37 Amendments of Philippe LAMBERTS related to 2019/2211(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13
Citation 13
— having regard to the Commission communication of 21 Nov17 December 20189 entitled ‘Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020’ (COM(2019)0650), and to the Commission’s Alert Mechanism Report 2020 of 17 December 2019 (COM(2019)0651),
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17
Citation 17
— having regard to the Commission’s recommendation for a Council recommendation of 17 December 2019 on the economic policy of the euro area (COM(2019/C) 0652),
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission’s communication of 6 December 2017 on further steps towards completing the Economic and Monetary Union (COM(2017) 821),
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
- having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 b (new)
Citation 22 b (new)
- having regard to the conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 c (new)
Citation 22 c (new)
- having regard to the revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 d (new)
Citation 22 d (new)
- having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 e (new)
Citation 22 e (new)
- having regard to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 25 a (new)
Citation 25 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal (2019/2956(RSP)1a _________________ 1a Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0005.
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the improvement in the economic situation and low interest rates provide an opportunity to implement ambitious reforms, in particular measures aimed at encouraging public investment to tackle climate change and its social consequences and create full-timehigh-quality jobs;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas inequality of income in the euro area has increased since the beginning of the financial crisistoo many newly created jobs are part-time, temporary or precarious and in-work poverty has risen continually over recent years; whereas labour markets are increasingly segmented and new labour and social protection legislation is required to respond to new forms of employment, increased transitions between jobs and statuses of employment, as well as rising self-employment; whereas high unemployment rates persist, in particular among young people; whereas social and economic inequalities have globally increased both within and between Member States; whereas an estimated 109.2 million people equivalent to 21.7% of the total EU population are still at risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas there are between 50 and 100 million people affected by energy poverty in Europe;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas some Member States record high current account surpluses and European macro-economic imbalances are still large;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. having regard to the need for a European Climate Law with a legally binding goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest and an intermediate target of at least 65 % forwhereas the most recent reports from, among others, the IPCC, the IPBES and the EEA make clear that policies adopted so far are insufficient to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5°C, to prevent biodiversity loss, and the disturbance of biogeochemical flows; whereas this requires a European Climate Law with a legally binding goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest and an intermediate target of at least 65 % for 2030, as well as a biodiversity strategy that sets binding targets for the Union and its member States to protect at least 30% of the Union's land and marine areas and to restore at least 30% of degradeed ecosystems by 2030;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that, in view of the climate change emergency, the EU’s Annual Growth Survey (AGS) has now been renamed the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey (ASGS), and considers that this implies a change in the positioning of the report and the implementation of ecological indicators; welcomes the fact that it refocuses the European Semester to put sustainability and the well-being of citizens at the center of economic policy and considers that this implies a change in the positioning of the report and the implementation of ecological and social indicators; welcomes the recognition of the Commission that economic growth is not an end in itself and that the economy must work for the people and the planet;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes that the Political Guidelines for the Commission 2019-20124 set out the principle to systematically integrate United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the rights and principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) in the European Semester process and that such approach has been mirrored in the mission letters for the Commissioner responsible for Economy, and for the Executive Vice- Presidents responsible for, respectively, the European Green Deal and an Economy that Works for the People;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes the role of the European Green Deal as the EU’s new strategy defining ecological issues and the wellbeing of citizens as principal goals for the Union; notes, with regard to the scope of the European Semester, the inclusion of the SDGs and of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), whichReiterates its call for the transformative agenda of the European Green Deal to be put at the core of the renewed European Semester; urges the Commission to ensure, including through legislative proposals where appropriate, that all Member States’ socioeconomic, macroeconomic and fiscal policies contribute to and are fully consistent with the objectives and targets of the European Green Deal and that social and environmental targets and objectives related to SDGs are introduced in the framework of the multilateral surveillance procedure referred to in Article 121 TFEU as well as in the context of a reinforced macroeconomic imbalance procedure; considers that the inclusion of SDGs and the Social Pillar within the scope of the European Semester will require the adjustment of existing indicators and the creation of new ones to monitor the implementation of EU economic, environmental and social policies, as well as coherence between policy goals and budgetary means; notes the need to implement long-term planning to tackle climate change;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading -1 (new)
