16 Amendments of Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO related to 2015/2344(INI)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that the success of the eurozone and achievement of Treaty objectives is dependent on increasing the welfare of all its citizens, based on a sustained process of upward convergence in productivity and employment levels, and on well- functioning labour markets and welfare systems, based on decent work with rights, a strong role for the social partners, social dialogue, collective bargaining and collective agreements, and preventing individual Member States from trying to gain an unfair competitive advantage by infringing workers’ rights or promoting social dumping; highlights that societies which are characterized by a high level of equality and investment in people do better in terms of growth and employment resilience; recalls the importance of adopting a European pillar of social rights as a way to guarantee social and labour rights and to foster upward economic and social convergence in order to tackle the economic and social divergences between Member States and within societies;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that the protracted Eurozone crisis has shown that the lack of a common budgetary capacity worsens economic adjustment processes within the currency union, leading to unnecessary social hardship and undermining fundamental social standards; points out that contractionary economic policies undertaken in many Eurozone countries in the absence of greater risk-sharing have translated into substantial shortages of public and private investment, leading to a dangerous divergence in Member States' longer-term growth potential, manifested also by high rates of long-term unemployment and emigration from crisis-hit countries; highlights the importance of the automatic stabilisation function of welfare systems, both in the economic sense and to absorb social shock-waves caused by recessions; stresses that high quality welfare systems and social investments are extremely important if Europe wants to maintain its main competitive advantage - highly skilled workers and productive companies;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the existing mechanisms have not been able to tackle the increasing employment and social imbalances in the euro zone (the unemployment rate ranges from around 5% in Germany and Austria to very high, 23% in Spain and 26% in Greece 1a ), since, as stated by the European Commission 1b , employment and social divergences within and between Member States persist and social developments still point to further divergence hindering growth, employment and cohesion; recalls that based on art. 3.3 TEU the EU "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" 1aEU Employment and Social Situation, quarterly review March 2015 1b Joint Employment Report 2016, page 2
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Takes note of the relevance of existing instruments such as the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Stability Mechanism, the European Fund for Strategic Investments and the Structural Reforms Support Programme; highlights, however, that the modalities of their intervention are not sufficiently adapted to enable timely recovery in investment levels and renewed economic catching-up process in countries most hit by the Eurozone crisis; considers that the Youth Employment Initiative comes conceptually closest to what is needed for re- convergence, by providing targeted grant support for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, which is a comprehensive set of structurally relevant measures that also give some short-term relief; calls for accelerated and improved implementation of the YEI and its further funding with € 20 billion in the period 2017-20;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recalls that together with the four pillars of the Economic and Monetary Union set out in the Five Presidents´ Report there should be a strong social pillar aimed at preserving Europe´s social market economy including a European Framework on minimum wages, as a mechanism that while respecting national practices allows converging at the level of wages at European level to the 28 Member States;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Considers that a 'convergence instrument' should be put in place to foster a gradual process of renewed structural convergence within the Eurozone by providing incentives and support for sustainable and growth- friendly structural reforms and investments based on a 5-year 'convergence code', enabling better implementation of the Integrated Guidelines and relevant country-specific recommendations; notes that this instrument could be of temporary nature and should be targeted at countries whose growth potential has been most eroded by the long financial crisis; considers that, after a long period of macroeconomic adjustment, focus should be put on delivering structural reforms and investments with the aim of strengthening growth potential based on quality jobs and productivity, of promoting fair, robust, efficient and fiscally sustainable welfare systems based on solidarity, social justice and a fair wealth distribution, and of fostering a sustainable transition of Member States' economies towards greater resource efficiency;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Considers that the governance mechanisms introduced with the implementation of the 2-pack and 6-pack have not been able to ensure a balance between the social pillar of EMU (art. 148 TFEU) and the economic pillar (art. 121 TFEU) therefore it is essential to ensure a social dimension of economic governance at multiple levels of the Union, as provided for in Article 9 TFEU;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that in order to stabilise the social situation in Member States during future cyclical downturns, economic stabilisers such as a European Unemployment Insurance (EUI) scheme should strengthen the welfare statebe considered as an instrument helping to uphold growth levels and fight social deprivation otherwise caused by one- sided fiscal discipline measures taken under the European economic governance