28 Amendments of Ernest URTASUN related to 2016/2101(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe still faces a huge investment deficit, even though the current account surpluspublic investment, in particular in the eEurozone continues to rise, theoretically creating more favourable conditions for public and private investment due to the exceptionally low interest rates on government borrowing Area, is considerably lower in percentage of GDP than in many other countries (2.6% of GDP in the EA, 3.8% of GDP in US, 3.6% of GDP in Japan);
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas unemployment in the EU remains one of the main challenges that Member States are facing as it currently stands at a very high rate (10.5 million long-term unemployed in the EU), even if the numbers have improved slightly compared with previous years; whereas 122 million people in the EU are considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas falling oil prices at the start of 2016 appear to be the key reason dragging down the inflation rate to below zero levels; whereas core inflation has so far failed to show an upward trend, as moderate economic growth and subdued wage developments have drag on domestic price dynamics;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fa (new)
Recital Fa (new)
Fa. whereas low implementation of key reforms is observed across all EU countries; whereas indicators show that those countries that have been under a Financial Assistance Programme have delivered stronger reform efforts; whereas many of these reforms have been proven inadequate to boost growth, having in parallel a negative impact for the fulfilment of the EU 2020 targets;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the challenges in the EU are linked to the deteriorating international environment and the divergences in the economic and social performance achieved in different parts of the Union; stresses that the deterioration in external demand put into question the export-driven growth strategy followed by the EU as a response to the crisis;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission’'s focus in its 2016 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) on the three main priorities to further strengthen economic growth: supporting investment, pursuing structural reforms and preserving responsible public finances; considers that the three priorities implies in a certain number of cases trade-offs, especially in relation to the time sequences in the implementation of these three pillars, which undermines the effectiveness of the overall strategy;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3a (new)
Paragraph 3a (new)
3a. Calls to the Commission to align these three pillars of the Semester to decarbonise the economy, and thereby align public financial flows to the requirements of Article 2 in the Paris Agreement; Calls to the Finance Ministers to take into account Article 4 of the Paris Agreement and prepare long- term decarbonisation plans;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomesTakes not of the Commission’'s continuing approach to limit the number of recommendations and its effort to mainstream the semester by covering mainly key priority areas of macroeconomic and social relevance, when setting the policy objectives for the next 18 months; regrets that, contrary to the demand of the European Parliament Resolution on the 2016 Annual Growth Survey, environmental fiscal reforms are not addressed in country-specific recommendations; reiterates that this facilitates the implementation of recommendations according to a comprehensive and meaningful range of social benchmarks;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Fully supports the efforts made to ensure greater national ownership in the formulation and implementation of CSRs as an ongoing reform process; considers that, in order to increase national ownership and foster the implementation of CSRs, the latter should clearly be articulated around well-defined priorities at European level, in the areas of macroeconomic imbalances, EU 2020 strategy and upward social convergence; calls to the Members States to ensure a debate and approbation of their National Reform Programmes in their respective National Parliaments;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6a (new)
Paragraph 6a (new)
6a. Notes the little focus of the CSRs on renewable energy sources, greater resource efficiency and energy efficiencies; call on the Commission to integrate a specific energy and environmental strategy into the European Semester;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6b (new)
Paragraph 6b (new)
6b. Notes the little focus of the CSRs on renewable energy sources, greater resource efficiency and energy efficiencies; calls on the Commission to integrate a specific energy and environmental strategy into the European Semester;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the still-too-high unemployment rates show that the capacity to create jobs in most Member States is still limited; emphasises that further action is needed, in consultation with social partners and in accordance with national practices, to make labour markets more inclusive overall; express concerns on the fact the most of the new job created are low-quality jobs, characterised by low salary and precarious conditions, and are therefore unable to significantly stimulate consumption and internal demand;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Expresses disquiet about the current ‘liquidity trap’ the EU economy seems to have fallen into, with interest rates at the Zero Lower Bound (ZLB), weak demand prospects, and restricted investment and spending by households and companies, not least in surplus countries; calls for exploring all possible and innovative monetary policy tools to channel liquidity towards the real economy;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the Commission’'s recommendation for three Member States to exit the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP); agrees with the Commission that large and consistent current account surpluses reflect a clear need to stimulate demand and investment in order to cope with the challenges of the future regarding transport and communications, the digital economy, education and research, climate change, energy, environmental protection and the ageing population; calls on the Commission to continue to support budgetary policies that underpin growth and recovery in all Member States and support sustainable and socially balanced structural reforms;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9d (new)
