42 Amendments of Maria ARENA related to 2016/2017(INI)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas an adequate and proportionate balance between work and private life helps to promote social and professional well-being, economic growth and competitiveness within the EU, a rise in the birth rate within the EU and equity between the genders and generations;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas the policies to be implemented to attain these objectives must concentrate on women's access to the job market, men's willingness to develop their private lives, and the establishment of a coherent legislative framework in terms of adaptability of work;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C f (new)
Recital C f (new)
Cf. whereas the 75 % employment rate target set for women in the Europe 2020 strategy is far from being on course to be achieved by 2020 (it currently stands at 63.5 %);
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C g (new)
Recital C g (new)
Cg. whereas gender equality in the labour market benefits not only women but the economy and society as a whole;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C h (new)
Recital C h (new)
Ch. whereas the gender pay gap stands at 16.3 % and whereas the atypical and uncertain forms of working contracts (zero hour contracts, fixed-term contracts, temporary work, part-time jobs etc.) also affect women more than men;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C i (new)
Recital C i (new)
Ci. whereas, very often, women who wish to set up a business have difficulty in gaining access to credit because traditional financial intermediaries are reluctant to grant loans, as they consider women entrepreneurs to be more exposed to risk and less likely to make their businesses grow;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C j (new)
Recital C j (new)
Cj. whereas the stereotypes widely conveyed by society are rooted in patriarchy and leave women in a subordinate role in society; whereas these stereotypes start to develop during childhood and are reflected in educational and training choices and on into the labour market; whereas women are still too often confined to ‘women-friendly’ tasks and are often poorly paid; whereas these stereotypes in combination with the fact that male-dominated sectors are normative in setting wages lead to gender- based discrimination;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D f (new)
Recital D f (new)
Df. whereas available data confirms that unpaid or poorly paid family leave results in low participation rates, and whereas fathers make very little use of their parental leave rights; whereas entirely or partially non-transferable, properly paid parental leave is used in a more balanced way by both parents, and helps to reduce discrimination against women in the labour market;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D g (new)
Recital D g (new)
Dg. whereas parental leave has long- term benefits for children’s development; whereas, within the framework of public policies in force on the matter, fathers’ participation rate in family leave (including parental leave) in the EU Member States remains low, with only 10 % of fathers taking at least one day of leave; whereas, in contrast, 97 % of women use the parental leave that is available for both parents; whereas, according to Eurostat, the number of people who took parental leave in 2010 was 3 518 600, and of those only 94 800 (2.7%) were men;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D h (new)
Recital D h (new)
Dh. whereas the differences in men’s and women’s uptake of maternity, paternity and parental leave manifest gender discrimination as regards taking responsibility for childcare and female labour market participation; whereas this discrimination also has an impact on women's financial independence and therefore on their autonomy;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D i (new)
Recital D i (new)
Di. whereas it is vital to introduce measures to promote fathers' access to leave, particularly as fathers who take family leave build a better relationship with their children and are more likely to take an active role in future childcare tasks;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D j (new)
Recital D j (new)
Dj. whereas Eurofound studies have illustrated aspects that influence fathers’ take-up rate of parental leave, namely: the level of compensation, the flexibility of the leave system, the availability of information, the availability and flexibility of childcare facilities and fear of exclusion from the labour market due to taking leave;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, access to childcare services for young childrenording to the latest Eurostat data, the birth rate isn the main factor influencing the participation of women in the labour market; whereas only 11 Member States have met the first Barcelona target (childcare available for at least 90 % of children between the ages of 3 and the mandatory school age) and only 10 Member States have achieved the second target (at least 33 % of children under three years)19EU has fallen in recent decades; whereas one of the reasons lies in decisions by couples to defer parenthood for professional reasons; whereas this decision arises primarily from an economic criterion but also from the lack of balance between professional and private life; whereas it follows that the EU is facing unprecedented demographic challenges – an ageing population, low birth rate, changing family structures and migration – to which it is vital that Member States should respond, particularly by means of major public investment; __________________ 19 Progress report on the Barcelona objectives of 29 May 2013 entitled ‘The development of childcare facilities for young children in Europe with a view to sustainable and inclusive growth’ (COM(2013)0322).
