Activities of Margarita DE LA PISA CARRIÓN related to 2019/2188(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on reducing inequalities with a special focus on in-work poverty
Amendments (50)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the gender pay gap in the 28 EU Member States stands at 15.7 %, that women are more affected by atypical and flexible contracts (zero-hour contracts, temporary work, part-time work, etc.) thans calculated as the difference between the mean gross hourly income of men, and that women are more likely to expwomen, without differience poverty and fall into the category of the poorest workers as a result of these low-security contractstiating between sectors, rendering a precise comparison of the individual factors difficult;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that, following the global economic and financial crisis in 2008, in- work poverty in the EU increased from 8 % to 10 %, and that the current unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic will have even greater economic and financial consequences, which will have a direct impact in terms of increasing the rate of unemployment and poverty, especially among women and the other most vulnerable groups in society, as its effects will be felt most keenly by workers in the service sect. Notes that the effects of the paralysation of economic activity and the uncertainty regarding the reopening will have severe consequences for, the self- employed, temporary and seasonal workers, etc., among whom a higher proportion are women;rvice, hotel, tourism and other sectors, and for workers and the self-employed.
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas there is great inequality both within and between Member States and the gap between rich and poor is widening; whereas, while net wealth per household in the Eurogroup countries fell for the bottom 20 %, it increased relatively sharply for the top 20 %6, and the bottom 20 % of households had net debt averaging EUR 4 500, while the top 10 % had net assets of EUR 1 189 700 European Union must guarantee solidarity among its States, irrespective of income inequalities which existed before they became full Member States; whereas measures to reduce inequality will be promoted, fostering policies favouring the family as a key institution for ensuring the well-being and wealth of society; __________________ 6The Household Finance and Consumption Survey: Results from the 2017 wave, ECB Statistics Paper Series No 36, March 2020, p. 25. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpsps/ ecb.sps36~0245ed80c7.en.pdf?bd73411fbe b0a33928ce4c5ef2c5e872 7 The Household Finance and Consumption Survey Wave 2017 Statistical tables, March 2020, p. 5. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/pdf/resea rch/hfcn/HFCS_Statistical_Tables_Wave_ 2017.pdf?656f4e10de45c91c3c882840e91 74eac
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that, although poverty rates among women vary considerably from one Member State to another, the risk of poverty in the risk groups to which older wwomen contribute to the economy and to the fight against poverty through their paid and unpaid work at homen, singl the wcomen and single mothers, homosexual, bisexual and transgender women and women with disabilities belong is the samemunity and at the workplace; considers that granting women the necessary means to fulfil their potential is a decisive factor for eradicating poverty;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas low wages and, increasingly, wage differentiation are deepening inequality; whereas increasing productivity without corresponding wage increases also exacerbates economic disparities within andthere is a pay gap, the issue of salary equalisation with regard to productivity should be addressed in connection with the fight against social exclusion, fostering a high level of education, training and health protection as factors prior to seeking the necessary economic balance between the Member States;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points Taking into account that, according to Eurostat, there are currently 64.6 million wome current situation caused by the Coronavirus, we shall have to address a radically different and 57.6 million men living in poverty in the EU Member States, which shows that the impact of poverty on women and men is differentnew situation as regards the statistics concerning challenges such as those posed by poverty and the wage gap;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas women in EU-27 earn 15 % less than men on average8 any comparison between the pay of women and men should take account of equality criteria, based on an objective meritocracy, in relation to the social situation and the sectors specific to the economy of each Member State; __________________ 8 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/he adlines/society/20200227STO73519/gende r-pay-gap-in-europe-facts-and-figures- infographic
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. The Commission is called upon to provide an explicit and lasting acknowledgement of the essential role that this institution of the family has played, in all the Member States, as the primary support and guarantor of the legislative policies adopted as a result of the lockdown in the severe health crisis triggered by the Coronavirus and as the foremost institution affected and in need of support and of being taken into account in policies drawn up after the crisis;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the EU has clearly missnot attained its target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty by 20 million by 20209; __________________ 9Francesca Pepé and Gaia Teresa Sartori Pallotta, Fostering access to services to support people to move out of poverty, Report on poverty and inequalities in Europe, Brussels, November 2019, p. 7 and p. 13 et seq., and COM (2010) 2020 final, 3.3.2010.
