7 Amendments of Guillaume BALAS related to 2015/0000(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that many Member States still have large deficits and that there is a need to develop fiscal responsibility programmeswhile other Member States persistently accumulate large current account surpluses and that there is consequently a need to coordinate fiscal responsibility programmes with a strengthening in domestic demand that are fully compatible with quality job creation, economic growth and welfare state sustainability; calls on the Commission, which has already received the national budget proposals for 2016, and within the framework of COM(2015)00121, to provide a flexible process of fiscal responsibility at national level that allows for the adoption of socially responsible and economically efficient policies aimed at decent job creation; __________________ 1 COM(2015)0012, ‘Making the best use of the flexibility within the existing rules of the SGP’.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Deplores the clear lack of ambition of the five Presidents' report which does not answer the Parliament's call to develop a genuine social pillar as a central element of the EMU;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have warned of the social (in-work poverty) and economic (depressed internal demand) problems caused by the wage devaluation that has occurred in recent years; considers it regrettable that there is no reference to the importance of increasing wages, especially in those countries where wages are below the poverty threshold; recalls that minimum wages differ substantially between Member States (Bulgaria EUR 184/month, Luxembourg EUR 1 923/month), and reiterates its request for a study4 on this issue; encourages Member States to set minimum wages in accordance with national legislation and practices and to consider their impact on in-work poverty, household income, aggregate demand and job creation; __________________ 4 Resolution of 11 March 2015 (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0068), paragraph 47.
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that some labour reforms have introduced new contractual formulas such as 'zero hour contracts' that, according to the Commission, have increased precariousness in the labour markets; of particular concern are some Member States whose rates of temporary employment are over 90 % for new contracts, which particularly affects young people and women and which, according to the OECD1, is one of the direct causes of increasing inequality; __________________ 1 OECD report ‘In it together: Why less inequality benefits all’, 21 May 2015.
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers it regrettable that the Commission has not included in the CSR the importance of maintaining strong automatic stabilisers in Member States, as called for by Parliament4, given its important role in maintaining social cohesion and stimulating internal demand and economic growth; calls the Commission to assess the benefits resulting from the development of a minimum European health coverage or unemployment benefit scheme as alternative options to create proper automatic stabilisers at the level of the euro area; __________________ 4 Resolution of 11 March 2015 (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0068).
Amendment 160 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls for pension reforms to be made taking into account Parliament’s6 repeat recommendations to ensure their sustainability, safety and adequacy by strengthening retirement schemes, aiming at a decent retirement income at least above the poverty level; linking retirement age to life expectancy is not the only instrument by means of which to tackle the challenge of ageing; reforms of pension systems should also, inter alia, reflect labour market trends, birth rate, demographic situation, health and wealth situation, working conditions and the economic dependency ratio; the best way to tackle the challenge of ageing is to increase the overall employment rate, building, inter alia, on social investments in active ageing; __________________ 6 Resolution of 11 March 2015 (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0068); Resolution of 22 October 2014 (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2014)0038); Resolution of 25 February 2014 (Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0129).
Amendment 176 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is deeply concerned by the limited role that national parliaments, social partners and civil society have played in the drafting of the national reform programme (NRP) and the convergence programme (CP); calls on the Commission to favour, within the revision of the economic governance mechanisms, a reform that grants adequate democratic legitimacy to the European Semester. by fully involving the European and national parliaments in the decision making process;