23 Amendments of Peter SIMON related to 2014/2059(INI)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas increasing overall unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular, remains a major threat to economic and social stability and convergence in the EU;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, in the context of persistently high debt and unemployment levels, low nominal GDP growth, and the challenges of an ageing society and of supporting job creation, particularly for young people, fiscal consolidation must continue in a growth-friendly and differentiated mannermore differentiated and more intelligent manner, in combination with explicit growth impulses;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the Europe 2020 strategy is one of the elements of the EU’s response to the global economic crisis and future challenges;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the global financial crisis and the sovereignbanking and debt crisis in the EU have significantly hampered access by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to financial resources;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes the fact that economic recovery in the EU is under way; reiterates, however, that this recovery is fragile and uneven, and must be sustain, in nearly all Member States, the economy has still not recovered from the consequences of the financial and economic crisis; notes that the EU economy is in danger of seeing a trend towards a prolonged period of stagnation; stresses that the economy must urgently be stimulated in order to deliver more growth, prosperity and jobs in the medium term;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomNotes the ambitious structural reforms implemented by Member Statessome Member States have implemented and are implementing under the macroeconomic adjustment programmes; finds it regrettable that the Member States in the rest of the euro area are less ambitious in modernising their economies, which is one of the reasonse reforms have mostly not proved successful in terms of their impact on overall economic growth; criticises the Heads of State and Government for not yet recognising that they are largely responsible for this lack of success and for still refusing to budge from the failed ‘austerity only’ policy; also criticises the Heads of State and Government for their persistent failure to change course, resulting in the crisis being prolonged, which in turn – combined in some cases with missed opportunities for reform – is now threatening Europe's fcor the lowe countries and holding back growth prospects in the medium and long term;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that the euro area and the EU, owing to the current dogmatic insistence on budget cuts and structural reforms and the constant denial of the need for growth stimuli, risk falling further behind other regions in terms of economic development and opportunities, making the EU less attractive for investment from within and outside the EU;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses, therefore, the importance of continuing the process of deep and sustainable structural reforms to deliver on growth and jobhanging course, since the policy pursued in recent years has clearly not had the desired success; further stresses that the process of structural reforms needs to be reorganised and realigned, but is still not sufficient on its own to deliver on growth and jobs and must therefore be accompanied by growth impulses and investments; reiterates, in this connection, the fact that the EU cannot compete on costs alone, but needs to invest more in research and development, education and skills, and resource efficiency, both at national and European level; calls on the Commission and the Member States to exploit more fully the potential of promotional banks to stimulate the economy in the European Union;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines, once again, the fact that, in the overallmedium to long term, the indebtedness of Member States in the euro area is not only an obstacle to growth but alsoand puts a huge burden on future generations; stresses once again in this connection, however, that fiscal consolidation should begin not just on the expenditure side but also on the revenue side;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates, therefore, the fact that Member States should paytake particular attentioncare, when devising economic policies and reforms as regards the impact on future generations, not to deprive young people of their opportunities from the starisregard their needs for good living conditions and job opportunities; our societies’ future must not be frittered away by non-decisions and political errors in the present;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to strengthen the European Semester process by, inter alia, making sure that sufficient time and resources are allocated to the design and follow-up to the recommendations, thereby making the recommendations as relevant as possible for EU- and national-level economic policy-making; stresses the importance of involving the European Parliament at an early stage and to the greatest extent possible, so as to prevent – given Parliament’s growing significance and binding role – the emergence of a legitimacy gap in the political opinion- forming process;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls, however, that Member States’ track record of implementing the CSRs is very low; believes that there is an inconsistency between European commitment and national implementation of the CSRs by Member States; stresses the importance of ‘national ownership’ by the relevant governments of EU-level commitments; further stresses that in areas where Member State governments do assume national ownership, the consistent involvement of the European Parliament is indispensable;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the fact that a number of CSRs are based on EU legal acts and that failure to act upon them may result in legal procedures; reminds Member States to deliver on their legal obligations under EU law; calls in this connection for the targets to be made more binding and urges that there should be the option of accompanying these targets with positive and negative sanctions;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Believes that with regard to the forthcoming European Semester, the a policy of growth-friendly fiscal consolidation should be pursued to improve fiscal sustainability; stresses, however, the fact that special emphasis should be placepromoting growth and investment should be pursued; emphasises that this is a prerequisite for medium- and lon growth-enhancing reforms and policiesg-term fiscal consolidation;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses, once again, its call on Member States to simplify their tax systems and reiterates its call to shift taxes from labour to consumption toapital and consumption, in such a way as to offer appropriate incentives and make the use of resources more efficient and sustainable; calls on the Commission to take urgent action and develop a comprehensive strategy based on concrete legislative measures to fight tax fraud and tax evasion; calls on the Member States not to engage in damaging tax competition, to create a common assessment base for corporation tax and to introduce minimum corporation tax rates in the EU;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Reiterates the fact that structural reforms must be complemented by measures to boost growth and by longer- term investment in education, research, innovation and sustainable energy; stresses, however, the fact that private investment is more conducive to growth than public investmentdeplores the current tendency to deny the leading role which public investment can play in that connection; notes that this is taking place against the background of general acceptance of the doctrine of fiscal consolidation; emphasises that private investment can also take its cue from public models and thinking and that an increase in private investment will not in itself be enough to lift us out of the crisis;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Points out that government-induced growth risks being unsustainable over the medium term; stresses the fact that the already high levels of public debt do not allow for a significant increase in spending, if the reform and consolidation efforts are not to be in vainhigh levels of state indebtedness make it essential that intelligent ways should be found of funding public investments; emphasises that the need for fiscal consolidation makes it all the more important to foster investment in the future by setting the right priorities and developing appropriate new sources of revenue;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Believes that the biggest limitation on the EU economy is the low level of private investmentack of a European vision concerning those projects which are vital to our future; remains convinced that the low level of private investment - a level which certainly needs to be increased - can partly be explained by the lack of a template setting out the tasks the EU is to perform in the future and how those tasks should be divided up;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Underlines the fact that private investment is also crucial, as it works on the supply and demand side of the economy creating jobs, generating incomes for households, increasing tax revenue, helping governments consolidate and boosting growth;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Underlines the fact that a lack ofproblems in access toing finance, particularly for SMEs, poses a huge obstacle to growth in the EU; acknowledges, however, that the causes are many and varied and cannot be traced back solely to supply-side problems;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on the Commission urgently to propose measures to complete the internal market for capital to improve the allocation of capital to businesses in order to revitalise the real economy; believes that further alternatives to bank financing are needed, for both large and small and medium-sized undertakings, particularly by improving the conditions for financing through the capital markets; points out, however, that this must not go hand in hand with a watering-down of the safeguards introduced in response to the financial crisis;
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Stresses the importance of the expedition and coimplementation of the banking union; believes that completion of the banking union must be achieved by means of an insurance and markets unioncan help to restore confidence and stability;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Stresses the fact that the European Semester must in no way jeopardise the prerogatives of the European Parliament or those of the national parliaments; underlines the fact that there should be a clear division between EU and national competences, and that Parliament is the seat of accountability at Union level; emphasises that in future, in keeping with the principles underpinning the codecision procedure, the European Parliament should be involved more closely in the work of preparing and organising the European Semester; stresses that every transfer of powers from national to EU level must be matched by a strengthening of the role of the European Parliament, in order to ensure that no democratic deficit is created;