10 Amendments of Jutta STEINRUCK related to 2014/2210(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas many rights of codetermination, social protection and occupational safety are not respected in family businesses, because of their size;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas many family businesses differ in terms of values from non-family corporations as regards long-term orientation, have a special degree of commitment to their local community – rooted in the European tradition of the ‘honourable merchant’ – and are generally slower to close down and put workers out of jobthey more often have a long-term orientation and they provide substantial numbers of jobs, particularly in less industrialised regions;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the work being undertaken on an EU definition of ‘family business’, and calls for the specificities within Member States’ definitions to be taken into account, in particular with regard to guaranteeingit to take account of collective agreements, statutory wage entitlements, social rights, social security, pension entitlements, rules on codetermination and health and safety at work at the highest European level;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that the size of a family company should be a central element to be taken into account in the definition of a family business, given the fact that a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach is not capable to sufficiently address the diverse needs of family businesses and society, in particular with regards to taxation, access to finance and corporate governance and responsibility;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with concern that the financial crisis and subsequent recession have dealt a heavy blow to European SMEs, many of which are family businesses, and highlights the importance of a favourable regulatory framework to support healthy restructuring and thus job retention; stresses at the same time that the legal framework must not permit any restriction of the social rights of employees or their rights under collective agreements;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with concern that the financial crisis and subsequent recession have dealt a heavy blow to European SMEs, many of which are family businesses, and highlights the importance of a decisive EU intervention to relaunch economic growth by creating high-quality jobs and a favourable regulatory framework to support healthy restructuring and thus job retention;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Emphasizes that family businesses, due to the overlapping of family, ownership and business elements, have certain specificities which should be taken into account; stresses however the necessity to address labour law issues, social policy and social rights such as better gender balance on corporate boards, work-life balance provisions and financial participation of employees, in a fair and socially responsible manner;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Draws the Commission’s attention to the need for equal treatment of big multinationals and family businesses of a similar size so as to ensure a balanced level playing field in terms of competition, while respecting the unique nature of family businesses, in particular in those Member States in which such businesses were destroyed after 1945care must be taken to ensure that the requirements which apply to Corporate Social Responsibility, rights of codetermination and compliance with the law and with the terms of collective agreements are no less stringent in family businesses.
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 4 – point 1 (new)
(1) Stresses that family businesses too have a responsibility to offer appropriate training places or comparable work experience placements and must promote the further training of employees in their businesses in order to prevent skills shortages and to support the concept of lifelong learning.
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Commission to actively promote and to disseminate information on the family business model throughout the EU, for example by establishing a family business contact point at the European Commission and by favouring the transfer of know-hows and best practices across the Member States, and by also making the best use of programmes such as the 'Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs';