Activities of Konstantinos ARVANITIS related to 2021/2062(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Employment and social policies of the euro area 2021 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on employment and social policies of the euro area 2021
Amendments (21)
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the euro area unemployment rate considerably increased the last two years, with substantial differences among Member States; whereas unemployment is set to rise unevenly across sectors, genders, age and socio-economic groups; whereas young people have experienced the sharpest decline in employment15 ; whereas workers with precarious employment conditions have been particularly exposed to job losses because of the pandemic; whereas one of the most pressing social need is addressing unemployment; _________________ 15 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/nb/publi cations/report/2021/covid-19-implications- for-employment-and-working-life
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas socially sustainable reforms are those based on solidarity, integration, social justice, a fair distribution of wealth, gender equality, a high-quality public education system for all, quality employment and sustainable growth - a model that ensures equality and social protection, empowers vulnerable groups, enhances participation and citizenship and improves living standards for all;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas climate change, global warming and loss of biodiversity are exponentially accelerating according to the latest report of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); whereas climate breakdown and extreme weather events consequences are being felt more intensely and more frequently by European citizens and workers; whereas 2030 decarbonisation targets have been raised to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050; whereas increased mitigation and adaptation efforts lead to profound transformation of the European and national economies and labour markets;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
F c. whereas the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the digital transition of the European and national economies and the development of new methods of work; whereas digitalisation, robotization, automation and artificial intelligence must benefit workers and society by improving working conditions and quality of life, ensuring high standards of work- life balance, creating better employment opportunities, and contributing to socioeconomic convergence;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes EU leaders’ commitment to the implementation of the EPSR and to the three new EU headline targets to be achieved by 2030; warns, however, that the ambition remains insufficient; insists that reinforced public social protection systems are crucial for the fight against poverty and inequalities, as well as to support inclusive and sustainable growth; acknowledges that access to essential services, such as water and energy, are critical to ensure social inclusion and basic sanitary standards; calls on support measures to ensure universal access to essential services in the framework of the EPSR action plan implementation;
Amendment 89 #
4. Calls on the Commission to draw lessons from this crisis and work towards the implementation of a different sustainable governance architecture in the EU; warns against taking the decision to deactivate based on solidarity, integration, social justice, fair distribution of wealthe, genderal escape clause based only on an o equality, high-quality public services, including a public, universall assessment of the state of the economy based on quantitative criteria, with the level of economic activity in the EU compared to pre-crisis levels as the key quantitative criterion; is concerned that this criterion will not properly reflect underlying inequalitiesnd high quality education system, quality employment and sustainable growth; points out that this alternative model should ensure equality and social protection, empower vulnerable groups, enhance participation and citizenship and improve living standards for all;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that excessive and inflexible fiscal discipline led to health and social systems in many Member States being ill-prepared to face the pandemic; stresses that it is essential to take into account other criteria, especially those that take into considerationIs very worried about the deep recession caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the substantial rise of unemployment, the extremely high youth unemployment, the millions of jobs lost, the abrupt fall in the hours worked per worker, the diminution of peoples’ income, the increasing in- work poverty, the millions of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, the sharp increase in cases of domestic and gender-based violence, and the increasing disparities among Member States and their regions; urges the Commission and the Member States to promote policies that aim to strengthen public health care and welfare systems as well as to ensure the adequacy and sustainability of social protection systems; calls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise social justice, social and economic convergence, equality, social development and full high-quality employment and accelerate the full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; stresses that it is essential to take into account the need for sustained public, social and environmental investment, public sector economic activity, and preventing jeopardising good quality working conditions, decent wages, social progress towards the implementation of the EPSR in the Member States; believes that merely reaching pre-crisis economic activity levels mightare not be sufficient to consolidate a sustainable recovery; believes that the Stability and Growth Pact and Euro Plus Pact should be revised before any deactivation of the general escape clause; stresses that temporary exemptions or different treatment regarding country-specific situations will not be enough to overcome risks of economic stagnation, increasing inequalities and social and territorial divergence;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that the President of the Commission has committed to placing sustainability, social inclusion and, citizens’ well-beingand workers' rights at the heart of the EU economic strategy; deplores the fact that this is not reflected in the Commission’s analysis; calls on the Commission to integrate social and environmental imbalancesreminds that the European Semester has been issuing recommendations deepening social, economic and territorial inequalities among and within Member States; calls, on this regard, for an agenda, within the European Semester framework, to monitor, address and duly tackle those inequalities; urges for policies that better and effectively address the distributional impact of public, fiscal and employment policies, and the imbalances in terms of income and wealth distribution; calls on the Commission to integrate social, environmental and regional imbalances, with appropriate indicators, into its analysis in the framework of the Semester;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Points out that public