framework; stresses that an EUI scheme must include safeguards to prevent a lowering of national unemployment insurance standards, it should be financed by taxes (e.g. corporate taxation), should be complementary to national schemes and address cyclical unemployment only; looks forward to the publication of the final report of the study on Feasibility and Added Value of a European Unemployment Benefit Scheme, conducted for the Commission under a Pilot Project initiated by the European Parliament and expects the Commission swiftly to follow up on this study with legislative proposals, also in the context of the roadmap envisaged by the Five Presidents' Report;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets the fact that the current system of European economic governance is highly unbalanced and focuses almost exclusivetoo heavily on fiscal stability and wage competitiveness, while concerns aboutnot paying enough attention to economic recovery, to public investment policies and more and better jobs and social cohesion are largely ignoreds needed for renewed convergence in growth potential and to strengthening quality employment and social cohesion within the Eurozone; calls for the EMU governance framework to ensure stronger policy response by giving binding force to employment and social indicators such as poverty rates, household incomes and various forms of inequality, also in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the EU's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030; stresses the need to implement measures improving job quality in order to reduce labour market segmentation combined with measures raising minimum wages to a decent level and strengthening collective bargaining and workers' position in wage- setting systems in order to reduce wage dispersion; warns about the fact that in recent decades, shareholders and corporate management have been taking a greater share of economic output while real wages have stagnated or have been reduced; considers that falling labour share of income and excessive dispersion in wages increase inequalities and damage productivity and competitiveness of companies;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers that the policies needed at European level so as to promote an upward convergence should be funded with European Union own resources; in this sense recalls the repeated calls of the European Parliament for the establishment of the financial transaction tax;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Reminds that some structural reforms can produce constrictive effects in the short term; therefore insists that a compensation fund must encourage competitiveness mitigating its cost on the economy and social policies; recalls that socially responsible reforms must be based on solidarity, integration, social justice and a fair wealth distribution - a model that ensures equality and social protection, protects vulnerable groups and improves the living standards for all citizens;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Points out that the ECB profits could feed in to the proposed fiscal capacity of the Eurozone, thereby increasing the resources available for the EUI and to increase investments and to fight poverty;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Asks the Member States to respect and promote the autonomy of collective bargaining on wages and working conditions, and to restore balance with the economic governance pillar by urgently moving ahead on the social dimension; and all institutions involved in European economic governance and financial assistance programmes to respect and promote the autonomy of collective bargaining on wages and working conditions; emphasises the importance of non-cost determinants of competitiveness, such as productivity, quality, innovation, natural resource efficiency, good governance, modern public administration and a predictable business environment; highlights that all these factors depend on a skilled workforce, ethical and socially responsible management, workers' participation in company matters, high quality jobs and robust welfare systems;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance of not linkpromoting social policies that fight poverty, social exclusion and social dumping, any unemployment benefit system with economic conditionality for the Member States, and of promoting social policies which fight poverty, social exclusion and social dumping; s well as investing in formal education systems and active employment policies helping to shorten unemployment spells and improve skill levels while ensuring decent living conditions for unemployed people; considers that limited macroeconomic risk-sharing within a European Unemployment Insurance scheme, complementary to national schemes and addressing cyclical unemployment only, should be underpinned by relevant ex ante conditionality on the accessibility and quality of support provided to job-seekers, but would not require harmonisation of national labour market policies; calls for social partners to be appropriately involved in establishing and overseeing a complementary European Unemployment Insurance scheme, taking into account their responsibilities in this field at national level;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the Eurozone fiscal capacity should not be merely a responsive tool in the event of country-specific shocks, but should actively enable Member States to strengthen their economic recovery and catching-up process after the long crisis in order to achieve social cohesion and full employment, to erase poverty, to strengthen the welfare state and to help attain all the social objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Considers that in order to foster voluntary mobility throughout the European labour market, it should be ensured that no worker is left uncovered by social and labour rights protection, including mobile workers, the principle of equal treatment should be guaranteed and wages and social standards safeguarded; the European Unemployment Insurance scheme should build on and complement existing European instruments and be open to Member States with a commitment to adopt the euro in the future.