio- economic conditions, either in relevant national legislation, in decisions of the competent bodies or in tripartite agreements. The criteria shall be defined in a stable and clear way.
Amendment 573 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. The national criteria referred to in paragraph 1 shall include at least the following elementwhose relevance and relative weight shall be decided by Member States in accordance with their prevailing national socio-economic conditions:
Amendment 600 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) labour productivity developthe requirements of economic development, national labour productivity levels and attaining and maintaining a high level of employments.
Amendment 627 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 3
Article 5 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall use indicative reference values to guide their assessment of adequacy of statutory minimum wages in relation to the general level of gross wages, such as those commonly used at international level.
Amendment 637 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure the regular, transparent and timely updates of statutory minimum wages in order to preservcontinue to promote their adequacy.
Amendment 655 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall destablishignate relevant consultative bodies, or establish them where they do not exist, to advise the competent authorities on issues related to statutory minimum wages.
Amendment 685 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. Member States may only allow deductions by law that reduce the remuneration paid to workers to a level below that of the statutory minimum wage where provided by law. Member States shall ensure that these deductions from statutory minimum wages are necessary, objectively justified and proportionate. Deductions for the value of equipment needed to perform work or the cost of travel, board or lodging and accommodation shall not be permitted.
Amendment 716 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the establishment and continuous assessment of variations and deductions in statutory minimum wages referred to in Article 6;
Amendment 727 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – title
Article 8 – title
Amendment 739 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) strengthen the controls and field inspections conducted by labour inspectorates or the bodies responsible for the enforcement of statutory minimum wages and ensure their adequate resourcing. The controls and inspections shall be proportionate and non- discriminatory;
Amendment 743 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point 2
(2) develop capacity-building, training and guidance for enforcement authorities to proactively target and pursue non- compliant businesses;
Amendment 758 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1
In accordance with Directive 2014/24/EU, Directive 2014/25/EU and Directive 2014/23/EU, Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that in the performance of public procurement or concession contracts economic operators comply with the wages set out byand their subcontractors comply with the applicable obligations in the fields of social and labour law concerning wages and working conditions including the right to organise and collectively bargain set out by Union and national law, collective agreements including for the relevant sector and geographical area and with the statutory minimum wages where they existor by the relevant international social and labour law provisions listed in their respective annexes.
Amendment 773 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall task their competent authorities, in consultation with social partners, with developing effective data collection tools to monitor the coverage and adequacy of minimum wages and the coverage of collective bargaining.
Amendment 790 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a – point ii
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a – point ii
(ii) the existing variations, the objective justifications provided and the share of workers covered by them;
Amendment 796 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a – point iii
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a – point iii
(iii) the existing deductions and the objective justifications provided;
Amendment 813 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
(b a) measures provided for under the national action plans to promote collective bargaining referred to under Article 4.2;
Amendment 834 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 3
Article 10 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall ensure that information regarding minimum wage protection, including universally applicable collective agreements and wage provisions therein, is transparent and publicly accessible.
Amendment 867 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall ensure that, without prejudice to specific forms of redress and dispute resolution provided for, where applicable, in collective agreements, workers, including those whose employment relationship has ended, have access to effective and impartial dispute resolution and a right to redress, including adequate compensation, in the case of infringements of their rights relating to statutory minimum wages or minimum wage protection provided by collective agreements, without prejudice to specific forms of redress and dispute resolution provided for, where applicable, in collective agreements.
Amendment 878 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2
Article 11 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall take the measures necessary to protect workers, including those who are workers’ representatives or trade union members, from any adverse treatment by the employer and from any adverse consequences resulting from a complaint lodged with the employer or resulting from any proceedings initiated with the aim of enforcing compliance with the rights relating to statutory minimum wages or minimum wage protection provided by collective agreements.
Amendment 888 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive or the relevant provisions already in force concerning the scope of this Directive. The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Amendment 892 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Member States may entrustshall, in accordance with their national law and practice, take adequate measures to ensure the effective involvement of the social partners with the implementation of this Directivea view to implementing this Directive and may entrust the social partners with its implementation, where the social partners jointly request to do so. In so doing, the Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the results sought by this Directive are guaranteed at all times.
Amendment 899 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Member States shall ensure that the national measures transposing this Directive, together with the relevant provisions already in force relating to the subject matter as set out in Article 1, are brought to the attention of workers and employers, including SMEs and made publically available.
Amendment 900 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
The Commission shall conduct an evaluation of the Directive by [five years after the date of transposition]. The Commission shall, after consulting the Member States and the social partners at Union level, submit thereafter a report to the European Parliament and the Council reviewing the implementation of the Directive and propose, where appropriate, legislative amendments.