Activities of Agnes JONGERIUS related to 2021/2251(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the implementation report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility
Amendments (17)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
— having regard to the recovery and resilience scoreboard,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic is placing a heavy burden on people in the EU, particularly those from more vulnerable groups, such as women, people with disabilities, children, young people and the elderlyolder people, in their everyday lives, working lives and livelihoods2 3 ; _________________ 2 Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung, Belastungen von Kindern, Jugendlichen und Eltern in der Corona-Pandemie, 2021. 3 European Commission, Joint Employment Report 2021.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the RRF created an unprecedented structure adapted to addressing the complex effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economy, society and institutions as well as to make sure that the transitions of climate-neutrality, digitalisation and demographic change, are socially fair and just; whereas it should be ensured that it tackles gender- specific socio-economic impacts on its path to recovery; whereas evaluation of the implementation of the RRF is needed to implement lessons learned and to update the current structures put in place;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas social and territorial cohesion is one of the six pillars of the RRF; whereas creating and, specifically the implementation of the twenty principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights; whereas contributing to the upward economic and social convergence, restoring and promoting sustainable growth and the integration of the economies of the Union, fostering high- quality sustainable employment creation, growth, ensuring equality of and access to opportunities and social protection, protecting vulnerable groups and improving the living standards of all is one of the objectives included in the RRF Regulation;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas the consequences of the Russian invasion in Ukraine are placing a heavy burden on households due to the increase in prices of basic needs, including energy and food, and services; whereas integrating refugees in this economic context will require the mobilisation of public and social services;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas poverty as well as in-work poverty are on the raise again in the EU; whereas according to OECD, a fiscal response targeting support for the more vulnerable of 0.5% of GDP could substantially mitigate the economic impact of this current crisis without substantially adding to inflation; whereas the increased need for funding to strengthen the economy will not place budgetary constraints on the Member States, if combined with a fair redistribution of wealth on property and an effective progressive tax policy that ends tax fraud and tax evasion; whereas, under current market conditions, the profits of electricity companies could increase by €200 billion, and so a tax increase on these profits in these circumstances could help reduce the electricity bills of consumers and the mostvulnerable groups; whereas Member States should keep investing in a sustainable transition in order to maintain the recovery from the pandemic;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that the COVID-19 crisis has already left many people jobless or in precarious employment; calls on the Commission and Member States to fight against youth unemployment and to ensure that young people,stresses that the Russian invasion in Ukraine and the sanctions against the Russian Federation will produce negative and asymmetric effects on the EU economy, Member States and especially thouse not holds in regards to the on-going employment, education or training (NEETs), receive adequate, paid and quality first working experiencenergy crisis; is concerned about its social consequences and the further increasing social inequality; expects that the EU will react with the same determination, unity and speediness and in solidarity in this new severe crisis;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. SCalls on the Commission and Member States to fight against youth unemployment and to ensure that young people, especially those not in employment, education or training(NEETs), receive adequate, paid and quality first working experience; stresses that Member States must adopt reforms and include investments in the next generation, children and youth in line with the objectives of the Child Guarantee and reinforced Youth Guarantee; recalls that there is RRF funding expressly available for the development of education, training and skills, particularly digital skills; stresses, further, the importance of the mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences in fostering labour mobility; calls on the Commission for a ban of unpaid traineeships and to present a legal framework for fairly remunerated traineeships, internships and apprenticeships; calls on the Commission to present a proposal that offers an allowance scheme for obtaining qualifications to every adult in need that wants to enrol in vocational training or tertiary education, and which covers educational costs and essential needs of the person and his/her dependants;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes that the social milestones and targets that have been set out are insufficient and need to be improved by the Commission for reporting on progress and for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the facility, and should define a methodology for reporting social expenditure, including on children and young people, under the facility; points out the particular importance of indicators related to the implementation of the EPRS principles, quality employment, upward social convergence, equality of and access to opportunities and social protection, education and skills, and investment in access and opportunities for children and young people related to education, health, nutrition, jobs and housing, in line with the objectives of the Child Guarantee and Youth Guarantee; calls on the Commission to work with the European Parliament, social partners and civil society, in the context of the recovery and resilience dialogue, to review these indicators, as committed by the Member States at the social summit in Porto in May 2021 to implement the EPSR action plan in the RRF implementation, in accordance with those established by the European Parliament resolution on a strong social Europe for just transitions, in order to properly assess the investments in and reforms of the NRRPs, as well as the proposed measures to ensure progress towards these goals;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support legislative and policy initiatives aimed at reducing inequalities and promotensuring decent working conditions for all, with a particular focus on telework, the right to disconnect, mental well-being at work, occupational health and safety, ensuring quality jobs for essential workers, and strengthening the role of the social partners and collective bargaining; calls in this regard for the swift adoption of the directives on improving working conditions in platform work and, on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, and pay transparency;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that the country-specific recommendations remain focused one- sidedly on narrow concepts of competitiveness an economic growth instead of on the sustainable development of prosperity and wellbeing, and points out that there is a need for strong parliamentary oversight of the Commission and governments during the process, in order to hinder restrictive,one- sided reform targets;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Urges the Commission to verify the proper consultation of the social partners while Member States drafted the Nationalrecovery and resilience plans (NRRPs), where social partners were heard according to national rules and practices; urges the Commission to verify the proper implementation of the social objectives of the country-specific recommendations in the NRRPs, as to mitigate the employment impact of the crisis as well as the social protection of workers, with in particular non-standard workers;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Reminds the Commission that the rule of law conditionality mechanism is an essential component of the RRF; calls on the Commission to refrain from approving the NRRPs of Member States as long as concerns regarding the observance of the rule of law and the prevention and detection of and fight against fraud, conflicts of interest and corruption persist in those countries, and to ensure that all the measures set out in their plans comply with EU values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to tax energy companies' windfall gains and sending direct income support to low-income households as the war in Ukraine disrupts the energy market and adds to spiralling inflation;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomNotes the creation and publication of the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard.; criticizes the lack of initiative of the Commission to come forward with complementary social indicators tracking notably the implementation of the 20 principles of the EPSR through the NRRPs; recalls that the European Parliament has asked the Commission to cover the following areas in the Action Plan and in the Social Scoreboard: decent work, social justice and equal opportunities, robust social welfare systems and fair mobility; notes that the delegated act on social expenditure and on the resilience scoreboard will not be sufficient to track and to report on the gender dimension and impacts of the RRF; calls on the Commission to come forward with complementary gender indicators tracking notably the gender impacts of the NRRPs; is convinced that public social and green investments should be excluded from deficit and debt calculation;
Amendment 131 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes positively that several Member States provide data at regional level and invites the other Member States to provide data at regional level; calls for the Commission to update the monitoring of the implementation of the six pillars and to ensure granular data is made available in the RRF scoreboard and that the European Parliament is regularly updated to continue and enhance its role in scrutinising the implementation of the RRF;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Considers that the RRF should become a permanent framework to ensure that it is available again in crises of similar severity,and can be accessed more quickly; stresses however that the weaknesses of the RRF should be corrected in the new instrument including more ambitious social goals, firmly establishing the sustainable development of prosperity and wellbeing as well; notes that with the establishment of the new instrument that the Commission and Council should learn from the conclusions to improve the mechanisms driving the economic governance framework especially when it comes to establishing a more transparent and democratic coordination process, defining underlying political guidelines, cooperation between the European institutions as well as with the national governments and stakeholders and increased national ownership of policy design by providing positive incentives for productive investments and reforms, developing the national reform and investment programmes and implementing socially-balanced and sustainable structural reforms;