112 Amendments of Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO related to 2012/2257(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to Article 9225 of the Treaty on thef Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and in particular Articles 9, and 151 and 153, thereof;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the employment and social consequences of the crisis are far- reaching, and are now exacerbated by the impact of fiscal consolidation introduced in certain countries in response to the sovereign debt crisis and a constricted monetary policy in the eurozone, which contrasts with that implemented by other major economic regions and is unable to give an effective response to the sovereign debt crisis and promote growth; whereas the eurozone is in recession and the EU is currently the only major region in the world where unemployment is still risingdramatic and the Eurozone has already entered a double dip recession;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the EU is currently the only major region in the world where unemployment is still rising;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas internal imbalances have aggravated between Member States;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
A c. whereas systematic errors in the Commission's economic forecasts in terms of growth and unemployment in the past years give evidence to the need of a change in the diagnosis and strategy to end the crisis;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
A d. whereas there is no sign of recovery since one sided austerity measures further aggravate the negative social consequences of the crisis; whereas the lack of the revision of this strategy will continue exacerbating the recessionary spiral of low growth and high unemployment and social exclusion, hampering an effective response to the sovereign debt crisis and promotion of growth;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
A e. whereas employment destruction is being particularly severe in those Member states where fiscal consolidation efforts are being particularly rigid; whereas an excessive fiscal consolidation suffocates growth and hampers job creation;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A f (new)
Recital A f (new)
A f. whereas a large number of international organisations, and among them the IMF, are alerting the European Commission of an error in its fiscal multipliers which are systematically underestimating the effect of a fiscal consolidation on growth and job creation;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A g (new)
Recital A g (new)
A g. whereas a spread and delay in fiscal consolidation is possible in due respect of current EU fiscal rules; whereas a more balanced fiscal consolidation of 0,5point of GDP, in accordance with the treaties and the fiscal compact, would give, for 2013 alone, a concrete margin of manoeuvre of more than 85 billion euros to finance an ambitious growth and jobs strategy;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A h (new)
Recital A h (new)
A h. whereas tensions in financial markets have not been reduced and imbalances in access to financing prevail between Member States; whereas high premium risks increase in excess sovereign debts burdens, requiring heavier fiscal consolidation, deepening the crisis and hence hampering growth and job creation;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A i (new)
Recital A i (new)
A i. whereas productive investments in areas such as education and training and research and development are key for a sustainable exit of the crisis but also to consolidate the EU economy in a path of competitiveness and productivity; whereas deficit targets should exclude investments in these areas ;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas after the European Council of 30 January 2012, as part of its "Youth Opportunities Initiative", the Commission called on Member States to develop and implement comprehensive initiatives for youth employment, education and skills, and to develop youth jobs plans within their national reform programmes, however these have not been presented in most Member States;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas the European Council in January 2012 also proposed a pilot action to help the eight Member States with the highest levels of youth unemployment to re-allocate some of their EU structural funds allocations to tackle youth unemployment; whereas in May 2012 the Commission significantly lowered the estimations on available funds for reallocation from € 82 billion to € 29.800 billion lowering the scope of the pilot actions; whereas it is worrying that only a small portion of these funds have so far, been redirected to help young people in finding a job;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. whereas reallocation of existing EU Funds is not sufficiently ambitious to tackle the enormous challenge of youth unemployment in many Member States and new resources must be found by the Commission in order to help those countries with the highest rates of youth unemployment;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
E d. whereas the cost of inaction concerning young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) is estimated to amount to 153 billion Euros across the EU and there are currently 7.5 million NEETs under 25 in the EU;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas there is a need to undertake the necessary reforms to guarantee the sustainability of the pensions systems; whereas in order to do so there is still margin of manoeuvre to raise the effective retirement age without raising the mandatory retirement age by reducing early exit from the labour market; whereas in order to successfully increase effective retirement ages, reforms in pension systems need to be accompanied by policies that develop employment opportunities for older workers access to life-long learning, and introduce tax benefit policies giving incentives to stay longer at work, and support active healthy ageing;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas in order to increase competitiveness, via internal devaluation, in deficit countries, millions of European workers have seen a drastic decrease or freeze in their salaries; whereas this major erosion of purchasing power due to salary cuts and unemployment reduces internal demand and hampers growth stimulation;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas labour market reforms in many Member states have fostered flexibility by establishing favourable conditions for firms to opt out of higher- level collective bargaining agreements and to review sectoral wage agreements leaving millions of EU workers without the right of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining of collective agreements turning the core identity of the European social project vulnerable;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
J a. whereas the current crisis is a social and employment crisis. Whereas social governance must therefore be improved at EU level in parallel with economic governance. whereas the EU Semester is the most appropriate process for doing this;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
J b. whereas there is a worrying imbalance in the surveillance of social and employment policies and national economic policies; whereas there is a pressing need for the enhancement of the surveillance of the first ones;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J c (new)
Recital J c (new)
J c. whereas recommendations have been made to several Member States regarding wages; whereas the Commission's practice of determining wage formation and wage levels in programme countries may increase the risk of in-work poverty or wage inequalities which harm low- income groups while at the same time infringed the autonomy of the social partners needed to guarantee social protection of labour and efficient labour markets;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J d (new)
Recital J d (new)
J d. whereas more ambition in building EU social governance is needed; whereas unjustified blocking minorities preventing progress in this sense should be avoided; whereas enhanced cooperation in social and employment policies should be explored;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. whereas in its Communication on the 2013 AGS, the Commission states that economic policies to exit the crisis are a shared responsibility between Member States and EU Institutions; whereas Member States are making substantial efforts to accomplish every requirement made by the EU Institutions, however, the continuous lack of ambition from the EU Council and Commission in the accomplishment of the objectives set out in the EU Council meetings to build a stronger economic and social governance is hampering national efforts to foster economic recovery;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
K b. whereas the European Council in June 2012 stated that the crisis surrounding sovereign debt and the weakness of the financial sector, together with persistent low growth and macroeconomic imbalances, are slowing down economic recovery and creating risks for the stability of EMU and that this is having a negative impact in terms of unemployment;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas fiscal consolidation must continuhas to be a medium to long term objective in view of the high debt levels and long-term challenges to public finances; whereas fiscal consolidation can have negative growth and employment effects in the short term, especially in countries in recession or with marginal growth rates, compromising future growth and job-creation potential; whereas fiscal consolidation must therefore continue in a growth-friendly manner, in a growth- friendly manner, must therefore take the state of the economy and its position in the business cycle into account;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
L a. whereas the European budget is primarily an investment budget, with 94% of its total being reinvested back in the Member States, and Heading 1 of this budget is precisely named "sustainable growth";
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas, in spite of the urgency of the situation, , the European Union is failing on almost all of the Europe 2020 targets, and progress in Member States in delivering on the Europe 2020 objectives has been disappointing; whereas commitments set in the National Reform Programmes 2012 are insufficient to meet most of the EU-level targets;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
M a. whereas there is a lack of a needed surveillance of past objectives of previous EU semesters particularly in what concerns job creation, job quality and the fight against poverty and social exclusion; whereas this is essential in order to enhance the efficiency of the EU Semester process;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M b (new)
Recital M b (new)
M b. whereas there is a serious democratic deficit in the elaboration of the National Reform Programmes particularly in the participation of the national parliaments as well as in the involvement of social agents that needs to be readdressed;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the gender dimension is crucial to achieving the EU 2020 headline targets, as women form the greatest reserve of as yet unused labour force; whereas women form the majority of those living in poverty in the EU; whereas cuts to public services such as child care and other dependants care will have a disproportionate impact on women and consequently their ability to participate in the labour market, whereas specific attention needs to be paid therefore to gender mainstreaming and specific policies targeted at women throughout the European Semester process;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
O a. whereas structural reforms can only yield results in the medium to long term and may not per se solve the recessionary spiral in which the EU currently finds itself;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas there is a need to ensure greater interaction between employment, social and economic policies in the context of the European Semester as set out in Art. 121 and Art. 148 TFEU;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Q a. whereas social protest movements against austerity measures in various EU Member States also express increasing dissatisfaction with the democratic quality of the European decision making process and the lack of social dialogue in the EU Semester context;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Deplores the fact that priorities identified during last year's European Semester cycle, in particular those relating to job creation, job quality and the fight against poverty and social exclusion have not given the expected resultsbeen prioritarly for Member States and have not been claimed by the Commission;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that the economic situation and the