Subheading -1 (new)
Refocusing the European Semester
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Is of the opinion that the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into the Semester process must include the integration of targets and indicators related to Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land);
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Calls therefore on the Commission to expand the European Semester by complementing the current approach based on fiscal and budgetary discipline with climate and environmental discipline to ensure that EU economic governance improves the well-being of all within planetary boundaries; calls, in particular, on the European Commission to use or, if necessary, adjust the indicators related to SDG 13 (Climate Action) to assess the discrepancy between Member States' actual budgets and a Paris aligned scenario for their national budgets; stresses that these climate indicators must provide Member States with an indication on their trajectory of temperature under the framework of the Paris Agreement, thus enabling the extended European Semester to provide Member States with recommendations for the decrease of their climate debts;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers achieving a fair transition to climate neutrality to bethat the Union has a major responsibility for the EU’towards its citizens and economy and its role in the worldthe rest of the world world to achieve a fair transition to climate neutrality; calls for appropriate support and policies, with involvement for and of the public, the various sectors, regions and Member States with a view to benefiting from this transformation and making it a success; calls on the Commission to undertake an annual evaluation of the Union’s ecological debt, carbon budget and imported emissions; supports the Commission’s plans to propose a climate law that ensures that all EU policies are aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Union’s climate neutrality objective and that all sectors contribute to achieving those goals;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the euro area is going through a prolonged period of subdued growth (1.1 % in the euro area and 1.4% in the EU as a whole in 2019), with growth in the euro area in 2020 and 2021 forecast at 1.2 % and for the EU in 2020 and 2021 forecast at 1.4 %; also notes that the inflation rate is forecast to further slow down, to 1.2 % in 2019 and 2020, in a context of high uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions and Brexit; is concerned at the high level of private debt; notes with concern the slow, but relatively steady, tendency for the long-term decline of the wage share in Europe;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Is concerned about risks to the wider economy that originate in an insufficiently de-risked financial sector; notes in this context the unintended side- effects of persistently low interest rates, elevated levels of private debt, the continued existence of banks that are too big and interconnected to fail, and present obstacles to their orderly resolution, and the under-provisioned danger that climate change poses to financial stability; is also concerned about the sovereign-bank nexus and the absence of a European safe asset;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Endorses the conclusion of the European Fiscal Board (EFB) that the fiscal framework has not protected the quality of public expenditure, and welcomes the EFB’s proposal for a ‘golden rule’ to protect public investmentto be revised due to its unnecessary complexity, pro- cyclicality, overreliance on unobservable variables and the fact that it does not sufficiently stimulate sustainable public investment and the quality of public expenditure; calls, therefore, for thea reform of the Stability and Growth Pact and thethat introduction of a golden rule aimed at implementing sound fiscal policy on an equal footing with investment within the EU’s policy objectives; whereas this should cover thees a qualified treatment of sustainable public investments and allows for fiscal space for investments foreseen for the realisation of the Green Deal, the Digital Revolution, the SDGs and the EPSR Rights, including expenditure aimed at reducing poverty and inequality related to social protection, health services and long-term care, and education and training; calls for the introduction of depreciation accounting for public investment expenditure that complies with country-specific recommendations that have the attainment of relevant SDGs as their target;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. HEmphasises that a substantial part of the investments needed to meet the goals of the European Green Deal will have to come from public national and sub-national budgets; highlights the problem of too low a level of public investment; calls on the Commission to assess the cost of not taking action in this area, in particular by evaluating the difference between the need for investment and the actual investments made;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Insists equally that coherence requires a revision of state aid rules (in particular the General Block Exemption Regulation, the Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy, as well as the ETS State Aid Guidelines) to be fully consistent with GHG reduction and environmental objectives, in particular the need to phase out direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies by 2020, including disguised aid granted to fossil fuels such as closure aid for coal mines and compensation for stranded assets or airport expansions;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for a European Green Industrial Strategy; that is fully aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Union’s long-term and intermediate climate goals as set out by the Commission[1], and the relevant SDGs, especially SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure);1a _________________ 1a COM (2018) 773, A Clean Planet for all. A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy, 28/11/2018.
