14 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2014/2247(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A a (new)
Recital –A a (new)
- a. whereas cohesion policy, as defined in the 1986 Single European Act, is about reducing disparities between the various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured regions; whereas the TFEU adds another facet to cohesion, referring to "economic, social and territorial cohesion";
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas, the Commission does not provide a definition for marginalised communities, leaving to Member State the responsibility to decide on the basis of their national indicators; notices however, that marginalisation can be established by looking at a set of relevant indicators such as social exclusion, measures of high long-term unemployment, low level of education, discrimination, (extremely) poor housing conditions, high level of discrimination, and excessive exposure to health risks and/or lack of access to health care, i.e. those populations considered most vulnerable and most in need of help;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A d (new)
Recital –A d (new)
- Ad. whereas Regulation 223/2014/EU stipulates that the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived shall promote social cohesion, enhance social inclusion, and therefore ultimately contribute to the objective of eradicating poverty in the Union, and support Member States' actions to provide material assistance to the most deprived;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that, with effect from 2014, Regulation 1303/2013/EU1[1] contains new elements intended to help the disadvantaged: it makes it compulsory to dismantle institutions with large staff complements, and, in promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and all forms of discrimination, to switch from institutional services to community-based services, and incorporated marginalised communities, which may face growing challenges and increasingly lag behind other groups in a knowledge-based society; within the framework of this Regulation, the "European Code of Conduct on Partnership" should be precisely implemented and the partnership principle should be strengthened; __________________ 1 Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission to offer technical support needed to improve the administrative capacities of bodies involved in the administration of the Structural Funds, and calls on the Member States to provide advice and administrative assistance, e.g. by organising training and by helping with aid applications and explications, to make it easier for marginalised communities such as Roma, to obtain information concerning European and national funding programmes in support of entrepreneurship and employment and to submit the relevant applications;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that social partners must have access to technical assistance in order to ensure not only the strengthening of social partners' capacities but also social partners' coordination and representation in ad hoc committees which define and implement the Operational Programmes;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Emphasizes that the European Social Fund should be the main instrument for implementing the European 2020 Strategy in the field of employment, labour market policies, mobility, education and training and social inclusion thereby contributing to economic, social and territorial cohesion;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Stresses that the cohesion funds should promote research and analysis for generating knowledge about the real living conditions of the marginalised communities;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Calls on the Member States to take into account the multidimensional and territorial aspects of poverty, to mobilise sufficient budgetary resources from national budget and EU programmes through the use of Community-Led Local Development, Joint Action Plans, Integrated Territorial Investments and Integrated Operations in order to carry out the objectives identified in their NRIS, to develop integrated multi-sectorial and multi-fund programmes targeting the most deprived micro-regions;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the high levels of youth unemployment experienced by marginalised groups, particularly effecting the Roma, by using existing mechanism such as the Youth Guarantee and specialised training programmes, as for example the Erasmus plus programme, to ensure access to early education for Roma children and, by supporting lifelong learning programmes, to facilitate the access of Roma adults to the labour market. Furthermore, calls for the effective use of other EU instruments, e.g. the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme to promote quality and sustainable employment, guarantee adequate and decent social protection and combat poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recognises that most Roma are employed in undeclared jobs, and, given the need to ensure the sustainability of the social security systems, calls on the Member States, in cooperation with the social partners, to effectively tackle this phenomenon, by making full use of the European platform to enhance cooperation in tackling undeclared work;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Points out that Roma women face double discrimination as gender gaps in employment and pay are very high in Roma communities; stresses therefore the need to ensure that specific measures for women's rights and gender mainstreaming are included in the National Roma Integration Strategies;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to consider children as a priority when implementing the EU Framework for National Roma Strategies, and reiterates the importance of promoting equal access to housing, healthcare, education and dignified living conditions for children;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Stresses that cuts in budget for public services in some Member States during the crisis has led to aggravating unemployment, missing social security, difficult housing situation and health problems; calls on the Member States to use more efficiently the support from the European Social Fund in order to improve the quality and equal access to public services for marginalised communities and combat any form of discrimination;