social consequences of the crisis have further deteriorated during the last year and therefore stresses the importance of stepping up the Member States' commitment to following the 2013 policy guidance, in particular in the employment and social policy area. and therefore stresses the importance of structurally reconsidering the strategy of austerity and the type of structural reforms in particular in the employment and social area that the AGS 2013 is recommending and which many member states have been implementing with dire consequences on economic performance, employment and social cohesion;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers it regrettableDeplores that last year most Member States did not respect their commitment to submit a National Job Plan (NJP) as part of their 2012 NRPs; calls on the Member States to respect this commitment in 2013; stresses that NJPs should include comprehensive measures for job creation and green employment, a link between employment policies and financial instruments, labour market reforms, a clear timetable for rolling out the multiannual reform agenda over the next 12 months and an indication of both the fields and regions experiencing specialisation shortages and surpluses;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States to adopt measures favourable to job creation such as labour tax reforms that provide employment incentives, promote and support self-employment and business start-ups, improve the framework for doing business, facilitate access to financing for SMEs, transform informal and undeclared work into regular employment, reform labour markets to make them more adaptive, dynamic and inclusive, modernise, if necessary and feasible always through social dialogue strictly respecting the European Social Aquis, strengthen the coordination of wage- setting systems to ensure fair wages and align real wages with productivity developmenttrends while respecting the autonomy of collective bargaining and the diversity of national models of industrial relations, exploit the high employment potential of sectors such as the green economy, health and social care, and the ICT sector to create jobs.;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Notes that recommendations have been made to several Member States regarding wages; stresses that wages are, above all, the income that workers need to live on; stresses that the Commission's practice of determining wage formation and wage levels in programme countries may increase the risk of in-work poverty or wage inequalities which harm low- income groups; calls on the Commission to step up policy guidance to those Member States in which wages have stagnated in comparison with productivity levels, while respecting the autonomy of the social partners, as protected inter alia in Articles 152 and 153(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Warns that a general and disproportionate use of reductions in social security contributions as recommended in the AGS 2013 can entail a serious risk for the sustainability of social security systems. In any case these practices must be focalised on target groups in order to ensure their maximum efficiency;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11 c. Warns about the necessity of ensuring adequate and sufficient unemployment benefits and that these should be linked with effective active labour policies; Deplores that several member states, in spite of rises in their unemployment rates, have reduced budget allocations to finance active labour policies;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11 d. Warns that member states must preserve in their labour laws the necessary balance between the redundancy costs and the causality that can justify these redundancies in order to avoid a complete lack of protection of workers;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11 e. Deplores that a widening of the establishment of conditions for firms to opt out of higher-level collective bargaining agreements and to review sectoral wage agreements implies an exclusion of a large number of workers from their right to collective bargaining;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Strongly supports the initiative by the Commission to propose a Council Recommendation on Youth Guarantee Schemes with 'the objective that within a few months of leaving school, young people receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or a traineeship;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12 b. Considers that Union funding of Youth Guarantee Schemes should play a key role and that the ESF in particular should be structured to enable the guarantee to finance, and therefore should be allocated at least 25% of cohesion funds; believes, however, that an appropriate balance between EU and member state funding should be strived for;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Stresses that the European Council in January 2012 proposed a pilot action to help the eight Member States with the highest levels of youth unemployment to re-allocate some of their EU structural funds allocations to tackle youth unemployment; Regrets that in May 2012 the Commission significantly lowered the estimations on available funds for reallocation from € 82 billion to € 29.800 billion lowering the scope of the pilot actions; Deplores that only a small portion of these funds have been, so far, been redirected to help young people find a job;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Calls the European Commission and the EU Council to commit in finding sufficient EU resources beyond re- allocation of existing EU structural funds to help the Member States, that have youth unemployment rates higher than the EU average, to put in place decisive policy measures to tackle youth unemployment;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
More adaptive, dynamic and inclusive labour markets and better-quality employment