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
Ee. whereas women more often than men take responsibility for the care of elderly, ill or dependent family members as well as for children, and put their careers on hold more regularly, resulting in lower participation and longer periods of inactivity in the labour market; whereas access to care services for young children and dependent and older persons is therefore a factor that influences the participation of women in the labour market;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E f (new)
Recital E f (new)
Ef. whereas only 11 Member States have met the first Barcelona target (childcare available for at least 90 % of children between the ages of 3 and the mandatory school age) and only 10 Member States have achieved the second target (at least 33 % of children under three years old); whereas the establishment of high-quality social services and facilities at affordable prices for early childhood education and care, or care for other dependent persons such as the elderly, would make it possible to increase women's participation in the labour market;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E g (new)
Recital E g (new)
Eg. whereas adaptability of working hours may improve the balance between work and life provided that it is subject to conditions which prevent its imposing any additional burdens on workers; whereas the Commission, together with the Member States, should launch specific measures to foster a new kind of organisation of work, based on more flexible and effective job performance models; whereas these measures could help to reduce the discrimination against women and help them to enter, stay in and return to the job market without any economic and social pressure; whereas these measures would also enable both men and women to organise their work in the light of their specific needs so that they can make free time available for their personal development (sport, leisure, culture, family life, etc.);
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E h (new)
Recital E h (new)
Eh. whereas Member States should promote, in both the public and private sectors, business welfare models to enable them to achieve a work-life balance;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that reconciliation of professional, and private and family life needs to be guaranteed as a fundamental right for all peoplelife is a wide- ranging concept that embraces all overarching policies of a legislative and non-legislative nature aimed at promoting appropriate and proportionate balance between the various aspects of people’s professional and private life, of which family life is just one component among others such as leisure, personal development, health and life-long learning;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that balance between one’s professional and private life is a fundamental right which should be fully guaranteed in every EU text that might have an impact directly or indirectly on this issue;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s approach to work-professional life-private life balance policies as key in addressing socio- economic challenges; calls on the European Social Partners to come forward with an agreement on a comprehensive package of legislative and non-legislative measures regarding the reconciliation of professional, and private and family life; calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for such a package in the context of the announced European pillar of social rights should it not be possible for an agreement between the social partners to be reached;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the importance of incorporating a lifecycle approach in work-professional life-private life balance policies in order to ensure that everyone is supported at different times throughout their life and can actively participate in the labour market and in society as a whole;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission and Member States, with particular reference to the European funding, to take into consideration the "gender occupational impact" with respect to each action proposed;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses the vital importance of Member States continuing their efforts towards greater convergence as regards the exchange of best practices in the area of professional life-private life balance, paying particular attention to policies that help mothers to enter, stay in and return to the job market and fathers to participate in family life and develop their private lives; encourages the Commission, together with Member States, to monitor and promote these actions;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to put in place proactive policies designed to support women entering, returning to and staying in the labour market with stable and quality employment; stresses the need to guarantee favourable conditions for the return to work of those who have benefited from family leave, especially concerning reinstatement to the same post or an equivalent or similar post, in accordance with the contract or terms of employment, changes to working hours and/or routines on their return to work (including the need for the employer to justify a refusal) to benefit from training periods, from protection against dismissal and less favourable treatment as a result of applying for or taking family leave, and a protection period after their return so that they can readjust to their job;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Believes that an integrated approach to gender equality – including policies for overcoming stereotyped gender roles – and professional life- private life balance in all future EU initiatives would bring coherence and transparency to the process and would help ensure the promotion of a gender- balanced work-life balance; calls on the Commission and the Member States to raise awareness among society of the rights and legal action regarding work- life balance;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Strongly regrets that the Commission withdrew the revision of the Maternity Leave Directive and calls as a matter of urgencthe fact that that it did not plan, the context of the roadmap ‘New start to address the challenges of work-life balance faced by fwor it to return with an ambitiousking families’, to publish a final report on the implementation of the directive on parental leave; calls, therefore, on the Commission to put forward a new proposal; and' calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women are paid in full for the duration of maternity leave; stresses that maternity leave must be accompanied by effective measures protecting the rights of pregnant and new mothers, reflecting the recommendations of the World Health Organisation21; __________________ 21 http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en /
