12 Amendments of Miriam LEXMANN related to 2022/0326(COD)
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) A skilled workforce is crucial to ensuring socially fair and just green and digital transitions, and to strengthening the Union’s sustainable competitiveness and resilience in the face of adverse external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the fallout of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. More and better skills open up new opportunities and empower individuals to fully use their personal and professional potential, participate in the labour market, society and democracy, to harness and benefit from the opportunities of the green and digital transitions and to exercise their rights.
Amendment 41 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Across the Union, companies report difficulties to find workers with the necessary skills. In 2021, 28 occupations were classified as having shortages, including the healthcare, hospitality, construction and service sectors, in addition to shortages of IT and security specialists, in particular cybersecurity experts, and workers with science, technology, engineering and mathematics background.22 The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated labour shortages mainly in health and care sector even further; Increasingly, the biggest constraint to a successful digital and green transition is the lack of workers with the right skills. In many Member States, demographic ageing is expected to accelerate over the coming decade as “baby boom” cohorts retire,. reinforcing the need to make use of the full potential of all working-age adults through continuous investments in their skills as well as activitating more people, in particular women and young people especially; Highlights therefore the need to develop strategies in order to accommodate needs of all groups workers including investments in their skills, individualised support and adaptation of the workplace to persons with disabilities, chronic diseases or people returning to work after long absence. Reiterates those not in education, employment or training (NEETs). eed to accept wishes of workers, for example older workers not to participate at labour market; _________________ 22 European Labour Authority, Report on labour shortages and surpluses 2021 and ENISA, Cybersecurity skills development in the EU, March 2020. The ENISA studies identify that there is a gap of 291,000 professionals in cybersecurity.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Low or mismatching skills of working-age adults remain a significant challenge for the Union, pointing to considerable untapped potential of predicting necessary skills, upskilling and reskilling to help mitigate increasing labour shortages in sectors such as manufacturing and services, and in particular in economic activities related to hospitality and manufacturing of computer and electronic equipment, and the care sector.25 However, participation in adult learning in the Union has stagnated over the last decade and 21 Member States fell short of the 2020 EU- level target. For many adults, such as those in atypical forms of work, employees of small and medium-sized enterprises, the unemployed, the inactive and the low- qualified, skills development opportunities are too often out of reach. Increasing the attractivity of adult learning, upskilling and reskilling opportunities for these groups, and all working-age adults, also contributes to reaching the EU employment target of 78%, with employment rate in the EU in 2021 being at 73.1%.26 _________________ 25 European Commission, 2021 Labour Market and Wage Developments in Europe, p. 26 26 Eurostat, Employment (as % of the population aged 20 to 64), (LFSI_EMP_A)
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Attracting skilled third-country nationals can be one of the ways to contribute to tackling the Union’s skills and labour shortages. In October 2021, the revised EU Blue Card Directive45 entered into force, a key achievement for attracting highly skilled talent into the labour market. The New Pact on Migration and Asylum46 also places a strong emphasis on labour migration and on integration of third country nationals. Against this background, the Commission adopted a Skills and Talent Package47 in April 2022 to reinforce the legal framework and Union action in this area. Proposals to recast the Long-Term Residents Directive and the Single Permit Directive will allow to simplify the procedures for the admission of workers of all skill levels to the Union. The Commission will also continue to roll out an EU Talent Pool to facilitate labour matching with non-EU nationals. The Commission is also working towards the launch of tailor-made Talent Partnerships with specific key partner countries to boost international labour mobility and development of talent in a mutually beneficial and circular way. In addition, the Union continues to be the leading contributor to global funding for education focusing especially on teacher training and mobility, girls education and vocational education and training. This work, under the umbrella of the Global Gateway strategy48 , is complementary to the objectives of this proposal. _________________ 45 Directive (EU) 2021/1883 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2021 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment, and repealing Council Directive 2009/50/EC (OJ L 382, 28.10.2021, p. 1) 46 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum (COM/2020/609 final) 47 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Attracting skills and talent to the EU (COM/2022/657 final) 48 Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank The Global Gateway (JOIN/2021/30 final)
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Trust in and transparency of qualifications, whether acquired in Europe or beyond, is key in facilitating their recognition. EU transparency tools (European Qualifications Framework, Europass, ESCO, EU Skills Profile Tool for third country nationals, European Digital Credentials for Learning) are a starting point to help increase the transparency and comparability of qualifications. For well functioning labour markets, skills must be understood and, valued and recognized, whether acquired in formal, non- formal or informal settings including volunteering or providing informal care. Skills identification and documentation, as well as guidance to make skills visible, are crucial steps in this context.
Amendment 157 #
Proposal for a decision
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) The European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021- 203056 aims to ensure their full participation in society, on an equal basis with others in the Union and beyond. Within the Strategy, the European Commission commits to make sure that persons with disabilities can take part in trainings and learn new skills, as a fundamental requisite for employment and independence. Reiterates that in order to achieve improvements in employment and independence of persons with disabilities, it is necessary to step up efforts in order to achieve a barrier-free environment including the built environment for persons with disabilities or functional limitations. _________________ 56 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions Union of Equality: Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (COM/2021/101 final)
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
In line with principles 1, 4 and 5 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, contributing to the objectives set out in the 2020 European Skills Agenda and the EU headline targets set by the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the overall objective of the European Year shall be to further promote a mindset of achieving full personal and professional potential of individuals, reskilling and upskilling thereby boosting competitiveness of European companies, in particular small and medium-sized entreprises, realising the full potential of the digital and green transitions in a socially fair, inclusive and just manner. while paying special attention to the most vulnerable groups including persons with disabilities. More specifically, the activities of the Year will promote skills policies and investments to ensure that nobody is left behind in the twin transition and the economic recovery, and to notably address labour shortages for a better skilled workforce in the Union that is able to seize the opportunities of this process, by:
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
1. Promoting increased, more effective and inclusive investment into training and upskilling to harness the full potential of the European current and future workforce and to support people in managing job-to-job transitions, active ageing, work-life balance and benefiting from the new opportunities brought by the ongoing economic transformation.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3
3. Matching people’s aspirations and skills-set with labour market opportunities especially those offered by the green and digital transitions and the core sectors in need of recovery from the pandemic. A special focus will be given to activate more people for the labour market, in particular women and young people especially those not in education, employment or training (NEETs). In addition to the matching hard skills, it is also important to focus on mastering language skills as well as cross- cutting skills such as critical thinking, entrepreneurship, creativity, intercultural and interreligious competences, team work or media literacy that are important for sustainable growth, productivity, adaptation to the transformations of the labour market, investment and innovation, and are therefore key factors for the competitiveness of businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The measures to be taken to achieve the objectives set out in Article 2 shall include the following activities at European, national, regional or local level, in line with the principle of subsidiarity and, where relevant, in cooperation with third countries, linked to the objectives of the European Year:
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) promoting tools and instruments for increased transparency of qualifications, including qualifications awarded outside the Union; promoting tools for a formal recognition of informally gained skills;
Amendment 238 #
Proposal for a decision
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
(ha) developing toolbox in order to support the most vulnerable groups, e.g. persons with disabilities, persons with special needs, persons coming from remote or disadvantaged backgrounds;