Activities of Sandra PEREIRA related to 2023/2115(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Gender aspects of the rising cost of living and the impact of the energy crisis (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the gender aspects of the rising cost of living and the impact of the energy crisis
Amendments (28)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas before the COVID-19 pandemic began most women already had a precarious or part-time job; whereas the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have intensified a pre-existing systemic crisis, and inflation and the increasing cost of living cannot be attributed to the conflict alone;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the COVID-19 situation has significantly increased the unemployment rate in Member States; whereas the consequences of that state of affairs are particularly serious for women, who are affected directly through loss of their jobs or job security and indirectly through budget cuts for public services and welfare assistance; whereas, therefore, if it is to be tackled, it is essential to address the dimension of female poverty in the handling of this situation and the search for solutions;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the increasing risk of poverty is closely and directly linked to the destruction of significant social functions performed by the state, as seen, for example, with the dismantling of public social security systems, along with, in a number of Member States, cuts to key social benefits (family allowance, unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, social integration minimum income);
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas the right to work is an essential precondition if women are to enjoy economic independence, professional fulfilment and effective equal rights; whereas precarious employment should thus be eradicated through the mandatory application of the principle that for every actual job there should be a permanent post, and by recognising and enhancing the right to work with rights;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas prices have risen, in general, 11.5 % in the European Union since October 2021 and food has been particularly affected, with inflation climbing to 17.8 % in October 2022; whereas, in line with the ECB's September 2023 macroeconomic projections for the euro area, average inflation for 2023 is estimated at 5.6 %, which is an upward revision of previous projections;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the energy crisis in Europe has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the European electricity market; whereas, by indexing electricity prices to gas prices, that market has created the possibility for considerable speculation, which poses significant difficulties to companies and households and especially people in vulnerable situations, including women, who are particularly at risk;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the concept of public service is based on the fact that certain social activities deemed essential and strategic should be managed in line with specific criteria to ensure everyone has access and to contribute to solidarity and the social, cultural and economic cohesion of society; whereas, in order to achieve that, those activities should therefore avoid the market logic and the pursuit of profit, which is the case particularly when the following are needed: access for all, long-term investment, long-term management, safeguarding of a rare and precious asset, management of public spaces; whereas this is absolutely the case when it comes to essential goods like electricity and energy;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas public control over the energy sector is essential to guarantee people's economic, social and environmental rights, combating global warming and ensuring everyone has access to electricity and heating;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)
Recital B e (new)
Be. whereas the rising price of essential goods (housing, food, energy, telecommunications) requires measures that protect families; whereas the difficulties faced by families contrast with the profits of the major economic groups;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas women in the EU are more severely affected by poverty or social exclusion than men, being systematically placed at a disadvantage by structural and cultural factors; whereas their role as primary carers in the family puts a disproportionate amount of unpaid care and domestic work on women, who play an essential role in this regard;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas energy poverty remains a serious social problem in all EU Member States and throughout the world; whereas the state of affairs has deteriorated in recent years and, according to the latest reports, more than 700 million people all over the world – around 10 % of the population – live in extreme poverty and do not have access to electricity; whereas in Europe that figure is between 50 and 125 million people; whereas, in line with the most conservative estimates, more than 35 million people in Europe cannot afford to heat their homes in winter, according to 2022 EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC), and that number is equivalent to the populations of Greece, Portugal, Hungary and Ireland put together, which means that those people have to choose between heating their homes and buying food; whereas it is estimated that the figure could be much higher, with the EU Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV) placing the number at more than 50 million households affected;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas the EU gender pay gap is 16 %, with variations between the Member States; whereas the gender pay gap has a number of implications, including a 37 % gap in pension entitlements, which places elderly women at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas the right to equal pay for equal work is not always upheld and remains one of the biggest challenges in efforts to overcome pay discrimination;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas the disinvestment in and dismantling of public health, education and transport services has a direct impact on women's lives and steps need to be taken to counter that trend;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas the ECB's monetary policy and successive interest rate hikes are smothering families with the price of mortgage payments and those hikes need to be reversed; whereas the EU has responsibilities in the liberalisation of the rental market;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the importance of combating discrimination between men and women in access to employment and work, and promoting equality in careers and professional categories, in vocational training and in salaries is essential, at the same time as strengthening work with rights and protecting collective bargaining and union rights;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the European Union's neoliberal policies are contributing to inequality between men and women, with women disproportionately affected by increasing unemployment, deregulation of the labour market and working hours, increasing precariousness and low salaries, as well as the many forms of inequality and discrimination arising from funding cuts to public services, including health, education and social benefits;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Emphasises that energy independence, security and social responsibility in supply, as well as the fight against exclusion and global warming, should go hand in hand and be priorities for Member States and the EU as a whole; considers that this can only be achieved by moving energy away from the current competition-based market approach and making energy an essential public service;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses the importance of combating inequalities and injustices against women; calls on the Commission and Member States to take urgent action to address poverty and increasing inequalities among women, especially among vulnerable groups, including single mothers, women with disabilities, Roma women, LGBTQI+ women, migrant women and refugees, elderly women, women in rural or depopulated areas;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Member States to increase public investment in policies that, directly or indirectly, aim to counteract the negative effects of the cost of living crisis on women in all their diversity, to guarantee access to high-quality, free public services for care, education, health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, and housing, and to protect victims of gender-based violence;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Urges the Member States to adopt specific measures to combat the risk of poverty in old age and retirement by increasing pensions and boosting social benefits and services;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Stresses that the participation of women in all sectors must be increased; stresses that investment in public services and welfare provision is a means of ensuring access, on an equal basis, to healthcare, education, culture, social security and justice; urges the Member States to take specific measures to tackle the risk of social exclusion and poverty, focusing especially on access to affordable housing, transport and energy;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls for a public transport policy that takes account of gender equality, in particular by expanding and improving the public transport service and offering effective mobility so that women can find work and participate more actively in the labour market (and achieve a better work- life balance);
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Stresses the fact that decisions taken by some Member States to cut their budgets for childcare, education and preschool activities, and carers, largely as a result of the so-called austerity measures that have been imposed on Member States by the European Union, have direct implications for women who take on the majority of the additional tasks entailed; points out that this means that the public network of day nurseries, crèches and public recreational activity services for children needs to be expanded, along with the public support network for the elderly and people with special needs, and a public network of hospitals;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission to refrain from promoting any policy recommendation that would lead to an increase in precarious working relations, the deregulation of working hours, a reduction in salaries, an attack on collective bargaining or the privatisation of public services and social security;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Points out that cuts in public budgets ensuing from the European Union’s macro-structural economic policies, in particular the implementation of ‘economic governance’ measures, are increasing and will continue to increase gender inequalities and female unemployment, women being in the majority in the public sector and the principal beneficiaries of social policies, and furthering yet more the feminisation of poverty, and therefore a change in policy is required;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Stresses that the current state of affairs requires solutions that guarantee access to housing at prices compatible with families' incomes and the protection of family homes, whether families are renting or have taken out a home loan, and to ensure that nobody's home is taken away from them; calls on Member States to take steps to protect the right to housing, regulate prices, increase the supply of public housing and fight speculation and the impact of interest rate hikes;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights that access to electricity plays a fundamental role in poverty reduction and in ensuring full and equal participation in society; calls for the EU and the Member States to recognise the right to energy; highlights that only a public service can assert common interests over private interests; emphasises that the quality and impartiality of a public energy and electricity service are conditions for equality and democracy;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Urges the Member States to take specific measures to tackle the risk of social exclusion and poverty, focusing on access to affordable housing, transport, justice and energy;