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Calls on the Commission to promote the necessary measures in the preparation of reports or working parties emphasising this protection by society and the Member States of the family institution in order to safeguard its full and complete development;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6 c. The Commission is asked to include the concept of family as the social entity with the greatest benefits for society in order to reduce inequalities and in particular as a lifeline when workers are facing situations of poverty;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas material poverty is not the only poverty affecting European citizens;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to come forward as soon as possible with proposals to close the gender pay gap.guarantee compliance with Directive 2006/54/EC to ensure full equality between men and women in practice in their working lives;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas family poverty is increasing: every fourth child under the age of 18 is at risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas single parents (34,2 %)eople who have children in their care and large families are particularly affected12; __________________ 12https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics- explained/index.php/Quality_of_life_indic ators_- _material_living_conditions#General_over view
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the family is an agent of child poverty, social exclusion and extreme poverty;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Commission to promote appropriate safety nets to prevent social exclusion and neglect, in order to enable women in situations of adverse economic environments to maintain their livelihoods and income in times of crisis;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas rents are constantly rising and people on or below the poverty line have to spend approximately 38 % of their disposable income on accommodation, and in some Member States this rate ismay be as much as 50- 90 %13; __________________ 13 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/v iew/tessi163/default/table?lang=en
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas homelessness is increasing everywherein the EU, with the exception of Finland, and around 700 000 people awere homeless14 in 2019; __________________ 14 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/ag enda/briefing/2020-01-13/11/housing- urgent-action-needed-to-address- homelessness-in-europe
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas old-age poverty continues to increase also in combination with fundamental pension reforms: the at-risk- of-poverty rate for people over 65 was on average 16.1 % (EU-28); whereas this figure willmay continue to grow due to precariousness and atypical employmentthe new uncertainty caused by the COVID 19 pandemic; it is vital that the elderly be guaranteed a decent purchasing power following the end of their working lives15; __________________ 15 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/v iew/tessi012/default/table?lang=en
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas coverage is declining in OECD countries, and in at least 14 EU Member States one in every two employees works without a wagethe specific situation of each EU Member State must adequately reflect its own socio-economic and employment framework; and should it prove necessary a greement; whereas only seven Member States have a collective bargaining coverage rate above 80 %16ater adherence to collective bargaining agreements; __________________ 16OCDE, Visser(2016) ICTWSS Database.https://www.etuc.org/en/docume nt/etuc-reply-first-phase-consultation- social-partners-under-article-154-tfeu- possible-action, p. 6, n.o 15.
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the number of countries worldwide in whichtrade unions and workers are subject to repression increased from 92 in 2018 to 107 in 2019; whereasbusiness framework must be in equilibrium in order to foster the increase was highest in EU-28, at 40 %, and whereas 68 % of countries violated the right to strike and 50 % the right to collective bargaining17tion of jobs and creativity in innovation in situations such as the current serious economic crisis; __________________ 17https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/2019- 06-ituc-global-rights-index-2019-report- en-2.pdf
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas privatisation and outsourcing are reducing job security, and this is also an indicator of the increase in precarious employmentthe preconditions for human dignity must be guaranteed in both the public and the private spheres;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the proportion of workers living in a household at risk of poverty rosmust be fbrom 8 % to 9,4 % within ten years – this corresponds to 20.5 million people18ught up to date in light of the severe economic situation caused by COVID 19; __________________ 18 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId= 89&furtherNews=yes&langId=en&newsId =9378
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas minimum wage systems vary widely in size, scope and coverage acrosthe increase in atypical and precarious Member States; whereas the minimum wage is consistently above the defined poverty threshold (60 % gross median) in only three Member States and does not consistently provide protection against poverty in other Member States; whereas some sectors, groups of workers and forms of work are sometimes not included or covered by minimum wage arrangementployment should be addressed by fostering social stability policies in support of business people and entrepreneurs;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas in ten years thean increase in atypical employment was significantly higher than the overall increase in jobs; part-time employment rose most, followed by short-term work19; whereas over 1/3 of part-time workers involuntarily work part- time and one in two work in short-term employment only for lack of any alternative20may not necessarily be contrary to the interests of a changing society in need of adaptive forms of employment; __________________ 19Labour market and Social Development (ETUI, 2019) Benchmarking Working Europe, 2019. 20 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId= 89&furtherNews=yes&langId=en&newsId =9378
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas unemployment, precarious and atypical employmfinancial crisis scenarios have beent rose sharply dueoccurring thsince 2008 financial crisis, and in the COVID 19 crisis the focus is also on social issues with job losses, short- time work, threats to economic survival, e.g. in small craft industries; whereas the middle class is shrinking, the gap between rich and poor is widening and the disparities within and between Member States are being exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisisand real social and market situations are in constant need of adapting to said uncertainty;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reminds the Commission and the Member States to achieve the goal of comparable living conditions through upward convergence and to counter the increasing inequality and de- solidarisation within and between Member States through appropriate measures, such as the strengthening of collective systems and a coordinated apfoster solidarity within Member States with a view to bringing about equality in the dignity that every person and EU citizen deserves through appropriate and proach to minimum security systems for all age groups, a minimum income, minimum wages and minimum pensiontical measures;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is