14 Amendments of Brando BENIFEI related to 2014/2157(INI)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes theTakes note of the mild decline in the EU unemployment rate, from 20.8 % in the first quarter of 2010 to 12.1 % in the third quarter of 2013but points out that EU unemployment and youth unemployment rates are still incredibly alarming (25,005 million unemployed in the EU-28 in June 2014 and 5,06 million unemployed young people in the EU-28 in July 2014); stresses, furthermore, that the differences between Member States' general and youth unemployment rates (5 % unemployment in Austria, compared with 27,3 % in Greece; 9,3 % youth unemployment in Austria, compared with 53,8 % in Spain) represent a major risk both for the EU's economic stability and for European social cohesion; stresses that the Commission has recognised in its COM 2014/400 that "the high levels of unemployment and social distress are eroding Europe´s human and social capital and call for a decisive action over time";
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes theTakes note of the mild decline in the EU unemployment rate, from 20.8 % in the first quarter of 2010 to 12.1 % in the third quarter of 2013but points out that EU unemployment and youth unemployment rates are still incredibly alarming (25,005 million unemployed in the EU-28 in June 2014 and 5,06 million unemployed young people in the EU-28 in July 2014); stresses, furthermore, that the differences between Member States' general and youth unemployment rates (5 % unemployment in Austria, compared with 27,3 % in Greece; 9,3 % youth unemployment in Austria, compared with 53,8 % in Spain) represent a major risk both for the EU's economic stability and for European social cohesion; stresses that the Commission has recognised in its COM 2014/400 that "the high levels of unemployment and social distress are eroding Europe´s human and social capital and call for a decisive action over time";
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls that the ECB is bound to Article 9 TFEU which states that: «In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health' and that it is important to implement this horizontal clause sufficiently in all policy areas so as to achieve the objectives of Article 3 TEU;
Amendment 23 #
2. Welcomes the slightly positive rate of job creation in some Member States in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the increase in compensation per employee in almost all non-euro area Member States, but it is deeply concerned by there is a decline in job quality, an increase in precarious forms of employment and a deterioration in basic labour standards; profoundly regrets that the EU is far away from achieving the employment and social targets of the EU2020 strategy, with specially the poverty reduction target lagging behind as poverty has increased by 10 million between 2010 and 2012 rather than decreasing; calls on the ECB to adopt a consistent approach in view to achieving this targets;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes about the large differences in unemployment rates between Member States with figures ranging from 5% of Germany to 24% of Spain; whereas the figures for youth unemployment are even higher;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Agrees with the ECB’s recommendation that growth-friendly fiscal consolidation over the medium term should ensure compliance with the fiscal compactmust continue in a growth friendly and differentiated manner, while at the same time boosting potential growth and generating employment opportunities; calls for greater flexibility margins in order to boost quality job creation; takes the view, however, that some of the structural reforms promoted by the ECB– especially labour reforms, wage devaluation, pension reforms, etc. – may result in the same contractionary effects on the economy or on internal demand as the excessive austerity conducted up to now; calls on the ECB, therefore, to assess the economic and social impact of such policies before recommending them;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes the speech by the President of the ECB at the annual central bank symposium in Jackson Hole on 22 August 2014; calls on policy makers to draw the right conclusions with regard to monetary, budgetary and structural reform policies with the aim of creating growth and quality jobs; recalls the balanced remarks stating: "a coherent strategy to reduce unemployment has to involve both demand and supply side policies, at both the euro area and the national levels. And only if the strategy is truly coherent can it be successful";
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Shares the ECB's call for continued improvement of the institutional framework of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as part of the main problems in the euro zone go derived from a dysfunctional institutional design of the currency area. In this context, ex ante coordination of major economic reform plans should be equitable and balanced;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes the ECB’s call for continuous improvement of the institutional setting of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and reiterates in this context its call for ex ante coordination of major economic reform plans; highlights the need to develop EMU-wide automatic stabilising mechanisms to address symmetric and asymmetric economic shocks, such as an unemployment benefit scheme, as a means to maintain social cohesion, support internal demand and strengthen the sustainability of the single currency;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes the ECB’s call for continuous improvement of the institutional setting of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and reiterates in this context its call for ex ante coordination of major economic reform plans; stresses the importance of the expedition and completion of the banking union; notes that approval of the three pillars of the banking union and implementation of new rules for credit institutions and insurance companies can help to restore the resilience of the European financial sector; believes that completion of the banking union must be achieved by means of an insurance and markets union; reiterates that the cost of failure of banking institutions should be borne by the banking sector itself;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls for a true «social pillar’ to be implemented within economic and monetary union (EMU) as part of the process of improving economic governance mechanisms, so as to reduce unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, overcome social dumping and prevent competition for the lowest social standards in the EU;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomNotes the ECB’s call on Member States to carry out the necessary labour market reforms, in particular through increasing flexibility and optimising the conditions for businesses to create jobsbut recalls that restoring EU competitiveness through an excessive adjustment of unit labour costs via salary reductions has sharply eroded the purchasing power of many EU workers, lowered household incomes and depressed internal demand, further fuelling unemployment and social exclusion, particularly in those countries hit hardest by the crisis; underlines that wages are not merely a tool for economic adjustment, but above all the income that workers need to live on; calls on the ECB to ensure that recommendations in the field of wages do not increase in-work poverty or wage inequalities within Member States, or harm low-income groups but that are aimed to address labour market fragmentation;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomUnderlines the fact that the pattern of reduced working hours appears to have reversed by the end of 2013, indicating a possible gradual improvement in the labour marinvestment is important, as it works on the supply and demand side of the economy creating jobs, generating incomes for households, increasing tax revenue, helping governments consolidate and boosting growth; reiterates the need to adopt investor-friendly policies, cut red-tape and reduce administrative burden; calls on the next European Commission to enhance European investment by € 300 billion as announced in the political guidelines by Jean-Claude Juncketr;
Amendment 87 #
7a. Considers it necessary that any future revision of the Treaties and the ECB's statutes establishes price stability together with full employment as the two objectives, on an equal footing, of monetary policy in the eurozone;