Activities of Villy SØVNDAL
Plenary speeches (8)
Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)
War in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle-East (debate)
Escalation of violence in the Middle East and the situation in Lebanon (debate)
Reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia (debate)
Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)
Regional Emergency Support: RESTORE (debate)
Russia’s disinformation and historical falsification to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)
Need to update the European strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council RESTORE – Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057
Institutional motions (6)
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION The cases of unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs in China, notably Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia
JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION On the continued repression of civil society and independent media in Azerbaijan and the cases of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, Anar Mammadli, Kamran Mammadli, Rufat Safarov and Meydan TV
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION 11th year of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Crimea, notably the cases of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov
Written questions (5)
Commission position on genocide in Palestine
Launch of European humanitarian corridors from Lebanon to the EU
Endorsement of two anti-UNRWA bills by the Israeli Knesset
Use of artificial intelligence and social scoring by Danish social security authority
The position of the VP/HR regarding the recent developments in Syria
Amendments (15)
Amendment 28 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas different groups in vulnerable groupsituations have different needs, such as women in poverty, labour migrants, children, people with disabilities and elderly people; whereas the digital and green transition is much needed but also brings challenges for all people and all workers, and whereas to succeed in this endeavour, the EU must ensure a just transition that does not lose sight of workers and vulnerable people;
Amendment 43 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the availability and affordability of decent housing is decreasing because of over-liberalisation of the market; whereas we are far from reaching the “end homelessness by 2030” target; whereas the EU will have its first ever Commissioner for tackling the housing crises, and the first ever European affordable housing plan, expected in 2025; whereas homeless children should be a specific target in it and should be covered in the child guarantee;
Amendment 107 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the participation of social partners, civil society organisations (CSOs), including not-for- profit social services, social enterprises, and representatives of the target groups in all design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of the ESF+, to allocate adequate funding for this purpose and to prevent the exclusion of smaller actors; calls on the Commission to respect the Partnership Principle at EU level and include them in the ESF+ committee, as they are the main implementing partners of the fund;
Amendment 128 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that the ESF+ should not be used to respond to emergencies or crises; insists that a social rescue facility capable of reacting to social emergencies and crisis situations should supplement the ESF+; calls on the Commission to build on the success of the temporary EU instrument launched in 2020, entitled ‘Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)’, in fighting temporary unemployment, and to put forward an EU unemployment reinsurance scheme without further delay; calls on the Commission to build on the European Solidarity Fund, made to be mobilised to repair damage made by natural disasters or public health emergencies; calls therefore on the Commission to ensure its sufficient funding with a view to the increase risks on these matters due to climate change;
Amendment 133 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses that more efforts are needed to ensure that persons with disabilities can access quality support and enjoy their rights as enshrined in the UNCRPD; stresses that the upcoming ESF+ should keep prioritising the transition from institutional care to community-based care and support; insist that ESF+ could Pilot Project such as the “Personal Budget” as in Belgium; calls for the ESF+ to deliver on the European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030, and in particular to facilitate the take up of the upcoming EU Guidance on Independent Living and Inclusion in the Community, the upcoming Framework on Social Services of Excellence for Persons with Disabilities, and the Disability Employment Package;
Amendment 139 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the commission to ensure respect for fundamental human rights in the implementation of ESF+ funded initiatives; in this respect, calls to avoid discrimination based on residence status among recipients of social socio-economic inclusion and access to services and food and material aid to the most deprived, and that this should be achieved by removing any additional barriers to the eligibility criteria of mainstream support recipients, including those related to regular permits, social security numbers, or reporting obligations;
Amendment 155 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission, in the light of current challenges, to include in the specific objectives of the ESF+ the promotion of the just transition, the socio- economic integration of migrants, including labour migrants, ending homelessness, the promotion of social enterprises in the social economy, the social inclusion of women who are victims of gender-based violence and the integration of older people;
Amendment 175 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that reaching the EPSR’s targets on poverty becomes challenging, unless specific support is dedicated to alleviating the pressure on social protection systems and mitigating the social impact of crises; insists on dedicating support to ensure decent living conditions for all, with access to high-quality essential services; calls for the EU anti-poverty strategy, outlined in Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines for the 2024-2029 term, to be implemented via the ESF+, with its binding poverty-reduction targets, national living wage indices and reference budgets used as benchmarks, applying a multidimensional approachgo beyond policy proposals and include more funding in the upcoming MFF dedicated to social justice across funds, and to ease the delivery of ESF+ on the ground;
Amendment 182 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that addressing child poverty requires appropriately funded, comprehensive and integrated measures, together with the implementation of the European Child Guarantee at national level, and insists that it constitute a central pillar of the EU anti-poverty strategy; repeats its previous demands for the ESF+ post-2027 to include a dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; insists that all the Member States should allocate at least 5 % of their ESF+ resources to the European Child Guaranteeackling child poverty and at least 10 % for those Member States with a higher portion of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion;
Amendment 187 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. UIn line with the two general objectives of the fund and to reflect their importance on an equal footing, urges the Commission to raise the earmarking for social inclusion beyond the current 25 % and the earmarking for food aid and basic material assistance for the most deprived persons to 5 %, in response to rising living and food costs;
Amendment 249 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for the ESF+ to boost the implementation of the European care strategy by investing in quality long-term care and support for persons with disabilities and older persons with support needs, and in early childhood education and care through community-based, child and person-centred, high- quality, affordable and accessible care systems; stresses that this must be complemented with appropriate policies within the Care Deal that improve the working conditions of care workers;
Amendment 260 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that the implementation of the EPSR and the reforms needed to comply with the country-specific recommendations in the European Semester are also dependant on the strong support of the ESF+ for certain policy measures, especially those related to strengthening social welfare systems, ensuring inclusive and high-quality public education, access to health care services including mental health, reducing child poverty and eradicating homelessness;
Amendment 268 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to allocate consistent financial resources to capacity- building, with the aims of empowering social partners to play a relevant role in areas of their competence, of strengthening their capacity to engage in social dialogue both at EU and national level and of enhancing social partners’ actions – and include technical assistance for these three purposes – with an adequate minimum percentage investment obligation from the Member States; further insists that social partners and CSOs should be guaranteed access to funding for social policy objectives in all the Member States on an equal basis, civil society organisations and not-for-profit social services to build their capacity in order to play a relevant role in areas of their competence, both at EU and national level;
Amendment 275 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. UStresses the importance of the social economy in reaching European goals of competitiveness and inclusion; underlines that it is of the utmost importance that small social enterprises, not-for-profit social services and CSOs have access to all aspects of the ESF+; calls for an increased co-financing rate of at least 90 % for measures targeting the most deprived implemented by CSOs, and at least 780 % for those implemented byall other actions implemented by CSOs, not-for-profit social services and social enterprises;
Amendment 312 #
2024/2077(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Warns that not all people are prepared for digitalisation, and that certain groups of people, especiallyCSOs, not-for- profit social services and social enterprises are prepared for digitalisation, and in the case of projects targeting the most vulnerable, these could miss out on funding opportunities as a result;