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. RegDeplorets that the 2013 AGS does not address the quality of jobs and that too little attention is paid to putting in place the necessary preconditions for increasing labour market participation, notably that of women, people with disabilities and the most deprived;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Deplores that the Council failed to take into account Parliament's call for a focus on job quality in its guidance for 2012; agrees with the Commission that all employment contracts should give workers access to a core set of rights, including pension rights, social protection and access to lifelong learning; calls the Commission to include job quality, training and advanced training, core workers' rights, and support for labour market mobility, self-employment and cross-border mobility by increasing security for workers in transition between jobs in the country specific recommendations of the AGS 2013;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls that the gap between Member States in employment and social indicators is widening; points out that Member States with relatively un-segmented labour markets, strong welfare systems and an ability to temporarily adjust working hours, working time and other flexible working arrangements (internal flexibility) and robust collective bargaining practice, have proved more resilient in the face of the employment and social consequences of the crisis;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Member States, while pursuing fiscal consolidation, to secure efficientcommit to increased investment in education and training.;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Member States, while pursuing fiscal consolidation, to secure efficient investment in education and training. Stresses that despite budgetary constraints in several member states a decrease in allocations for these necessary productive investments hampers the exit from the crisis and reduces the competitiveness of their economies;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Calls on the Commission to explore and promote the necessary reforms to exclude productive investments such as investments in education and research and development from deficit targets established in the EU rules;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Acknowledges the need to continueat acute and rapid fiscal consolidation programmes in order to guarantee the sustainability of public finances, but warns about the negative short-termhave negative growth and employment effects thereof,in the short term especially in countries in recession or with marginal growth rates;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Warns that a large number of international organisations, and among them the IMF, are alerting the European Commission of an error in its fiscal multipliers which are systematically underestimating the effect of a fiscal consolidation on growth and job creation; Urges the Commission to revise these multipliers since policy recommendations based on them are seriously damaging growth and job creation in many member states;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Considers that fiscal consolidation must continue in a proportional and growth-friendly manner and that the rhythm of consolidation must be differentiated across countries according to their fiscal space, in order to achieve the proper balance between potential negative growth and employment effects and the risks to debt sustainability; Asks the Commision to take into account that a spread and delaying in fiscal consolidation is possible in due respect of current EU fiscal rules. Whereas a more balanced fiscal consolidation of 0,5point of GDP, in accordance with the treaties and the fiscal compact, would give, for 2013 alone, a concrete margin of manoeuvre, of more than 85 billion euros to finance an ambitious growth and jobs strategy;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the European Council to ensure coherence between the different priorities in its policy guidance, so that fiscal consolidation does notas not to compromise growth and job creation potential, increase poverty and social exclusion, or prevent the provision of public services of quality; believes that the main priority must be to put into place integrated reform measures and investments that promote growth and job creation while guaranteeing the sustainability of public finances;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Warns that the adjustment burden is not being spread evenly between deficit and surplus countries; Stresses that while deficit countries are being required to put in place an internal devaluation via reduction of salaries and hence internal demand, surplus countries are not required the same efforts on the opposite sense. Notes that surplus countries have margin of manoeuvre that should be used. Urges these countries to put in place a needed expansionary fiscal policy and take other appropriate steps to increase the pace nominal wage and price growth in order to encourage internal demand and favour an increase in external demand of deficit countries;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Warns that in order to increase greater competitiveness focus has been made, in many member states, on an excessive adjustment of unit labour costs via salary reductions having as result a major erosion of the purchasing power of many EU workers;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)
Paragraph 27 c (new)
27 c. Urges countries of the euro area to develop the necessary tools to manage their competitiveness. Stresses that these efforts require coordination at European level to avoid the twin evils of beggar-thy- neighbour strategies and excessive wage- price spirals;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 d (new)
Paragraph 27 d (new)
27 d. Asks the Commission to establish the necessary mechanisms to surveil and ensure that member states accomplish the social recommendations introduced in the European semester and in the National Reform Programme; deplores that this had not been done in the previous semesters;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Asks the Commission to require Member States to guarantee the maximum transparency in the elaboration of NRP as well as a wide involvement in this process of national parliaments and social agents;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Stresses the need for reforms in the labour market to increase labour productivity and efficiency in order to improve the EU economy's competitiveness and guarantee sustainable growth and job creation while strictly respecting both the letter and spirit of the European Social Aquis and its principles; believes that reforms in labour markets should be implemented in such a way as to promote job quality;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Stresses the need to undertake the necessary reforms in order to guarantee the sustainability of the pensions systems; bBelieves that retirement age should be linked to the evolution