social protection systems are crucial for the fight against poverty and inequalities, as well as to support inclusive and sustainable growth; Regrets that the Commission is still proposing measures that might put at risk the adequacy and sustainability of social protection systems in Member States by continuing to promote reforms aiming to shift taxation from labour to the environment, especially in a context of serious macroeconomic imbalances; warns about the risks of replacing stable taxes with others from more volatile sourcesby favouring a decrease in employers’ tax contributions and at the expense of the overall tax revenue collected; calls for the promotion of genuinely progressive tax systems, as well as for the end of tax dodging and tax havens, stopping the race to the bottom in corporate taxation, and improving tax transparency; calls also for the introduction of financial transaction taxes and of a tax on multinationals from the digital sector; stresses that the EU should first consolidate the minimum corporate tax of at least 15 % to avoid tax dumping and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the EU;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights that well-designed labour taxation systemsCalls on the Commission and the Member States to take real measures to combat tax avoidance and tax fraud as an important means of reducing economic inequalities and improving the collection of tax revenue in the Member States; Highlights that well-designed labour taxation systems, i.e. sufficiently progressive and based on the solidarity principle, are essential to ensuring high standards of worker protection against risks and illness, and the provision of old age, disabilities and survivors pensions; believes that tax systems should focus on taxing high- income, and especially high- wealth, property, capital income and gains, and wealth at the same level as labour income in order to make the systems fairer, to reduce inequalities and to significantly increase the revenue; stresses that this revenue could be used to fund key priorities and help address Member States’ fiscal challenges, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of publsocioeconomic finances, including by strengthening the coverage, adequacy of health and social protection systems for all, and ensuring their long-term fundingequalities;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is concerned about over- indebtedness arising from the pandemic and its economic and social consequences, and stresses that people and SMEs have to be protected from being trapped into over- indebtedness; believes, that regarding non- performing loans, it is not credit purchasers and credit servicers who should be supported, but rather it is European SMEs, workers and civil societyhouseholds; in this regard SDG 8 on sustainable growth, employment and decent work proved to be a driving factor for the entire UN2030 agenda;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates the essential role of social partners on the development of effective, practical, and equitable solutions to the challenges posed in the post-pandemic era; Welcomes the European social partners’ joint proposal for an alternative set of indicators to measure economic, social and environmental progress, supplementing GDP as welfare measurement for inclusive and sustainable growth; stresses that social partners must be involved in the decision-making process for the initiation of any action in the purpose of recovery; believes that any action taken in this regard must not interfere with social partners' autonomy;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to ensure that trade unions have access to the workplace and the workers themselves, including where work is carried out digitally; stresses the need to guarantee that all workers, including those in the digital economy, have the right to collective bargaining and to take collective action;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Stresses the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the European labour market, the unprecedented job losses, especially in strategic sectors, as well as the associated rise in poverty and divergences in living standards, which especially affect youth, women and workers in low-skilled positions and precarious employment;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Acknowledges that the Member States are projected to reach their pre-crisis level of quarterly output by the end of 2022; warns that for the recovery to be sustainable, it is essential that quality jobs are also created for medium- and low- skilled workers and especially for women and young people, and geographically evenly distributed to avoid imbalances between regions, as it has been proved that they are essential for the resilience of our societies and economies; believes that social partners play a crucial role in anticipating labour markets’ evolution and in ensuring smooth transitions for workers affected by structural changes; believes that strengthening collective bargaining structures at all levels are essential to create quality and sustainable employment;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to agree on a quality job creation target with a tracker system on public investments at all levels, including a dedicated section on green jobs, digital jobs and the gender perspective, and on a system of quality and green job creation conditionalities for companies accessing public funds; warns that access to public funds must be given to companies that respect workers’ rights, collective bargaining and promote the well-being of their employees;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on the Commission to update its framework for the establishment and development of cooperatives and social economy enterprises, which by nature place a stronger emphasis on fair working conditions and the empowerment of workers;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework to regulate teleworking conditions across the EU and ensure decent working and employment conditions in the digital economy; Calls on the Commission to improve labour conditions for platform workers in its upcoming legislative proposal in order to guarantee healthy and safe working environments, quality employment and wages and the right to disconnect;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that if the EU wants to lead global sustainable recovery, millions of well-paying jobs must be created, including for medium- and low-skilled workers, so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the common European project; iInsists that more investment is needed in infrastructures, research, innovation, and zero carbon technologieszero carbon and breakthrough technologies; calls for a new social and sustainable industrial strategy that strengthens quality employment and strategic value chains in the EU;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Regrets that the European Semester process has proved insufficient to address social and employment imbalances and inequalities in Europe; calls on the Commission and the Member States to urgently reform the financial legal framework and the European Semester process in order to effectively promote fair, inclusive and sustainable growth, build a truly social Europe and enhance democratic accountability;