Activities of Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO related to 2014/2145(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the review of the economic governance framework: stocktaking and challenges
Amendments (32)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A. whereas, pursuant to Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union, the Union ‘shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection’;
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital – A a (new)
Recital – A a (new)
- Aa. whereas, under Article 3.3 of the Treaty on European Union, 'the Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance'; and whereas under Article 7 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 'consumer protection requirements shall be taken into account in defining and implementing other Union policies and activities';
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B (new)
Recital B (new)
B. whereas the governance mechanisms introduced with the ‘2-pack’ and the ‘6- pack’ have been unable to guarantee a balance between the social pillar of EMU (Article 148 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and the economic pillar (Article 121 TFEU), which means it is vital to guarantee a social dimension for economic governance at the various levels of the Union, as laid down in Article 9 TFEU;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital C (new)
Recital C (new)
C. whereas in its resolution of 1 December 2011 on the European Semester for Economic Policy Coordination, Parliament stated that ‘any new or upgraded organisation and decision-making process within the Council and/or the Commission must go hand in hand with upgraded democratic legitimacy and appropriate accountability to the European Parliament’;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the improvement of the economic governance framework should be based on an holistic approach through a set of interconnected and mutually consistent policies that foster growth andsmart, sustainable and inclusive growth that create quality employment, and whereas the full development of the Single Market is a prerequisite for this to happen;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission should monitor the completion of the Single Market and the quality of the actual implementation of the relevant measures within the economic governance framework and should report on obstacles to its functioning, taking account of the annual governance check-up and the scoreboard reporting mechanisms; whereas monitoring should assess the extent to which consumers, citizens and businesses alike benefit from the Single Market;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is pleased withRegrets the fact that the European economic governance framework, which, by coordinating policies more closelyconceived as a tool to coordinate economic and social policies, has been solely focusing on adjustment policies; Stresses that in order to prevent major imbalances, it needs to fosters smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in line with the targets set by the Europe 2020 strategy;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers the economic governance framework to be a key political initiative that underpins the foundations of the Europe 2020 goals and flagship initiatives which are aimed at fully exploiting the Single Market’s untapped growth potential; underlines the fact that the economic crisis has clearly shown the importance of strengthening the EU’s innovation potential by facilitating market access and mobility and combating Single Market fragmentation across the Unionand guiding the economy of the European Union and the Member States towards R+i, technology and knowledge, by facilitating market access and mobility and combating Single Market fragmentation across the Union; highlights the need of targeting the European Investment Plan to key areas as aforementioned and to the digital sector;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to enter into an interinstitutional agreement with the European Parliament in order to fully guarantee the role of the Parliament within the whole Semester process;
Amendment 32 #
3b. Calls for the economic governance regulations to be revised so as to make the following changes to the European Semester process: (a) before the Annual Growth Survey is published, the Commission must hold a debate with representatives of the European Parliament on the survey’s broad guidelines; (b) following publication and before the corresponding debate at the European Council meeting, trilogues must be held between the three institutions to agree on an economic framework, one for jobs and one for social policies; (c) following adoption of the report on Annual Growth Survey and before the corresponding debate at the European Council meeting, trilogues must be held between the three institutions to agree on an economic framework, one for jobs and one for social policies;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that the economic governance framework needs to be inclusive and that political priorities also have to be discussed in a more comprehensive manner, including a discussion between European Institutions and economic and social stakeholders between the publication of the AGS and the March European Council and before the European Council endorses CSRs, in order to distribute the spread of national ownership and effectively implement both economic governance and Single Market governance;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative to conduct an initial review of the framework’s effectiveness with a view to assessing the effective and uniform application of governance rules by the Member States and by the Commission; also suggests that the review presents an opportunity for an exchange of views on the ways in which the framework could be deepened; recalls that in order to meet the objectives set out in Article 9 TFEU, economic policy cannot be considered in isolation from social policy, and therefore underlines the urgent need to improve European social governance, in a way comparable to the establishment of European economic governance;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes, therefore, that this review presents an opportunity so as to develop a new socio-economic framework with a comprehensive strategy to enforce the European social Acquis; stresses the importance of a better coordination system for the Euro Area as a whole;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Highlights the need to develop European automatic stabilising mechanisms to address asymmetric economic shocks, such as an EMU-wide unemployment benefit scheme, as a means to maintain social cohesion, support internal demand and strengthen the sustainability of the single currency; reiterates its call on the Commission to produce a Green Paper on automatic stabilisers in the Eurozone;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to submit to Parliament an annual report on Single Market integration with particular regards to key areas with the greatest growth potential and creation of quality employment, assessing the effectiveness of the implementation of the country-specific recommendations, and points out that the assessment could be provided as a contribution to the Annual Growth Survey;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls that good economic governance and the impact thereof can be effective only if all stakeholders are involved; stresses the need of an holistic approach by the EU, the Member States, the regions, municipalities, social partners and stakeholders in the implementation and development of policies; invites the Commission and the Member States to secure the democratic principle of civil dialogue through the structured involvement of relevant stakeholders in economic governance, and in particular in the European Semester process.