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to publish an implementation report on the Parental Leave Directive and urges it to use the review clause to extend the minimum duration of paid leave from four to at least six monthssocial partners, on the basis of the various studies on the subject, to highlight shortcomings in the Parental Leave Directive, particularly in achieving its objectives in terms of professional life- private life balance, female labour market participation, demographic challenges and men’s share of family tasks, including the care of children and other dependants; considers that more effective measures should be taken to encourage a more equal sharing of family responsibilities between men and women;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. BelievCalls on the Member States, that promoting the individualisation of the right to leave as well as the role of fathers is essentialogether with the Commission, to guarantee that family rights assigned by public policies, including parental leave, are equal in terms of individual rights and equally accessible for both parents, so as to encourage them to achieve a better work-life balance and in the best interest of their children; stresses that those rights should be individualised to help achieve the 75 % employment rate targets for women and men set in the Europe 2020 strategy and to promote gender equality; believes that a certain flexibility should be given to parents in the use of the parental leave, and that it should in no case constitute an obstacle to reachieving gender-balanced reconciliation of work and private lifng the 75 % employment rate targets for women and men; considers that the system adopted by the social partners should promote the solution whereby a significant part of the leave remains non-transferable; underlines that both parents have to be treated in the same way in terms of rights to income and the duration of leave;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Stresses that satisfactory parental leave arrangements are closely linked to adequate pay; notes that where there are no provisions for leave, or where existing ones are considered to be insufficient, social partners, through collective agreements, may have a role to play in establishing new provisions or updating current ones for maternity, paternity and parental leave; calls on the Member States, in agreement with the social partners, to reconsider their system of financial compensation for parental leave with a view to reaching a level that would act as an incentive for an adequate and decent level of income replacement – based on the average replacement rate of maternity leave across the EU – which also encourages men to take parental leave beyond the minimum time period guaranteed by the directive;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Calls on the Commission and the social partners to offer an appropriate extension of the minimum duration of parental leave from four to at least six months to improve professional life- private life balance;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Stresses, furthermore, the need to extend the period in which both parents can exercise their right to take parental leave; calls on the Commission and the social partners to increase the age of the child for which parental leave can be taken to 12 years; calls on the Commission and the social partners to take into account that the fact that parental leave for parents of children with disabilities or long-term illnesses should be extended beyond the statutory age of the child provided for in the directive;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Believes, in view of the different types of family leave, that coherence among the various texts is required at EU level with the involvement of social partners in order to provide families with life-cycle leave perspectives to promote a more equal share of care responsibilities between women and men; is convinced that this would significantly increase workforce participation and improve the effectiveness of the models in place beyond current levels;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Urges the Member States to invest in and ensure the availability of and universal access to affordable and high- quality early childhood education and care, elderly and dependant care facilities that are available to all; encourages them to ensure the availability of and universal access to such services by, for example, increasing public expenditure on care services and incentivising employer contributions to care costs, including by making better use of EU funds, and calls for the MFF revision to be used to invest in social infrastructure in particular via the ESF, ERDF and EFSI;
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Supports ‘smart working’ but rejects a shift from a culture of presence to a culture of permanent availability; calls on the Member States and social partners, when developing smart working policies, to ensure these do not impose an additional burden on the worker;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on the Commission to map the situation in Member States of a "Right to request flexible working arrangements," which enables employees to request changes in the number of hours they work, their work schedule and their place of work and to consider if an initiative at the European level is needed;
Amendment 406 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to guarantee social security, social protection and remuneration in the case of maternity parental, paternity or sick leave in order to enable a genuine work-life balance;
Amendment 430 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Considers that child poverty is linked to parents' poverty, and therefore calls on the Member States to implement the Recommendation on Child Poverty and well-being1a and to use the indicator- based monitoring framework therein; 1a.Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast), OJ L 204, 26.07.2006, p. 23.
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Reiterates its call on the Commission and Member States to introduce a Child Guarantee with its specific fund, so that every child in poverty can have access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition, as part of a European integrated plan to combat child poverty including both the Child Guarantee and programmes offering support and opportunities for the parents to come out of social exclusion situations and to integrate into the labour market1a; 1a.European Commission Recommendation on investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage, Brussels, 20.2.2013 COM(2013)0778.
Amendment 432 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)
Paragraph 25 c (new)
25c. Calls on Eurofound to continue measuring its concept of job quality1a as comprising: earning, prospects, working time quality, use of skills and discretion, social environment, physical risk, work intensity, social environment and to develop its research on policies, social partners agreement and companies practices supportive of job quality; 1a.Eurofound report on Trends in job quality in Europe (2012) and Eurofound report Convergence and divergence of job quality in Europe 1995-2010 (2015).
Amendment 433 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 d (new)
Paragraph 25 d (new)
25d. Calls on Eurofound to keep monitoring and provide analyses of public policies and social partners agreements through its surveys, in particular the EWCS, in order to ensure that working time arrangements are negotiated and support work life balance, and to develop research on how dual workers household manage their working time arrangements together;
Amendment 434 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 e (new)
Paragraph 25 e (new)
25e. Stresses the importance of the role of equality bodies in assisting victims of discrimination, addressing gender stereotypes and implementing this directive; also calls the Member States to ensure their independence and strengthen their capacities through the provision of adequate funding;