of life expectancy, but recalls that there is still scopmargin of manoeuvre to raise the actualeffective retirement age without raising the mandatory retirement age by reducing early exit from the labour market; bBelieves that, if actual retirement ages are to be raised successfully to successfully higher effective retirement ages, reforms in pension systems need to be accompanied by policies that develop employment opportunities for older workers' access to life-long learning, and introduce tax benefit policies giving incentives to stay longer at work, and support active healthy ageing;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Recalls that the full exploitation of tThe job creation potential of these new sectors will require adaptation, especially among lower skilled and older workers, and new skills; calls on the Commission and the Member States not only to anticipate skill needs in these sectors and thbut also to increase investments in education and training to provide those skills;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)
Paragraph 38 a (new)
38 a. Calls the Commission to make single market governance a key priority, since it contributes substantially to reaching the targets of the European Semester, namely sustainable economic growth and employment; takes the view that the Commission's country-specific recommendations should, at the same time, offer the Member States more practical solutions for improving the functioning of the single market, so that stronger public support and political commitment are created to encourage the completion of the single market;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. StressUrges the needCommission to fully mobilise EU instruments and financial support to achieve the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives; calls on the Member States to make full use of the Structural Funds in order to enhance employability and combat structural, long-term and youth unemployment effectively.
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Asks the Commission to explore the possibility of excluding Member States participation in co financing of EU funds or programs, within the heading 1 "sustainable growth" of the Multiannual Financial Framework, from the calculation of the structural deficit as defined in the two-pack
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)
Paragraph 41 b (new)
41 b. Urges the Commission, to fully address and underline the role of the EU budget in the European Semester process by providing factual and concrete data on its triggering, catalytic, synergetic and complementary effects on overall public expenditure at local, regional and national levels; believes, moreover, that funding at EU level can generate savings for the Member States' budgets and that this should be emphasised; considers that in terms of stimulating growth and boosting job creation, as well as successfully reducing macroeconomic imbalances throughout the Union, the EU budget has a vital role to play;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 a (new)
Paragraph 43 a (new)
43 a. Considers that Union funding of Youth Guarantee Schemes should play a key role and that the ESF in particular should be structured to enable the guarantee to financed, and therefore should be allocated at least 25% of cohesion funds; believes, however, that an appropriate balance between EU and member state funding should be strived for;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 b (new)
Paragraph 43 b (new)
43 b. Welcomes the Commission's suggestion to establish through the "Employment Committee" a multilateral surveillance of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee schemes and asks for the European Parliament to be associated;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 c (new)
Paragraph 43 c (new)
43 c. Calls the Commission to ensure the effective implementation of the Youth Guarantee, which is now part of the AGS, in the country specific recommendations; calls on the Commission to give practical support to Member States implementing such a youth guarantee, for instance through fostering the dissemination of the information related to EU funds promoting youth mobility in those Member States, notably in education (Erasmus - Erasmus Mundus), vocational training (Leonardo) and job mobility (EURES);
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 d (new)
Paragraph 43 d (new)
43 d. Recommends that the Youth Guarantee, initially foreseen for all people up to the age of 25 years, is also extended to recent graduates under 30, and that it becomes a truly Europe-wide guarantee, stresses the need therefore for the EU institutions to be involved in coordinating and implementing the guarantee;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 e (new)
Paragraph 43 e (new)
43 e. Recognises that young people are not a homogenous group and that they face different social environments, and therefore that Member States have different level of readiness for the adoption of a youth guarantee. In this framework, all young people should firstly receive a personalised assessment of their needs, and be provided with tailored and personalised services
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 f (new)
Paragraph 43 f (new)
43 f. Notes that Youth Guarantee Schemes should be accompanied by a quality framework in order to ensure that the education, training and jobs offered include appropriate pay, working conditions and health and safety standards;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 g (new)
Paragraph 43 g (new)
43 g. Emphasizes that the national sectoral partners in close cooperation with local and regional authorities should play a key role in the implementation of Youth Guarantee Schemes;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 a (new)
Paragraph 44 a (new)
44 a. Stresses that the European Council in January 2012 proposed a pilot action to help the eight Member States with the highest levels of youth unemployment to re-allocate some of their EU structural funds allocations to tackle youth unemployment; Regrets that in May 2012 the Commission significantly lowered the estimations on available funds for reallocation from € 82 billion to € 29.800 billion lowering the scope of the pilot actions; Deplores that only a small portion of these funds have been, so far, been redirected to help young people find a job;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Welcomes the proposal for greater use to be made of the European Social Fund for youth employment measures in the programming period 2014-2020; calls for the use of ESF funds for youth-related measures to be focused especially on apprenticeships/traineeships and entrepreneurship; welcomes the redeployment of unspent Structural Fund monies from the EU's 2007-13 financial period for the purpose of tackling the high youth unemployment rate and promoting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 a (new)