convinced that the axiom that ‘work is the best remedy for poverty’ no longer applies today in the face of low- wage sectors, atypical and precarious working conditions and the dismantling of social security systems and that a poverty- free life can only be secured by effective collective agreements and minimum wage systemswork dignifies man and gives him his own scope for self- fulfilment and personal development, and that in the current crisis, priority should be given to promoting a labour market where creating decent jobs ought to be the Member States’ top priority;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, on the basis of their obligations under the ILO Conventions, the revised European Social Charter and the European Pillar of Social Rights, to promote cpollective bargaining, as well as the right to associate, negotiate and conclude collective agreements, and to respect and enforce the right to fair minimum wagesicies that foster entrepreneurship and support business owners with a view to creating the decent jobs that all workers and self-employed persons deserve;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reminds the Commission and the Member States of the need for a social progress protocolrecommendations in the European Treaties withat, in the event of conflicts between fundamental economic freedoms and collective social rights, accords priority to the latterframework of the principle of subsidiarity, which is the principle which can be adapted most fairly to each Member State’s needs;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomNotes the Commission’s plan to promptly propose a legal instrument to ensure that every worker in the Union receives a fair minimum wage21; calls also for this plan to ensure, through legislation or collective agreements, that nobody is at risk of poverty and that everyone can live from their work and participate in society; underlines that the floor should be at least 60 % of the national gross median wage; stresses that if this is too low to live on in relation to standards in a given country, an additional mechanism based on objective criteria should be used to calculate a supplement that ensures a support for EU families to enable them to live a decent life; __________________ 21 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/political-guidelines-next- commission_en.pdf
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to ensure mandatory minimumdecent working conditions for all workers, in particular for those employed in atypical and precarious work or the bogus self-employed, either by improving existing directives or through new legal acts, and to ban zero-hour contracts;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’s plan to adopt the Directiverecommendations on platform work, which is intended to ensure that platform workers are covered by existing labour law, are socially insured and are able to form workers’ representations and organise in unions in order to conclude collective agreements;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States, when implementing the work-life-balance Directive22, to ensure that access to childcare in general and in particular for single parents is secured so that they are not pushed into precarious and low-paid workthat are in hardship and need support for any reason is secured; __________________ 22Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for compliance with the rules on equality and anti-discrimination, particularly with regard to wagesaccess to and treatment and promotion in employment;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to target atypical and precarious employment groups in the labour markets and to take measures to counteract this form of employmentny category of decent employment that provides access to work in situations such as the current serious economic crisis;
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that the autonomy of social partners is a valuable asset; welcomes the Commission’s plan to adopt an action programme to protect and strengthenfoster collective bargaining systems at national, in particular sectoral, level and recommends taking measures under Articles 151 and 153 TFEU; stresses tha level that promote the innovation measures that will help businesses to succeed with the difficult cohallective agreements must not be subject to regulations and interpretations at European levelnge of responding to the economic crisis, encouraging workers to take more responsibility in their training, development and availability in their roles;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recommends that Member States take action to promote collective bargaining where coverage is below 70 %it supports a country’s economy and social and family situation;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission and Member States to enforce, effectively and through sanctions, the right of work compliance with labour standards wherevers to organise and to negotiate and conclude collective agreements, and to ensure that unions can enter plants, speak to workers at work and organise themhey safeguard the dignity and well-being of families and a decent work-life balance;
Amendment 372 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Urges the Commission and the Member States to work to change European competition rules so that public service institutions, for instance, hospitals and care facilities, can remain under, or revert to, public control public or private control in line with the free market economy, focusing at all times on excellence in their performance as they are definitely a service of general interest;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Urges the Commission to improve the public procurement Directives to prevent competition at the expense of wages so that only those who do not undermine existing collective agreements can successfully bid; calls on the Member States to ensure compliance, monitoring and enforcementwhere they do not provide the same conditions as the private sector;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Proposes to the Commission to change European rules so that solo self- employed and non-standard workers can unite and conclude collective agreements or any other formula that can be flexible and adapt to market needs;
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Points out that imbalances must not be exacerbated and that the consequences of the COVID‑19 crisis must not be borne by workers or the poor through austerity measucall for societal engagement among the actors concerned where the interest or through the European Semester; insists that measures to combat poverty and in-work poverty are particularly necessary; f business owners, workers and self-employed persons and their families are equally represented, protected and included in this search for solutions to adopt;
Amendment 416 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Tax burdens should be reduced view a view to promoting economic activity and re-engaging people affected by temporary layoffs and in businesses that have been hit hard economically;
Amendment 422 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission and Member States to mitigate the worst consequences of COVID-19 through European and national support, with the allocation of public money, e.g. through SURE, being linkused to a ban on shedding existing jobprotect existing jobs and prevent redundancies, among other goals;
Amendment 438 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Proposes to actively counter potential high unemployment through European and national training and employment programmes and to invest in new jobs, future-oriented infrastructure, digital change and ‘green transition’.;