19 Amendments of Pascal CANFIN related to 2009/2222(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. considering Article 14 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Protocol No 26 annexed to the treaties,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Given that social services of general interest make a major contribution to the achievement of the EU's goals as enshrined in the Treaties, particularly in terms of promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion, calls on the Commission to use the evaluation and revision of the Monti- Kroes package to strengthen legal security in the field of social services of general interest, using a tailored approach which can easily be applied by organising public authorities and takes into account the specific ways in which social services are organised, their legal status and their strongly local nature, as well as the responsibility of the Member States for organising and financing these services;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that, given the place which these services have in Europe, especially against a background of economic crisis, the EU should do more to promote their importance; asks the Commission, therefore, to explore the idea of setting up a European social services observatory to collect information from various sources in the Member States and to promote good practice at European, national, regional and local level; also calls on the Commission to update the website on questions and answers concerning SSGI, making it and to draw up a methodology which is better adapted to authorities running public services and to operators and is comprehensible, directly applicable and accessible in all the EU official languages;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission to adopt a communication establishing a methodology for organising local authorities setting out guidelines for applying European rules, while enabling local authorities to handle European rules flexibly considering their national and local specificities;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to consider the advisability of putting forward a de minimis regulation specific to social services of general interest or to adjust the de minimis threshold for such services, in order to focus EU checks on State aid on social services likely to have a significant impact on cross-border trade within the EU;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses the interest for a better understanding of common concepts regarding the quality of SSGI of the voluntary European quality framework for social services adopted in 2010 by the Social Protection Committee; wishes to see a definition of the common coordination instruments, with a view to optimising the use of this voluntary framework and exchanging best practices with the aim of determining comparable quality indicators;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to exempt from the notification requirement subsidies granted under the terms of contracts concluded as a result of competitive tendering;tend the scope of the SSGI sectors benefiting from the exemption of notification without thresholds, following the considerations that led to the current exemption of notification for hospital and social housing sectors and taking account of the fact that, at this stage of the development of the internal market, the intensity of the distortion of competition in these sectors is not necessarily proportional to revenues and the amount of compensation; calls on the Commission to exempt from the notification requirement subsidies granted under the terms of contracts concluded as a result of competitive tendering; taking into account that existing alternatives to competitive tendering (in house, authorisation schemes, mandating...) can be more adapted to the specificities of SSGI
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Draws attention to the substantial proportion of total employment in the EU, and of public financing in the Member States, that is accounted for by SSGI; believes that, against a background of economic and budgetary crisis, a balanced approach needs to be adopted, based on preserving the continuity and quality of social services and making them more effective; considers, therefore, that discussion is required with a focuon the clarification of concepts, especially regarding the notion of mandating, as well as on the relationship between public procurement rules and SSGI, particularly with regard to new management approaches such as in-house procurement and increased emphasis on quality criteria in the tender selection proces, cooperation between local authorities and any other form of public- public partnership or increased emphasis on quality criteria in the tender selection process; advocates encouraging the inclusion in calls for tenders of such qualitative criteria, especially in the social and environmental fields and in the context of fair trade; calls for the specific status of non-profit providers to be taken into account and maintained; calls for greater encouragement and support for the provision of SSGI by social economy enterprises;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to clarify how the concepts of economic and non- economic activityies and effects on trade are to be applied to social services of general interest and the specific arrangements for applying the concept of the ‘'level of compensation needed (...) on the basis of an analysis of the costs which a typical undertaking, well run and adequately provided with means of transport (...) would have incurred’' (CJUE, C-280/00, Altmark);
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that wthere an official act of entrustment has been transparently drawn up and made public and includes parameters for calculating compensation based on coverage of the actual cost of providing social services of general interest, systematic monitoring of overcompensation should be replaced by intervention only following a substantiated complaint.is a guarantee of transparency which has to be maintained; asks the Commission to consider whether rules set for entrustment and monitoring of overcompensation are appropriate to the characteristics of social services and to take initiatives if they are not deemed appropriate;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that where an official act of entrustment has been transparently drawn up and made public and includes parameters for calculating compensation based on coverage of the actual cost of providing social services of general interest, systematic monitoring of overcompensation should be replaced by intervention only following a substantiated complaint.; stresses that the criterion for mandating (act of entrustment) should be improved particularly by means of greater flexibility in its application;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises the need to clarify the legal uncertainties affecting SSGI; welcomes the updating of the Commission’s guide on the application of EU state aid, public procurement and internal market rules to SSGI; notes the proposals made in the Monti report, especially those concerned with a sector-based approach to use of Article 14 TFEU; considers it essential to move forward with a pragmatic approach enabling the real problems, and potential solutions to them, to be identified, but recalls that this is not sufficient, as the rules raise problems for numerous players; calls on the Commission to simplify these rules; notes the proposals made in the Monti report, especially those concerned with the application of Article 14 TFEU and Protocol 26 to that Treaty; calls on the Commission to propose, as soon as possible, legislation clearly defining SSGI on the basis of fundamental rights rathr than economic considerations and strengthening the principles of subsidiarity and local autonomy; calls for an extension of the category of SSGI exempted from notification with regard to state aids without considering thresholds, following the examples of hospitals and subsidised housing; draws attention to the long- standing dialogue with the stakeholders on this subject, and calls on the Commission to act; calls, in the context of a revision of the directives on public contracts, for clarification regarding the rules from which SSGI are exempted, as well as of the notion of 'clear crossborder interest' in the light of the often local dimension of SSGI activities;; calls on the Commission, in association with Parliament and the Council, to carry out in- depth research into the functioning of a pilot SSGI sector such as that of services to the elderly, which, in future, will have a major role to play;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Given that social services of general interest are person-oriented services, and that they address the need of the most disadvantaged people, therefore enabling individuals to play a significant part in the economic and social life of society (Council's conclusions of 6/7 December), takes the view that basis banking services should be considered as services of general economic interest and submitted to universal service obligations in order to guarantee accessibility, affordability, transparency and a high degree of quality to the citizens;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Asks the Commission to put forwards legislative proposals for Project Bonds in order to ensure long-term and affordable financing for EU relevant and sustainable services of general economic interest, particularly in the field of social housing (as regards energy efficiency in building renovations) as well as in the renovation of public buildings;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6e. Asks the Commission to further clarify and assess the application of EU rules to social services of general interest in order to enhance their legal certainty, as stated in Art 14 TFEU and Protocol 26;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6f. Stresses that the calculation of compensation should not be done exclusively on the basis of economic and financial criteria but should also take account of social criteria;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 g (new)
Paragraph 6 g (new)
6g. Asks the Commission that control of over-compensation is used only if the risk of damaging violation of competition is ascertained;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses the importance of closer cooperation between providers and stakeholders in the context of SSGI, and of greater user involvement with a view to improving the definition of expectations and improving quality;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Points out that a wide range of social services have been excluded from the scope of the directive on services in the internal market; hopes the Commission will soon draw up a balance-sheet concering the transposition of those exclusion measures, with particular reference to Member States' interpretation of the concepts of 'charity', 'persons in need' and 'providers mandated by the state';