Paragraph 45 a (new)
45 a. Calls the European Commission and the EU Council to commit in finding sufficient EU resources beyond re- allocation of existing EU structural funds to help the Member States, that have youth unemployment rates higher than the EU average, to put in place decisive policy measures to tackle youth unemployment;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 13
Subheading 13
More adaptive, dynamic and inclusive labour markets and better-quality employment
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Calls on the Member States to simplify employment legislation with a view to promoting stable employment relationships and support and develop conditions for more flexible working arrangements, especially for older and younger workers, and to promote workers' mobility through mobility support schemes;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.1 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 2.1 - 2nd paragraph
NJPs must include: - comprehensive measures for job creation and green employment,, especially in sectors related to EU 2020 - a link between employment policies and financial instruments, labour market reforms, - labour market reforms, if necessary - active labour market policies targeted to young unemployed, long-term unemployed, senior unemployed and other vulnerable collective groups, - a quality framework indicator of jobs and trainings including pay, working conditions and health and safety standards, - an indicator of labour market protection rights, - a clear timetable for rolling out the multiannual reform agenda over the next 12 months and an indication of both the fields and regions experiencing specialisation shortages and surpluses;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.2 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 2.2 - 2nd paragraph
Member States should consider to reduce taxation on labour when fiscal conditions allow, especially well targeted temporary reductions in social security contributions or job subsidy schemes for new recruits, specially on low paid and low skilled workers, long-term unemployed and other vulnerable groups, while ensuring sustainability of public pension systems in the long run.
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.2 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 2.2 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
The European Commission must bear in mind that the use of reductions in social security contributions, as recommended in the AGS 2013, must be focalised on target groups in order to ensure there maximum efficiency and avoid a serious risk for the sustainability of social security systems;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.4 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 2.4 - 1st paragraph
Modernise wage-setting systems to align wages with productivity developments. and strengthen the coordination of wage-setting systems to ensure fair wages and align real wages with productivity trends for the overall economy while respecting the autonomy of collective bargaining and the diversity of national models of industrial relations.
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.5 - 1st indent
Recommendation 2.5 - 1st indent
- Retirement age should be linked to the evolution of life expectancy but, taking into account that there is still margin of manoeuvre to raise the effective retirement age without raising the mandatory retirement age.
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.6 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 2.6 - 1st paragraph
Austerity programmes should not hinder employment creation measures and growth-promoting policies, neither compromise social protection. Stresses that despite budgetary constraints in several member states a decrease in allocations for productive investments hampers the exit from the crisis and reduces the competitiveness of their economies,
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.6 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 2.6 - 2nd paragraph
Member States should prioritise growth- friendlyincrease budget allocations for productive investments in education, lifelong learning, research and innovation. in order to foster a sustainable exit for the crisis while consolidating the EU economy in a path of competitiveness and productivity,
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.6 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 2.6 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
Deficit targets should exclude productive investments in education, lifelong learning, research and innovation;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.9 - 1st paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 2.9 - 1st paragraph a (new)
The Commission's country-specific recommendations should, at the same time, offer the Member States more practical solutions for improving the functioning of the single market, so that stronger public support and political commitment are created to encourage the completion of the single market;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.11 - 1st paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 2.11 - 1st paragraph a (new)
The Commission must explore ways of increasing co-financing in the case of Member States with the highest rates of unemployment in order to allow full implementation of Structural Funds; At least 25% of cohesion funds must be preserved exclusively for ESF
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2.11 - 1st paragraph b (new)
Recommendation 2.11 - 1st paragraph b (new)
The European Commission and the Council should commit in finding sufficient EU resources beyond re- allocation of existing structural funds to put in place decisive active labour policy measures to tackle unemployment;
Amendment 217 #
The European CouncilInstitutions should make youth unemployment a priority in its 2013 policy guidance. Youth job plans, within the National Job programmes must be presented by Members States with no delay, and European Commission must monitor the policy targets within them.
