18 Amendments of Tiziana BEGHIN related to 2014/2222(INI)
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EU needs to make a decisive change in an economic policy that has allowed the Union to drift away from the EU 2020 targets, and that has increased the risks of secular stagnation and deflation; whereas the EU is worryingly losing weight in the world economy, while most other countries are showing solid signs of recovery; whereas in October 2014 the IMF estimated that the probability of a recession in the euro area had increased and would reach 35-40% at year’s end;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in spite of mild improvements, the unemployment rate remains historically high, with 25 million people out of work; whereas long-term unemployment is worryingly high, and 12 million people have been unemployed for more than a year (up 4 % over the previous year); whereas the labour market situation is particularly critical for young people, regardless of their level of education;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas the lack of adequate social protection schemes, such as citizenship and minimum wage, increases poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas austerity measures have caused a wider recession, business closures and job losses and have led to diminished employment protection, dismantled labour rights, increased poverty risks and income inequality;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas the diverse fiscal policies in the European Union are often forcing SMEs to close or to delocalize, causing job losses and mandatory labour mobility;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to introduce a much-needed, expansionary economic economic and fiscal policy to boost smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and to create quality jobs; stresses that low inflation is already increasing real interest rates as well as real public and private debt, which, together with high unemployment, depresses growth and increases poverty;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomNotes the fact that one of the three main pillars of the Commission’s strategy for 2015 is investment, and calls for its plan to be implemented without delay; considers it a step forward that Member States’ contributions to such a plan are excluded from deficit targets;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses that while SMEs constitute the backbone of job creation in the EU, they continue to face major difficulties in gaining access to financing, and they are worryingly over-indebted due also to the excessive fiscal pressure; welcomes the Commission’s new recommendations on SME’s access to finance, involving a new approach to insolvency and business failure; calls for further efforts to improve debt-restructuring schemes as a means to this end;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the measures announced by the Commission to boost job creation in SMEs by unlocking alternatives to bank loans to SMEs, and to improve the regulatory and fiscal framework in order to enhance long-term investment in SMEs; calls for these measures to be implemented without delay;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Is concernedRegrets that the Commission’s strategy to regain competitiveness has been more focused on reducing costs than on raising productivity via investments in human capital; stresses that more than 20 Member States have reduced their education expenditures in relative terms (as percentages of their GDPs), thereby jeopardising their growth, job potential and competitiveness;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Recalls that decent wages are important not only for social cohesion, but also for maintaining a strong economy and a productive labour force; calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a European framework for minimum wages with a view to reducing wage inequalities and, limiting nominal imbalances in competitiveness and achieving the EU2020 poverty reduction targets;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to propose a European framework introducing fix minimum standardrequirements for the implementation of Youth Guarantees covering young people aged 25-30 and concrete measures to raise public awareness; calls on the Member States to use the available budget efficiently and to implement the Youth Guarantees without delay; calls for the available budget to be increased during the promised mid-term review of the MFF in accordance with ILO recommendations;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Stresses that, according to the Commission, despite high unemployment rates there are 2 million job vacancies in the EU, and that only 3.3 % of the active population works in another Member State; recalls that divergences in labour mobility rates range up to 10 percentage points, notably in those Member States hardest hit by the crisis; Notes though that mobility should be voluntary and not a necessity in order to find a job;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Given the number of workers, particularly young people, who are now leaving their countries of origin for other Member States in search of employment opportunities, there is an urgent need to develop appropriate measures to guarantee that no worker is left uncovered by social and labour rights protection; calls, in this regard, on the Commission and the Member States to further improve on a voluntary basis EU labour mobility while upholding the principle of equal treatment and safeguarding wages and social standards; calls on each Member State to establish social and employment policies for equal rights and equal pay at the same place of work;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates its warning of the socioeconomic challenges facing the Union and the risks to its sustainability and its stable growth potential posed by a reversal in regional convergence; recalls that more than 122 million EU citizens are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including in- work poverty and child poverty, and that19% of children in the EU are currently estimated to be at risk of poverty, these levels are unacceptable and need to be reduced immediately; calls for a true ‘social pillar’ to be implemented within the EMU as part of the process of improving economic governance mechanisms;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Regrets that there are no indicators and clear definitions of absolute poverty, which concerns many EU countries;
Amendment 419 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Points out that emerging new forms of poverty – such as in-work poverty compounding difficulties such as e.g. paying mortgages, or high utility prices creating energy poverty – have resulted in an increase in the number of evictions, foreclosures and homeless people; calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement integrated policies favouring social and affordable housing, protection of the first residence from, effective prevention policies aimed at reducing the number of evictions, and policies tackling energy poverty;
Amendment 429 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Reminds the Commission that in order to ensure both the sustainability and the adequacy of pensions, pension reforms need to be accompanied by policies that: limit access to early retirement schemes and other early exit pathways; develop employment opportunities for older workers without impeding the social rights of young workers, in order to contribute to a sustainable pension system and to ensure high quality health care; guarantee access to life-long learning; introduce tax benefit policies offering incentives to stay in work longer; and support active healthy ageing; stresses that pension reforms require national political and social cohesion, and should be negotiated with the social partners in order to be successful;