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for the European Semester to be strengthened and deepened as an effective way of preventing a crisis and foster smart, sustainable and inclusive growth ; with this in mind, welcomes the Commission’s proposal to focus its action not only on budget responsibility but also on investment and structural reform in order to link the social market economy with social progress and cohesion;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that a balance between employment policy and economic policy pursuant to Article 121 TFEU and Article 148 TFEU is necessary for a positive development of the EU; calls for a social protocol to the Treaties to protect fundamental social and labour rights so that social rights are put on equal footing to economic freedoms;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Proposes thatRecalls the importance of joint meetings between the EPSCO Council and the Ecofin Council be held with a view tof promoting coordinated socio-economic policies geared towards strengthening competitiveness in Europe and giving growth and quality jobs a sustainable boost;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls for the specific rules on binding supervision of budgetary discipline in the euro area to include employment, redistribution and social indicators such as quality employment, poverty, child poverty or access to housing, just as there are macro-economic indicators that ensure budget sustainability and the sustainability of the social model;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to implement the country-specific recommendations so as to support growth and jobs, quality job creation and social cohesion; calls on the Commission to submit to the European Parliament an annual assessment of the progress made as regards the effective implementation of those recommendations, and points out that the assessment could be included as an annex to the Annual Growth Report;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. With a view to improving the effectiveness and focus of budget policiesof fiscal policies and enhancing fair mobility in a single labour market, calls on the Member States to press ahead withbetter coordinate their efforts to modernise their labour markets and social security systems; with this in mind, encourages them to share best prachile making sure that the structural reforms implemented in these sectors do not undermine labour standards or reduce access to adequate social protection, which is a universal right and a precondition for the creation of more equal societices;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. So as to address the urgent situation with regard to youth unemployment, encourages Member States to use the available resoUrges the Member States to use at the fullest all available financial resources in the Youth Employment Initiative in an effective and focused way, so as to adequately address the urgent situation with regard to youth unemployment; with a view to this, considers it essential that Member States’ co- financing contributions to youth employment measurces in an effective and focused way via the introduction of the youth employment initiative, and recommends tha, such as the Youth Guarantee, are excluded from the calculation of national deficits; calls on the Commission to put forward proposals to further support cross-border mobility, also bey supported via the development oftrengthening the EURES portal as an important vector for youth employment;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes with grave concern that long term unemployment has doubled over the course of the crisis; notes also that this increase was even higher among low skilled workers; calls on the Commission to ensure that fight against long-term unemployment is reflected in its policies and country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Believes that the rising levels of inequality in Europe should be given the upmost importance in the context of the Union’s Economic framework; believes that one of the best ways to combat this rising inequality is to redouble the efforts in creating more quality jobs in Europe;
Amendment 132 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. With a view to stepping up democratic scrutiny, recommends that the European Parliament, national parliaments and management and labour be more closely involved in economic dialoguaccountability and increasing the quality and ownership of the semester process, recommends that the European Parliament, national parliaments as well as civil society organizations and social partners at national and EU level be more closely involved throughout the whole semester cycle between the Member States and the Commission.;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls on the Commission and the Council to enter into an interinstitutional agreement with the European Parliament in order to fully guarantee the role of the Parliament within the whole Semester Process;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls for the economic governance regulations to be revised so as to make the following changes to the European Semester process: (a) before the Annual Growth Survey is published, the Commission must hold a debate with representatives of the European Parliament on the survey’s broad guidelines; (b) following publication and before the corresponding debate at the European Council meeting, trilogues must be held between the three institutions to agree on an economic framework, one for jobs and one for social policies; (c) following adoption of the report on Annual Growth Survey and before the corresponding debate at the European Council meeting, trilogues must be held between the three institutions to agree on an economic framework, one for jobs and one for social policies;
Amendment 137 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Points out that Member States must at least inform their national parliaments before January of the contents of their National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and Stability and Convergence Programmes (SCPs); points out, further, that alongside these programmes they should also include the record of the corresponding debate held in the national parliament; points out that, in the absence of such a record, the Commission must return the NRPs and SCPs and deem them not to have been submitted, initiating the appropriate procedure in line with the 2-pack and 6-pack regulations; recommends that national parliaments should in any case adopt the NRPs and SCPs, rather than merely being informed of them;
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Calls for it to be mandatory for Member States to include as an annex to the NRPs and SCPs a record of the opinion of the most representative social organisations and civil society;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 d (new)
Paragraph 10 d (new)
10d. Calls for the official establishment of a debate between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament along with social organisations and civil society at European level between the publication of the Annual Growth Survey and the March European Council, and before the European Council approves the country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 140 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 e (new)
Paragraph 10 e (new)
10e. Calls for the European Semester to include an obligation to draw up national employment programmes which assess the policies designed to promote job creation, the labour markets, quality employment, adequate wages and the required level of flexibility and security in labour law;