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Supports flexibility in the implementation of the SGP as proposed by the Commission in 2015; consiCalls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal in orders that much more flexibio simplitfy should be introduced in order to boost investment and ecological transition in the EU; calls, therefore, for the reform of the SGP andthe SGP, improve its implementation, avoid pro-cyclical effects and overreliance on unobservable variables; calls for the introduction of a euro area fiscal capacity;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reiterates its call for a European stabilisation function andcalls the urgent need to complete and reinforce the EMU architecture by, inter alia, ensuring the swift creation of a meaningful budgetary instrument including a macroeconomic stabilisation function for the euro area, integrating the ESM into the community acquis and providing for an effective ESM backstop for the Single Resolution Mechanism; reiterates its call for a European unemployment benefit reinsurance scheme, with a view to protecting citizens and reducing pressure on public finances during external shocks so as to overcome social and economic imbalances;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is concerned about the accelerating rise in house prices and the risk of asset bubbles in real estate markets;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Asks the Commission, in the context of the forthcoming revision of the six-pack, to use this revision to propose modifying the macroeconomic imbalances procedure so that it tackles more symmetrically, effectively and proactively the accumulation of excessive macroeconomic imbalances;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Recalls that addressing macroeconomic imbalances requires strengthening social, economic and territorial cohesion, and reducing regional disparities; notes the persisting asymmetry between the surveillance of macroeconomic policies and coordination of social policies within the Semester; demands accordingly that the Commission places economic and social objectives on an equal footing by introducing a Social Imbalance Procedure (SImP) aimed at flagging and correcting social imbalances within Member States in line with the principles of the Social Pillar and the possibly redefined indicators of the Social Scoreboard;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls the importance of the efficient regulation of the banking and financial sectors in order to prevent a new crisis; believes that such regulation must integrate the ecological situation; emphasises the importance of completing the Banking Union and the need to reform the European Stability Mechanism; acknowledges that the financialisation of parts of the European economy has fostered short-termism in company management and negatively affected employees and other stakeholders; asks the Commission to investigate the possibility of using the European Semester to promote a more stakeholder- oriented rather than shareholder-oriented economic model;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for the systematic inclusion of tax matters in the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs), with the aim of ensuring economic coherence across EU Member States as well as the fairness of EU tax systems; believes that the CSRs could ensure a fair balance between sources of revenue and should also include innovative elements aiming at promoting the Green Deal; further believes that they should also support Member States in tackling tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning; strongly agrees with the Commission that taxes and subsidies should support the transition to a sustainable economy; calls on the Commission to issue ambitious country specific recommendations to promote a swift phase-out of fossil fuels subsidies;
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Reiterates its call for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), a tax on the digital economy and public country-by-country reporting multinationals, with a view to improve fairness and efficiency of the EU tax systems;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes that the EU-28 employment rate currently stands at 73.1 % - the highest annual average ever recorded - while unemployment stands at 7.6 % in the euro area and 6.3 % in the EU as a whole; stresses the need for creating socially and environmentally sustainable jobs; stresses that social sustainability includes good working conditions, effective worker representation and collective bargaining rights, as well as the payment of, at least, living wages;
Amendment 386 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Welcomes the ASGS 2020’s proposals for fostering social and regional convergence towards better living and working conditions in the EU; calls on the Commission to integrate targets and indicators related to SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities) into the Social Scoreboard;