Activities of Andżelika Anna MOŻDŻANOWSKA related to 2020/2039(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on reversing demographic trends in EU regions using cohesion policy instruments
Amendments (18)
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas cohesion policy is an appropriate instrument for preventing differences in the treatment of women and men, particularly in areas facing problems associated with demographic change;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the extraordinary measures taken in response by the European Union, the Member States and the regional and local authorities, as well as the direct and indirect effects of these measures, will have a short-term and long-term impact on demographic trends that is difficult to estimate with any accuracy;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas preliminary studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened existing inequalities between men and women, in part because of the increased burden of unpaid care in households, which in turn also leads to an increased likelihood of job losses or resignations necessitated by the circumstances; whereas this phenomenon has a disproportionate impact on women, which should be taken into account when considering demographic change as an aspect of cohesion policy;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas innovation and investment in human capital, which also occur as part of the corresponding process of socialisation within the family as well as through education, are the main drivers of socio-economic and employment growth for Member States and their regions over the medium to long term;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that in general rural, and post- industrial and remotereas and towns that are remote from major metropolitan areas are facing a number of specific situations: a considerable decline in population numbers, lower than national or EU average levels of income and difficulties of territorial integration with other regions, making them more exposed to the risk of depopulation; points out that rural regions currently account for 28 % of Europe’s population but this is predicted to fall significantly in the future;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Draws attention to some of the drivers of demographic change, forcing inhabitants from the abovementioned areas to leave and discouraging others from moving there: poor infrastructure, including a lack of fast broadband internet and missing transport networks, fewer job opportunities, particularly in occupations requiring higher education, and also in general for women owing to the widespread masculinisation of the labour market in peripheral areas, lack of public services and difficult access to health services, fewer education opportunities, making it more difficult to adapt to technological change, and a lack of cultural venues and leisure activities;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Is of the view that urban areas are also exposed to depopulation, with one in five cities in Europe facing population losses since 1990, whereby depopulation is not adequately reflected in the records kept by statistical offices and agencies because the figures for people leaving areas are delayed by many years; emphasises in this regard that this phenomenon means that the actual scale of depopulation in rural areas and in small and medium-sized towns and cities is underestimated; notes also that this problem affects the majority of non- metropolitan towns and cities, in particular small towns and cities; notes, however, that urban shrinkage is not always a continuous linear process and can be episodic or temporary, depending on the territorial context;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Underlines a pattern of ‘inner peripheralisation’, in the sense that central, eastern and southern European regions report a substantially negative net population migration rate, while northern and western European regions report a substantially positive rate, receiving constantly large numbers of economic migrants;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Acknowledges that the metropolitan areas around major cities register a positive migration rate, with characteristic rural-to-urban population movements, as a consequence ofnd therefore experience an influx of young people with enormous growth potential without previously having had to incur the costs of their care, upbringing and primary and/or secondary education, which results in an increasingly urbanised concentration in employment growth patterns;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes also that regions presenting a high share of people with high levels of education and providing more employment opportunities for people with high levels of education are less exposed to the depopulation process;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses that local and regional authorities, with the support of the central and EU authorities, should play a decisive role in developing territorial strategies, taking into consideration the development needs and the potential of the areas concerned, including the economic, social and demographic trends; points out that community-led local development strategies are a useful tool that can be used to create jobs and increase accessibility to services at local level;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Recalls the need for strategies aimed at reversing labour migration; calls on local and, regional, central and EU authorities to tackle the brain drain in ‘sending’ regions through prevention, mitigation and appropriate responses; underlines in this context that there are already several initiatives in various Member States, such as incentives for workers with highly specialised skills, aimed at turning the brain drain into a brain gain for the regions in question;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that the COVID-19 health crisis has affected all Member States and regions to different extents, and is likely to lead to new trends as regards demographic flows; recalls in this context that the additional resources provided through REACT-EU in order to ensure a sound and robust recovery of the EU’s economy from the crisis could significantly help to keep people in employment, including through support for small and medium-size enterprises and for short-time work schemes and the self-employed and create new jobs for educated individuals in areas at risk of depopulation, including through support for small and medium-size enterprises and the self-employed, and through the introduction of flexible working arrangements, including remote or short- time work;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Recalls that the Recovery and Resilience Facility will provide large-scale financial support to make Member States’ economies more resilient and better prepared for the future, and insists that Member States should propose and implement measures for addressing adverse demographic change; highlights the importance of the instruments f, for example by putting in place more widespread telework a trransition to sustainability such as the Just Transition Fund and its implementation mechanism, which aim to support the communities affected by the energy transition and avoid thegements that allow remote working, thereby making it possible for young educated people to stay in areas which they might previously have left and which are at particular risk of depopulation;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Member State to include differentiated demographic challenges in their national development policies and long- term strategies for sustainable development correlated with the European Semester, thus ensuring proper financing for demographic issues;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the regions at risk of depopulation to focus investments on the creation of jobs, in particular for young people, including those who have completed higher education, as well as on ways of encouraging young families to settle in those regions and on universal accessibility to quality services and infrastructure and job creation; insists on investment in education, reskilling of workers, creating entrepreneurial conditions and supporting SMEs;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Recommends developing the so- called ‘oasis strategies’ focusing on the most successful, vibrant and growing sectors, by exploiting the local potential for development of the region; calls on the local and regional authorities to focus on attracting young, trained and talented workers and retaining any such workers who are currently employed, encouraging entrepreneurship, using local, national and EU incentives; underlines the role of the ‘silver economy’ as a policy shift for rural areas, turning the issue of population ageing into an opportunity for the development of rural areas;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Recommends, where appropriate, the reform of education and training systems in the Member States, inter alia by developing educational pathways to occupations that are compatible with remote working, combined with policies to prevent a permanent brain drain from the ‘sending’ regions; insists on using local at regional advantages, as well as the development of economic and social facilities, not only to prevent the brain drain, but also to reverse this phenomenon;