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.1 - 2nd paragraph - 1st indent a (new)
Recommendation 3.1 - 2nd paragraph - 1st indent a (new)
- The establishment of Youth Guarantee schemes with the aim that every young person in the EU is offered a decent job or apprenticeship, additional quality training or combined work and training after a maximum period of four months in unemployment, with support for its effective implementation from the European Institutions. Union funding should play a key role and the ESF in particular should be structured to enable the guarantee to financed
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.1 - 2nd paragraph - 4th indent a (new)
Recommendation 3.1 - 2nd paragraph - 4th indent a (new)
- Measures to ensure that every training and job offered to young people include appropriate pay, working conditions and health and safety standards;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.2 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 3.2 - 1st paragraph
Member States with the support of EU Institutions should develop comprehensive strategies for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET)
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.2 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 3.2 - 2nd paragraph
Member States and regions, should promote and develop, in close cooperation with the social partners, a Youth Guarantee with the aim that every person under 25 years in the EU is offered a job, an apprenticeship, additional training or combined work and training after a maximum period of four months’ unemploymentSchemes in which NEETs should be considered in a prioritary manner.
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.3 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 3.3 - 2nd paragraph a (new)
Pilot actions to help the eight Member States with the highest levels of youth unemployment to re-allocate their EU structural funds to tackle youth unemployment should be implemented more efficiently in order to guarantee full and more rapid allocation of the funds to help young people find a job;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3.3 - 2nd paragraph b (new)
Recommendation 3.3 - 2nd paragraph b (new)
An increase of co-financing for these countries should be explored as well as other resource funding to help them tackle youth unemployment;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 4.2 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 4.2 - 1st paragraph
Ensure efficient investment in education and training while pursuing the consolidation of public financesas recommended in the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5.1 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 5.1 - 1st paragraph
Promote, if necessary, structural labour market reforms always through social dialogue strictly respecting the European Social Aquis, to increase labour productivity and efficiency in order to improve EU economic competitiveness and guarantee sustainable growth and job creation.
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5.1 - 3rd indent
Recommendation 5.1 - 3rd indent
- Unemployment benefit schemes based in strictlinked with effective active labour policies and activation requirements that maintain incentives for work whilst ensuring sufficient income,
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5.1 - 3rd indent a (new)
Recommendation 5.1 - 3rd indent a (new)
- Strict respect of workers’labour and social rights such us the right to collective bargaining agreements and sectoral wage agreements
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5.1 - 4th indent
Recommendation 5.1 - 4th indent
- Contractual arrangements to combatting labour market segmentation,
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5.1 - 10th indent
Recommendation 5.1 - 10th indent
- Simplify employment legislation and support and develop conditions for more flexible working arrangements, especially for older and younger workers.
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 - 1st paragraph
Recommendation 7 - 1st paragraph
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 - 1st paragraph a (new)
Recommendation 7 - 1st paragraph a (new)
Revise its fiscal multipliers to avoid systematic underestimation of the effect of fiscal consolidation on growth and job creation in a recessionary context;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 7 - 2nd paragraph
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 - 2nd paragraph
Recommendation 7 - 2nd paragraph
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 - 3rd paragraph
Recommendation 7 - 3rd paragraph
Ensure coherence between the different priorities in its policy guidance, so fiscal consolidation does not compromisehamper growth and job creation potential, increase poverty and social exclusion, or prevents the provision of public services of quality.
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 8 a (new)
Recommendation 8 a (new)
The adjustment burden must be spread evenly between deficit and surplus countries. These surplus countries have margin of manoeuvre that must be used to put in place expansionary fiscal policies, and to take other appropriate steps to increase the pace of nominal wage and prise growth in order to encourage internal demand and, hence, favour an increase in external demand of deficit countries. Countries of the Euro area must develop the necessary tools to manage their competitiveness. These efforts must require coordination at European level to avoid between evils of beggar-thy- neighbour strategies and excessive wage crises spirals.