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16 Amendments of Jessica POLFJÄRD related to 2023/2536(RSP)

Amendment 29 #

Recital B
B. whereas collective bargaining at the sectoral and cross-industry levels came under pressure in some Member States in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis; whereas the share of workers covered by collective agreements in some Member States has declined significantly over the past 30 years, with an estimated drop in EU average coverage from about 66 % in 2000 to about 56 % in 201811, owing to labour market reforms in many Member States that decentralised collective bargaining systems, the rise of precarious forms of employment and bogus self-employment;whereas in most Member States, collective bargaining covering rates tend to be higher for employees on permanent contracts and for those working in larger companies; _________________ 11 Visser, Jelle, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, ‘Database on Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts’, Version 6.1, November 2019.
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 65 #

Recital F
F. whereas some Member States are ensuring an enabling framework for social dialogue, while in some other Member States, social dialogue is under pressure for reasons including ineffective consultation procedures, a lack of capacity and, strict representational criteria; whereas the EU regulatory landscape in the field of employment law and company law remains excessively fragmented, which could and the limited possibilities for the national social partners to autonomously resgult in a lack of legal certainty on applicable rules and rights for both employers and employeeate the labour market by means of collective agreements;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 75 #

Recital H
H. whereas the enabling conditions for a well-functioning social dialogue are: (i) the existence of strong, independent trade unions and technical capacity in employers’ organisations; (ii) access to relevant information to participate in social dialogue; (iii) a commitment from all parties to engage in social dialogue; (iv) respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining; and (v) appropriate institutional support; and (vi) the autonomy of the social partners which allows them to negotiate and conclude collective agreements without undue political intervention;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 91 #

Recital L a (new)
L a. whereas social dialogue strengthens both democracy and civil society, and manifests the principle of subsidiarity where rules are made close to those whom they concern and affect;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 92 #

Recital L b (new)
L b. whereas collective bargaining allows for social partners to adjust, for instance, working conditions in a flexible and purposeful way; whereas collective bargaining systems are generally based on a complex set of rules and practices, established in national legal systems, and frequently based on longstanding traditions of the social partners;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 93 #

Recital L c (new)
L c. whereas collective bargaining systems where independent social partners have the right to negotiate and conclude collective agreements autonomously contribute to long-term predictability in the labour market; whereas a prerequisite for such well- functioning collective bargaining systems is that the national and European legislators trust the social partners' ability to take responsibility for good working conditions in the labour market and balance workers’ and employers’ interests;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 130 #

Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned that the density of employers’ organisations and trade unions is declining across allmany Member States; warns that the decrease in collective bargaining coverage is not only due to the decline in trade union density, but also to some extent to the lack of representation within employers’ organisation and employers’ lack of involvement and willingness to participate in collective bargaining;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 148 #

Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, along with social partners, to commit tostrive towards reaching a higher collective bargaining coverage of 90 % by 2030, with a view to improving living and working conditions in the Union, contributing to European competitiveness and upward social convergence, as well as fighting in-work poverty and social exclusion and reducing wage inequality;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 160 #

Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to repeal any national legislation that hampers collective bargaining, including any legislation that inhibits trade unions’ access to workplaces for the purpose of organising; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote sectoral- level collective bargaining as an important instrument to increase collective agreement coverage, making sure that derogations from collecand to ensure that national and EU initiatives agreements concluded at a higher levellow for independent and equal national social pare restricted to situations in which those derogations are needed to maintain quality employtners to adapt, complement or deviate from legislation by way of collective agreements;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 194 #

Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to strongly enforce the social clause in the existing EU Public Procurement Directive16and to revise the directive in order to further strengthen social clauses in public contracts to require economic operators and subcontractors to fully respect workers’ right to collective bargaining and to set conditions for the full implementation of the applicable sectoral collective agreements and to exclude from tenders companies that have been condemned for engaging in criminal activities or union-busting or that have refused to participate in collective bargaining; calls for this revision to exempt all social and welfare services from procurement obligations and to establish a European exclusion mechanism to exclude primary contractors and subcontractors who have repeatedly engaged in unfair competition and tax fraud; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure compliance with and monitoring and enforcement of the Public Procurement Directive; _________________ 16 Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65).deleted
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 202 #

Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States to transpose as soon as possible the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive, which requires Member States to take appropriate measures to ensure that, in the awarding and carrying out of public procurement or concession contracts, economic operators and their subcontractors comply with the applicable obligations regarding wages, the right to organise and collective bargaining on wage-setting in the field of social and labour law established by Union law, national law, collective agreements and international social and labour law provisions, including ILO Conventions No 87 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and No 98 concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively;deleted
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 205 #

Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates its call on the Commission to propose a new directive on a general framework for workers’ information, consultation and participation for European companies, including subcontracting chains and franchises, and for companies that use European company mobility instruments, in order to establish minimum standards, including on anticipation of change and restructuring, in particular at company level; reiterates its call for a revision of the European Works Council Directive to ensure, inter alia, proper enforcement, access to justice and effective sanctions for violations of the rules and to improve the functioning of the special negotiating body, including by creating a transnational information and consultation process, which should be properly conducted and completed before any decisions are taken;deleted
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 211 #

Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish the necessary conditions and requirements to have at least 80 % of corporations covered by sustainable corporate governance agreements by 2030, including by establishing strategies agreed on with workers in order to positively influence environmental, social and economic development through governance practices and market presence, improve directors’ accountability as regards integrating sustainability into corporate decision-making and promote corporate governance practices that contribute to company sustainability, such as those related to, inter alia, corporate reporting, board remuneration, the maximum wage ratio, board composition and stakeholder involvement;deleted
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 218 #

Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the fact that the Commission communication on social dialogue states that the Commission will appoint a social dialogue coordinator in each Commission service to get a better understanding of social dialogue across the institution; is concerned that, without a clear mandate on what their roles, rights and responsibilities entail, these coordinators will have an insufficient impact; suggests that the Commission involve these social dialogue coordinators in all employment-related aspects and effects of EU regulations and policymaking, beyond the scope of Article 153 TFEU;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 231 #

Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Calls on the European Commission and Member States, in order to safeguard incentives for social partners to negotiate and take responsibility for well-functioning labour markets, to ensure that all relevant legislation leaves sufficient room of manoeuvre for equal national social partners to adapt, complement or deviate from legislation by way of autonomous collective bargaining;
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL
Amendment 234 #

Paragraph 20
20. Highlights that recital 35 of Directive (EU) 2019/212117states that ‘[i]n certain circumstances, the right of companies to carry out a cross-border operation could be used for abusive or fraudulent purposes, such as for the circumvention of the rights of employees, social security payments or tax obligations, or for criminal purposes’; considers it essential, in this regard, to adequately define ambitious EU minimum standards for information, consultation, board-level representation and the participation of workers when companies restructure across borders; calls on the Commission, in the context of its forthcoming evaluation of Directive (EU) 2019/2121, to take account of existing good practices and the results of studies on and assessments of the positive socioeconomic effects and consequences of employee representation in corporate bodies, while also amending existing directives on this issue, which could help improve corporate governance; calls on the Commission to develop initiatives to raise awareness and improve knowledge of national and EU rules governing employee representation in corporate bodies in the various Member States and to foster the exchange of best practices, including assessing the different forms of worker participation and their socioeconomic effects; reiterates that several EU legal acts concerning workers’ board-level representation rights do not establish minimum requirements for board-level representation in EU companies in their various forms or for companies that use EU company legal instruments to enable cross-border company mobility and legal reorganisation, including cross-border mergers, conversions and divisions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take urgent and decisive action to ensure that EU companies respect workers’ information, consultation and participation rights and that, accordingly, they comply with existing EU and national legal obligations; _________________ 17 Directive (EU) 2019/2121 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as regards cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions (OJ L 321, 12.12.2019, p. 1).deleted
2023/03/08
Committee: EMPL