42 Amendments of Sven GIEGOLD related to 2012/2004(INI)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 13 February 2012 on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society with regard to the involvement of employees (2011/2116(INI)),
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 b (new)
Citation 12 b (new)
- having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2009 on Social Economy (2008/2250(INI)),
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas social enterprises of the social economy, employing overat least 11 million people in the EU and accounting for 6 % of the entire workforce, significantly contribute to the European social model1 and generate an innovative social value;have proven to be more resilient during the economic crisis, by displaying more solid business models and safer employment1; 1 http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/ ces1584-2011_ac_en.doc
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas different historical developments have led to legal frameworks for business, includingenterprises of all sorts, including enterprises of the social economy and social businesses, to show significant differences across Member States;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas enterprises of the social economy are not fully recognised at European level and in many Member States and social business itself is not recognised by a legal framework at either European or national level;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the current financial crisis and an ageing population burdenchallenge social welfare systems, including statutory and voluntary healthcarinsurance schemes;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the Single Market Act2 and the Europe 2020 strategy – which both aim to establish sustainable growth and to develop more and better jobs – are strongly inter- linked and social business and its innovation potential aim to contribute to themthe social economy and social business contribute to them, thanks to their innovation potential;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas Social Services of General Interest are key components of a welfare state, and social business and enterprises of the social economy can help in delivering these services;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas social enterprises of the social economy often face difficulties in funding and expanding their activities and typically have difficulties in accessing loans or credits and therefore need specifically tailored support, such as social banking, philanthropic funds and/or microcredit; in this regard, EU Structural Funds play a significant role in facilitating access to and availability of financing for social enterprises;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas social business supports policy reform, by promoting good governance, enterprises of the social economy and social business support the objectives of the EU 2020 strategy, by promoting social inclusion, mutual learning and, social innovation and smart and green growth;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission Communications ‘'Social Business 1 2 Ibid. Ibid. Initiative’' and ‘'Towards a job-rich recovery’4' with recommendations to national governments on job creation – especially in the fast-growing sector for health and social care (the so-called white sector) and in the green sector – that offer new chances to the social economy and social business;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 – introductory part
Paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. Points out that two terms should be distinguished: (a) 'Social enterprise' means an undertaking in the social economy which [is not itself a collective investment undertaking and that, at the time of an investment by the EuSEF,] is not listed on a regulated market as defined in point (14) of Article 4 (1) of Directive 2004/39/EC, [which, except in the case of undertakings dealing with Social Housing or other sectors with social relevance having a high investment intensity, either has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million,] and which: (i) in accordance with its articles of association, statutes or any other statutory document establishing the business, has the achievement of measurable, positive social impacts as a primary objective rather then generating profit for its owners, members and stakeholders, where: – the undertaking provides services or goods with a social return and – the undertaking employs an method of production of goods or services that embodies its social objective; (ii) reinvests its profits in the first place to achieve its primary objective and has in place predefined procedures and rules for any circumstances in which profits are distributed to shareholders and owners, in order to ensure that any distribution of profits does not undermine the primary objective; (iii) operates in the market and is managed in an entrepreneurial, accountable and transparent way, in particular by involving workers, customers and/or all stakeholders affected by its business activities in its decision making;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 – point A
Paragraph 3 – point A
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 – point B
Paragraph 3 – point B
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) should be distinguished from that of the social economy and that of social business, even though some commercial businesses with significant CSR activities can have a strong interaction with social business;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that activities by volunteers constitute an important contribution to welfare organisations and solidarity, and give many people a meaning in life; asks, therefore, for full recognition and, where appropriate, financial support on local, national and European level;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that social business does not necessarily need to be not-for-profit; underlines, at the same time, the social value provided by welfare organisations and the need to preserve itConsiders that the reform of EU rules on public procurement is a good opportunity to improve compliance with social standards, to guarantee at least equal participation of social enterprises in public procurement, and to strengthen the more systematic implementation of social and environmental criteria in the award of public contracts;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. States that social welfare enterprises or organisations should not be exposed to unregulated competition, which may be the result if profit-oriented enterprises focus on lucrative areas, which are mostly urban, so that other areas, which are mostly rural or in peripheral areas– where logistic hinders incur higher costs – become more and more reliant on so-called ‘services for poor people’;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. States that innovative social enterprises should be financially supported on a European levelWelcomes the Commission's initiative for European Social Entrepreneurship Funds; states that EU funds should include programmes explicitly supporting access to finance for enterprises of the social economy and social business; supports the promotion and increase of accessibility of Community programmes for young people to set up social economy enterprises (i.e. ERASMUS for Young Entrepreneurs); recalls, however, that self-employment has to be accompanied by the provision of sufficient guidance, tools and instruments for investment, to prevent young people from falling into poor working conditions of permanent self-exploitation, insufficient social protection, debts and bankruptcy;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Supports initiatives on a European