Activities of Kostadinka KUNEVA related to 2017/2260(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2018 PDF (397 KB) DOC (94 KB)
Amendments (26)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to Articles 3 and 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the employment rate in the EU is increasing and has reached 235.4 million people in jobs in the second quarter of 2017, which constitutes an employment rate of 72.3 % the quality of which is not specified though, meaning that the EU is on track to reach the 75 % employment rate target specified in the Europe 2020 strategy; which in itself is not adequate since art3 of the TEU stipulates that the Union is aiming at full employment;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas although the EU unemployment rate is at its lowest level in nine years and stands at 7.5 % this recovery remains very uneven among Member-States to the benefit of those countries that did not need to implement deep structural reforms or follow adjustment programs;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the employment rate for women is still 11 pps below that of men, demonstrating a persistent gender gap;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas in seven member-states, the long-term unemployment rate (as a percentage of total unemployment) exceeds that of the Eurozone average (49.7%) by 4% to 23%, indicating a potential permanent trend;
Amendment 63 #
E. whereas societies in the European Union are ageing, which presents additional challenges for Member States’the growing number of older people (nearly 20 % of the European population is over 65 and the estimation is that this rate will reach 25 % by 2050), the declining number of working age people and public budget constraints, especially austerity measures implemented in the EU, are having a significant impact on social security and healthcare systems;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas, although a certain amount of progress in reducing poverty and social exclusion can be observed, there are still disadvantaged groups in society with an unacceptable 119 million poor in the EU of which more than 25 million children across of Europe (more than 1 in 4 children) and regional disparities persist;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas the overall policy outlook of the European Semester remains concerned with fiscal consolidation and deregulation of labour markets;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Stresses that building up social policies is not a question of choice but of human dignity, an indispensable factor for maintaining cohesion and the legitimacy of the EU;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a Underlines that for a “Social Europe” to be achieved decisions on economic and social issues are necessary to be taken jointly in a complementary way;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the integration of the European Pillar of Social Rights in the Annual Growth Survey 2018 as an important part of the European investment process aiming at increasing decent employment, based on a strategy of investment, and social justice via structural reforms and responsible public finances; calls on the Member States to take account offollow the priorities identified in the surveyJoint Employment Report accompanying the survey as well as the European Pillar of Social Rights in their national policies and strategies to promote growth, employment and social protection;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for structural reforms aimed at improving labour market and social policies, in order to towards materialising the “Social Triple A”, by helping the workforce to acquire the skills they need and to promoteing equal opportunities inand access to the labour market, fair working conditions, increasing labour productivity to support wage growth, and sustainable and adequate social protection systems;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Interinstitutional Proclamation on the European Pillar of Social Rights and believes its 20 key principles regarding equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions and social protection and inclusion should not only serve as a point of reference when implementing the European Semester policy coordination cycle but be legally enforceable by adopting the appropriate legislation;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the new scoreboard, which provides for 14 headline indicators to screenrelevant to the employment and social performance of Member States along the three broad dimensions, identified in the context of the Social Pillar but stresses that monitoring is not enough; calls therefore for the binding character of low levels of unemployment, poverty and inequalities in the same way economic indicators are binding; underlines the fact, that for the EU on average, 11 of the 14 headline indicators recorded an improvement over the last available year, confirming the steady improvement in the labour market and social situation which has accompanied the economic recovery; remains however concerned at the lack of control over the quality of job and educational opportunities created;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Calls for improving work quality both in terms of working conditions, health and safety as well as in terms of wages allowing for a decent leaving and family planning; stresses the importance of tackling undeclared work in an effective manner, involving social partners and imposing appropriate fines;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Stresses that fiscal consolidation programmes should by no means impose austerity measures undermining social policies that suffer substantial cuts; any proposed fiscal measure should be assessed and monitored against its social impact;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reiterates its concern at the level of youth unemployment, which remains high, with the number of NEETs having stagnated; welcomes, in this respect, an increase in funding for the Youth Employment Initiative by EUR 2.4 billion for the period 2017-2020 reminding that this amount is nevertheless not sufficient in relevance to the number of addressees and calls for additional funds to be provided to this end during the current financial framework and for adequate funds to be timely proposed for the next multiannual financial framework;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts in investing in high-quality education and training in order to guarantee that the skills acquired will match labour market demand; underlines, in this respect, the growing demand for digital and other transferable skills and insists that the development of these skills is urgent and particularly necessary; the creation of jobs though requires also an individualised approach according to the local necessities and particularities of the labour markets; cognitive and soft skills must equally be developed valuing personal abilities and offering on the job satisfaction;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take all the necessary measures to improve the services and legislation that are important for a proper work-life balance; calls for the development of accessible and affordable childcare and early education services, and for the creation of favourable conditions for parents and carers by allowing for advantageous family leave take-up and flexible working arrangements which tap into the potential of new technologies; stresses the necessity though of lifting the burden of obligatory care from family members and asks for the creation of a regulated domain of domestic workers and carers that will facilitate the work-life balance while contributing jobs creation; underlines, in this respect, the potential of public-private partnerships;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines the potential of SMEs in job creation and the economy as a whole; considers it vital to support entrepreneurship also through the development and support of the social and circular economy models and to improve the business environment by removing administrative burdens, improving access to finance and supporting the development of tax models and simplified tax compliance procedures favouring SMEs, entrepreneurs, micro-entities and start-ups;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers demographic decline, which affects EU regions to different extents, to be among the serious obstacles hindering EU growth; calls on the Commission and the Member States to introduce measures designed to address this challenge; underlines the fact that demographic decline requires a holistic approach, which should include the adaptation of the necessary infrastructure, and the enhancement of public services and voluntary flexible working arrangements guarantying social security;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recalls that increasing life expectancy requires the adaptation of pensions systems in order to ensure a good quality of life for elderly people; stresses that this can be achieved by linking retirement age not only to life expectancy but also to insurance contribution years, and by preventing early exit from the labour market; stresses that the absurd phenomenon of maintaining people longer to work while experiencing youth unemployment should be remedied while refugees and migrants should have their skills recognised or be offered skills development opportunities in order to be given the chance to enter the labour market while at the same time supporting to sustainability of pension systems;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is of the opinion that Cohesion Policy, as the main investment policy of the European Union, has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing inequalities and should therefore be maintained at least a similar budgetary levelenhancing inclusion and poverty reduction and should therefore be increased in the future multiannual financial framework; considers that the European Social Fund should be retained as the main EU instrument for the integration and reintegration of workers into the labour market;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Stresses the necessity to attribute at least 5% of the EFSI to programmes especially tackling the youth and long- term unemployment and allow the EU contribution to exceed if necessary the 50% of the total required for countries experiencing exceptional disadvantages;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Suggests to exempt from the EU Stability and Growth Pact the financial resources allocated to programmes in support of the unemployed, mainly through active labour market policies including job creation in countries with unemployment above the Eurozone average as an investment to human capital sustaining potential growth since, according to the EESC the spending policy can not be measured by just an accounting result as deficit but on the impact it has on the real economy;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the role of the social partners as essential stakeholders in the reform process and the added value of their involvement in the drafting, sequencing and implementation of reforms; supports the opinion that new forms of employment in the globalised market call for new forms of social dialogue; stresses though the necessity of restoring instead of deregulating labour relations supporting collective agreements for all; workers must be informed on their rights and be protected in case of whistleblowing to report abusive practices; affirms that the Member States need to help people build the skills required in the labour market;