Activities of Miriam LEXMANN related to 2020/2244(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester: annual sustainable growth strategy 2021 – European Semester: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy 2021 (debate)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the COVID-19 outbreak has reversed the positive trend of the employment rate of the last six years in the EU-27, resulting in a reduction of the number of persons in work of about 6.1 million in the second quarter of 2020 and a predicted decrease of 4.5 % over the year 202014 ; whereas workers who remain in the labour market have faced a considerable reduction in hours worked and, consequently, loss of income; whereas this development has the biggest impact on the workers that belong to vulnerable groups like workers with disabilities, workers coming from disadvantaged background, single parents or workers with big families; _________________ 14Commission proposal of 18 November 2020 for a joint employment report of the Commission and the Council for 2021 (JER 2021).
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas before COVID-19, economic trends were generally described as positive in the European Semester annual reviews; whereas evidence shows that persistent and increasing inequalities remain among persons and between and within states and regions; whereas COVID-19 state aid provided to workers and businesses varies greatly among the Member States;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the youth unemployment rate has increased due to COVID-19 crisis, reaching 17.1 % in September 2020; whereas 11.6 % of young people aged between 15 and 24 are not in employment or in education (NEETs)15 ; whereas increasing inequalities between generations affect the sustainability of our welfare system as well as our democratic health; whereas young people coming from disadvantaged background often face multiple discrimination and are hit harder by the current crisis; _________________ 15 JER 2021.
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas women are particularly vulnerable to labour market changes owing to social care duties and uneven distribution of the unpaid household work, occupational segregation and their more precarious employment; whereas an intersectional evaluation shows that women in vulnerable groups, such as young women with children and particularly single mothers, persons with disabilities or those of a migrant origin, are more likely to be in a worse position;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the gender employment gap (11.4 %) , gender pay gap (14 %) and gender pension gap (30 %) remain unacceptably high; whereas improving employment opportunities for women, ensuring equal pay and, facilitating a good work-life balance and adequately recognising the contribution of the periods of raising children in the retirement pension schemes, including for men, are vital to sustainable economic growth and development, productivity, and long-term fiscal sustainability in the EU;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas new forms of employment that are expected to significantly transform the way of working in future have emerged or intensified, such as teleworking and non-standard ways of working, and whereas new realities have also emerged and existing trends have intensified during lockdowns, including domestic violence against women and, health problems among workers, particularly psychological ones as well as difficulties to reach the work-life balance in the new reality of changed work patterns and the necessity to combine the work with care duties and often also home schooling;
Amendment 85 #
M. whereas the demographic challenge requires a comprehensive approach based on a mix of policy solutions in the fields of fair pensions, social security, care servicquality and accessible care infrastructure for children, elderly and persons with disabilities, support to families, housing, early childhood schools, long- term care, health systems, social inclusion, integration of migrants and work-life balance, gender equality, high levels of employment and dignified wages;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas, contrary to the crowding- out hypothesis that has prevailed in economic thinking for the last three decades, public investment and its crowding-in effects should play a central role in this new economic paradigm; whereas investments and reforms should also focus on digital skills and educational and vocational training for all in order to have a positive impact on social cohesion, which is a pre-condition for economic growth, job creation and employment;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
O a. whereas cohesion policy, as the EU’s main investment policy for social, economic and territorial development, has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing inequalities and regional differences, in particular regarding the poorest regions;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O b (new)
Recital O b (new)
O b. whereas social protection systems and labour market policies are deeply rooted in national traditions and there is great variation between the Member States, which should be maintained when working towards common social goals through the European Semester; whereas issues lacking a transnational dimension are dealt with at national level in line with TFEU146(2), 147(1), 151 and the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O c (new)
Recital O c (new)
O c. whereas the green transition and the digitalisation of the economy will involve substantial economic diversification and transformation of business models and policymaking; whereas that will create new opportunities as well as significant socio-economic challenges in many regions and industrial sectors; whereas the EU needs a common strategy to accompany workers and businesses concerned in order to ensure that no one is left behind;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. States that 10 years after the introduction of the European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination, employment and social imbalances in Europe, such as labour market segmentation, wage dispersion and child poverty, have not been resolved but have worsened, demonstra, suggesting that public policies at the national level are insufficient for building a fairer European labour market, and thatneed more support on the EU level in order to build a stronger and further-reaching policies at EU level are neededresilient labour market;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reform the financial legal framework and the European Semester process in order to strengthen democratic accountability and the involvement of the European Parliament; stresses that the social progress objectives regarding social welfare systems and quality employment must be shielded from the application of macroeconomic