Paragraph 9d (new)
9d. Invites the Commission to take into account possible pro-cyclicality in SGP rules, noticing that some countries in EDP, after suffering from a recession in previous years, are now experiencing a pick-up in real GDP growth but also due low potential output and consequently rapid closing of the negative output gap, it does not lead to reduction of the structural budget deficit, while the nominal budget deficit is decreasing;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9a (new)
Paragraph 9a (new)
9a. Notes with concern that no reference to the euro area aggregate fiscal stance and to fiscal space have been made in national 2016 CSRs;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9b (new)
Paragraph 9b (new)
9b. Calls to increase the link between Euro area recommendations and national recommendations;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9c (new)
Paragraph 9c (new)
9c. Regrets the enforcement of the rules of the SGP has been discretionary with different treatment between Member States;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that further measures are needed to reduce non-performing loans (NPL) in the euro area and to increase the ability of banks to lend to the real economy, notably to SMEs; emphasises the importance to complete the Banking Union and advancing on progress towards the establishment of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the fact that investment has so far lagged and failed to lead to sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU and that under the current circumstances, monetary policy alone is unlikely to bring about recovery, even though the rules made necessary by banking union have imposed more stringent financial criteria on banks; considers that a coordinated fiscal expansion is also needed in the EU, therefore, in line with the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and its flexibility clauses, in order to place emphasis on public and private investment; stresses that a more accommodative fiscal stance can only result from higher internal demand in surplus countries, which is essential, not only to comply with CSRs, but also to achieve a coherent and cooperative macroeconomic policy in the EU;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises the need to improve the EU’'s overall capacity to create and sustain quality jobs and thus to tackle high levels of unemployment, while considering that migration could play an important role in compensating for the negative effects of the ageing population; emphasises, however, that this alone cannot be the main response to address structural demographic, labour market or fiscal challenges, but that it should be complemented with efficient public expenditure, especially in high-quality social and environmentally sustainable investments to integrate workers into the labour market and reduce unemployment;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the importance of resilient labour markets where an appropriate trade-off is maintained between economic, social and human costs in accordance with the EU values of solidarity and subsidiarity, with a focus on the upgrading of educational systems and vocational education; while avoiding a race to the bottom in wages and working standards;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14a (new)
Paragraph 14a (new)
14a. Considers that negative sentiment about the EU and EMU ability to achieve effective cooperation and implement an efficient and coordinated policy strategy also affect private investment prospects; calls in this respect to move forward towards the completion of the EMU, in particular the budgetary capacity, to revamp the European Integration Project;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Invites the Commission to make effective the use of social indicators in the macroeconomic imbalances procedure targeting specific policies to address social challenges, recognising the positive effect of progressive social standards on sustainable growth and competitiveness and assessing carefully possible negative spill overs on social indicators arising from other policy recommendations;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15b (new)
Paragraph 15b (new)
15b. Calls to ensure the implementation of the landmark Paris Agreement; acknowledges the macroeconomic implications of failed climate policies; calls to add indicators on climate and energy to the main scoreboard of indicators in the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP) to contribute to making national economies more sustainable and energy and resource efficient while recognising the macroeconomic relevance of missed climate policies;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15c (new)
Paragraph 15c (new)
15c. Welcomes the Commission initiatives to launch consultation over setting up a European pillar of social rights; considers crucial that this initiative will be able to trigger concrete corrective actions;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of better addressing the high tax wedge on labour given that high taxation diminishes incentives for the inactive, the unemployed, second earners and low-wage earners to return to employment and weights on household disposable incomes for middle, and low income earners, by promoting a growth-friendly tax shift towards consumption, wealth and environmental taxes, including phasing out environmental harmful subsidies;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points out that efforts should be made to remove remaining barriers to investment in the Member States and allow for a more suitable policy mix towards policies fostering sustainable growth, including a genuine focus on research and development spending; believes that public and private spending and support for research and higher education institutions are crucial factors and that the weakness or absence of this infrastructure places certain countries at a massive disadvantage;