level to extend and strengthen the already advanced association sector in various Member States; calls for a European statute for associations;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Points out that using the full potential of the sector in generating sustainable employment and providing quality services requires the realisation of decent working conditions and quality employment; democratic inclusion of employees or, respectively, collective bargaining are essential to secure a competition based on the quality of the service and not on the lowest price; recalls that this relates, inter alia, to improving remuneration and gender pay gap for decent living wages, guaranteeing health and safety at work; points out that a sectoral social dialogue would significantly contribute to securing quality employment in the social services sector;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls for EU public procurement rules applying the principle of the "most economically advantageous tender (MEAT)" instead of "lowest cost" when contracting service provision out; MEAT criteria should include the full range of social and quality of work considerations, like decent work, collective bargaining, equal pay for equal work, fair trade, social integration of disadvantaged persons or vulnerable groups amongst the persons assigned to performing the contract;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the adoption of athe revised package of EU state-aid rules concerning social and local services whilst encouraging the Commission to clarify these rules still further so as to facilitate their understanding and application by local and regional authorities in particular with regard to social enterprises;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Recalls that in COM(2004)0018 the Commission committed itself to twelve actions, including: · supporting stakeholders and organising a structured exchange of information, · disseminating best practice to improve national legislation, · collecting European statistics, · simplifying and revising European legislation on cooperatives, · initiating tailored education programmes and including references to cooperatives in EIF financial instruments;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Deplores the fact that, of this list of commitments, only three have been put into practice, with no significant results; stresses that such shortcomings limit the development potential of cooperatives;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Stresses that EU policies in all areas need to recognise the specificities and added value of social economy enterprises, including cooperative enterprises, through adapting legislation on public procurement, State aid and financial regulation accordingly;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Calls on the Member States to foster more favourable conditions for cooperatives, such as access to credit and tax incentives;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Supports business-support measures, in particular business-consultancy and employee training, and access to funding for cooperatives, especially for employee or customer buy-outs, as they are an underrated tool for saving enterprises at times of crisis and for the transfer of family enterprises;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Points out that a lack of resources leads to a lack of results; stresses the need for urgent improvements within the Commission in terms of organisation and the resources devoted to the social economy, given the current dispersion of competences and staff resources working on social economy inside the Commission;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the Commission's proposal for a multilingual platform for enterprises of the social economy and social business; supports initiatives on a European level to strengthen mutual exchange networks that can contribute to spread best practice on national, regional and local level; recalls that the best instrument to increase recognition of and support to the social economy would be an Open Method of Coordination;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Highlights the importance of partnerships created, at local and regional level, by social enterprises with public authorities, social enterprises, other type of private enterprises, trade unions and civil society in general;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19 b. Therefore encourages the Commission to develop further actions that would promote the development of such partnerships with a long-term perspective, also by encouraging local/regional authorities to set up long- term strategies for the development of social enterprises (e.g. in the new programming period of CSF funds);
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Believes that the ‘EU Programme for Social Change and Innovation for 2014- 2020’, with its Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis, willcould play a very important role in the effort to guarantee better access to micro-credits, nevertheless, this programme should enhance the diversity of needs of financing the social enterprises according to their different activities;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses the importance of ensuring that under the Financial Perspectives 2014- 2020, the regulations for European funds relevant to social business (such as the European Social Fund (ESF) and, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Programme for Social Change and Innovation (EPSCI) will explicitly address social enterprises and support their development; Encourages the Commission to use fuds in a strategic way, acting as a leverage for the pooling, at local/regional levels, of different type of finance coming from public authorities;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Welcomes the action proposed by the Commission to develop tools to improve awareness of the sector and the visibility of social entrepreneurship; greater awareness of the potentila of this business model will help facilitate greater cooperation between social enterprises and ordinary businesses;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to institute a ‘Welcomes the commitment made by the Commission in its communication to initiate a study on the situation of mutual societies in all the Member States in order to examine their cross-border activities in particular; the rediscovery and re- enhancement of the mutual society system and associations as a social protection tool unquestionably represents an important future path in preserving an inclusive welfare system; calls on the Commission to commission a study on the desirability and feasibility on a 'social label’' to be awarded to social enterprises, to ensure better access to public procurement;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Asks the Commission to create a better understanding of and knowledge about social enterprises and social economy by promoting research in the 8th Framework Programme (Horizon) and to launch a yearly activity report on social businesseconomy (including on EU funds relevant for the sector) that is to give account of fundamental research, describe strengths and weaknesses and address current and future challenges as well as possible policy options;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support smaller businesocial enterprises set up by young and/or innovative entrepreneurs;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls for the principles of social business, entrepreneurshipeconomy and social responsibility to be included in school curricula of schools, universities and other educational institutions;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31 a. Calls on the Commission to consider a European Year of Social Economy;