conditionality;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that fiscal flexibility to support investment in social rights is vitalimportant, as is the mainstreaming, effectively and at all stages, of all principles enshrined in the EPSR; demands that any proposed fiscal measures be ex-ante assessed and monitored against the provisions of Article 9 of the TFEU to evaluate their social impact, and that they only be considered when they will be beneficial for upward social convergence and increasing wellbeing standards in Member States;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets that the way data is presented in the joint employment report is not clear and that the data is often inconclusive or difficult to compare, regarding the evolution of wages, productivity, capital gains and profits, subsidies and tax breaks for corporations, or the tax wedge for labour and capital; warns that multifactor productivity is not being measured; calls on the Member States to include the Gender Equality Index as one of the European Semester’s tools and to analyse the structural reforms from a gender perspective;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop a quality employment package, including legislative initiativ containing an effective set of measures aimed at improving wages and protecting decent working conditions for all, with a particular focus on telework, the right to disconnect, mental well-being at work and work-life balance, occupational health and safety, the rights of platform workers, ensuring quality jobs for essential workers, and strengthening democracy at work and the role of the social partners and collective bargaining;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses that Members States should also focus on innovation and investments for improved connectivity and artificial intelligence methods and systematic deployment of 5G and Gigabit infrastructure along urban and rural households and large-scale transport corridors in line with EU’s 2025 5G and Gigabit connectivity objectives;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for a quality employment package and notes that macroeconomic policies that guarantee high levels of employment, as well as fair taxation,ogether with the support of families and recognition of their contribution to the society in the pension schemes for parents are essential for the sustainability of ourand fairness of the national pension systems in a demographic context of ageing European populations;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for a quality employment package and notes that macroeconomic policies that guarantee high levels of employment, as well as fair taxation, are essential for the sustainability of our national pension systems in a demographic context of ageing European populations;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States to ensure access to high-quality healthcare and to refocus health systems on preventive care, notably by implementing relevant country-specific recommendationwith the emphasis on preventive care as well as on building resilient healthcare systems prepared for possible future crises;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that implementing the EU skills agenda equitably is critical for promoting health systems and tackling skills shortages for people in new fields of work; warns, however, that a skills agenda is not enough to tackle the increasing precariousness and in-work poverty in the EU labour market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts to invest in affordable, accessible, inclusive and high- quality vocational education and training, to reinforce upskilling and reskilling measures, including digital and transferable skills, and to promote lifelong learning to prepare workers for the needs of the labour market affected by the green and digital transformations; takes the view that the mutual recognition of qualifications will be beneficial for overcoming skills shortages and skills mismatches;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that implementingtimely and effective implementation of the EU skills agenda equitably is critical for promoting health systems and tackling skills shortages for people in new fields of work; warnstresses, however, that athe skills agenda is not enough to tackle the increasing precariousness and in-work poverty in the EU labour marketshould be accompanied by other effective measures in order to tackle the challenges in the EU labour market including in-work poverty; underlines the need to harness the full potential of Artificial intelligence for creating the labour market in which the skills match the skill demand;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to analyse brain drains in certain regions and sectors, and to support mobile workers by ensuring fair mobility and strengthening the portability of rights and entitlements; highlights the potential of Next generation EU for creating new opportunities and new innovative ways of work that would enable people to work from rural and remote areas without the need of moving to bigger cities which could prevent brain drains in some sectors;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to analyse brain drains in certain regions and sectors, and to support mobile workers by ensuring fair mobility and strengthening the portability of rights and entitlements; underlines that the digitalisation of public services can help to facilitate fair labour mobility, particularly with regard to the coordination of social security systems;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure a growth- friendly investment climate and to support SMEs and their employees in the transition to a more digital and greener economy, and to give adequate consideration to the interests of SMEs in the policy making process by analysing the possible effects of policies on SMEs; highlights the importance of improving access for SMEs to public and private funding, including microcredits and crowdfunding, and reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Points out that fairness conditions must be establishshould be considered for companies that wish to access public funds and support in order to avoid such support going to companies based in tax havens, to those without significanta jurisdiction referred to in Annex I to Council conclusions on the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes1a, should not subvert collective bargaining, workers’ participation in company matters or codetermination, or those without a ban on bonuses to limit CEO and top executive remuneration;or codetermination in company decision-making processes in accordance with national law and practice, and should be conditional on maintaining the same level of working and employment conditions and rights, including protection against dismissals and reductions in wages, no bonuses to managers or dividends to shareholders; _________________ 1a OJ C 64, 27.2.1010, p. 8