7 Amendments of Lynn BOYLAN related to 2015/2345(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A. whereas as the social spending to GDP ratio has declined in many Member States since the onset of the global financial crisis1a; whereas NGOs and the community and voluntary sector have come under increasing pressure to provide essential services that should be provided by governments; whereas NGOs operating in service-delivery remain dependent on public funding from the EU and Member States in order to provide these services; whereas even this public funding of NGOs, a cheaper substitution than direct public spending on services, has declined in many Member States since the crisis; __________________ 1a https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2014- Social-Expenditure-Update-Nov2014- 8pages.pdf, p2
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is concerned that due to the procyclical nature of public spending the financial capacity and social mission of NGOs are severely challenged at times when they are most needed; regrets that in some Member States NGOs in the community service- delivery sector have been jeopardised by government decisions to invite multinationals to bid for contracts to deliver these services;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Is concerned that disadvantaged communities in Member States are facing the threat that the valuable work carried out by NGOs in the community and voluntary sector will be privatised and outsourced to for-profit operators in future under the false claim that this is required under EU procurement law; notes that such a process will fundamentally alter and undermine the development of a coordinated and strategic response to social exclusion and poverty in areas of severe disadvantage; regrets that Member States have cited EU public procurement directives to replace grant-aid provision for NGOs with commercial tendering for social inclusion, youth, employment and related services, opening them to commercial providers, thereby undermining the voluntary ethos and accountability of these services to those in social need;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure the independence of social NGOs and to provide funding to contribute to the independent assessment of policies; condemns the use of public funds by some Member States to attempt to impose political control over the community and voluntary sector; insists that social NGOs must be entirely free to play an advocacy role for civil society, including criticising and agitating against detrimental public policies at the Member State and EU level, without any repercussions or the threat of repercussions regarding future public funding and support;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to promote instead of undermining the community, social and solidarity-based ethos of NGOs in the community and voluntary sector; supports the 'bottom-up' approach in the community development and NGO sector which promotes community participation and mobilisation, and emphasises local decision-making; urges Member States and the Commission to engage in genuine consultation and negotiation with the community and voluntary sector;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Strongly regrets the decrease in EU funding for European social NGOs under EaSI, compared to the previous PROGRESS programme, and under Europe for Citizens; urges the Commission to reverse these funding cuts to social NGOs;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that in the social field full policy impact is difficult to identify and measure within one year; calls on the Commission to better balance the measuring and reporting of output and impact; by focusing on the medium to long-term, qualitative impact over a number of years rather than the short- term quantitative impact;