Activities of Sara MATTHIEU related to 2022/2170(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Job creation – the just transition and impact investments (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on job creation – the just transition and impact investments
Amendments (47)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
– having regard to the Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement directive and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas urgent action to mitigate climate change is needed across all sectors in order to reduce and control its short, medium and long-term impact on economy, employment, environment, well- being, and health;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the green transition will greatly expand economic activities related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and the circular economy, while transforming other economic activities; whereas this will add up to 2 million new jobs in the EU in the short to medium term, and up to 10 million more as the transition advances; whereas the circular economy can contribute to the creation of around 700,000 jobs in the EU alone by 2030; whereas reuse is a labour-intensive circular activity, whereby it is estimated that social enterprises active in reuse create approximately 70 jobs per 1,000 tonnes of materials collected;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas climate change comes with increased job insecurity, precarious work, and major health and safety hazards for workers, especially in agriculture, food processing, and the hospitality sector;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas a just transition should involve seizing the opportunity to create quality jobs, tackle discrimination at work and raise labour standards; wheres labour shortages are particularly prevalent in sectors with poor job quality and in sectors with gender segregation;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan foresees that at least 78% of the population aged 20 to 64 should be in employment by 2030, and at least 60% of all adults should participate in training every year;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the EU Public Procurement Directive did not lead to sufficient implementation of social and environmental criteria in tendering procedures; whereas more incentives for public purchases and investments in inclusive local employment and effective circular solutions in the reuse, repair and recycling sectors are needed, including via capacity building measures for public procurers to facilitate access to tendering opportunities by social enterprises active in the circular economy; whereas strengthening the capacity of public administrations at all levels is crucial for the effective absorption of EU funds and the effective implementation of environmental and climate legislation, and comes with a significant job creation potential;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the circular economy provides a unique opportunity to reinvigorate manufacturing industries both through reshoring of production and through strategies such as remanufacturing, refurbishing, repairing and more;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas jobs and activities in the field of healthcare, education and care, including childcare and long-term care, to sustain the rest of the economy in its greening pathway; whereas these jobs are also indispensable in light of the new health threats related to climate change and pollution;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas Social partners involvement in the green transition of the labour market will be a decisive step, as the feedback from European, national and local trade unions and employers' organizations is key to anticipate change; whereas sectoral social dialogue has been weakened in some regions, often with foreign employers actively pursuing decentralized collective bargaining; whereas social partners participations and collective agreement coverage should be promoted and strengthened, especially in new and emerging sectors;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the job potential of the green transition is also connected to sustainable economic activities such as energy renovation, repair, reuse and organic farming being more labour- intensive than the activities they replace;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that the ecological transition towards a regional and EU- based economy has the potential to improve the capacity for workers to negotiate their terms of employment, and to contribute to upward social convergence across the Union;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Highlights that 1.4 million additional low- and medium skilled jobs, as well as 450,000 high-skilled jobs, will be created as a result of increased investments in building renovation and reduced energy consumption of fossil fuels for heating;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Emphasises the employment potential of the circular economy, which can contribute to the creation of around 700,000 jobs in the EU alone by 2030; recalls that for the same volume of waste, circular activities such as recycling generate over 50 times as many jobs as landfills and incineration, while repair creates more than 200;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Notes that a vast proportion of workers in agriculture still face challenging working and housing conditions, particularly seasonal and migrant workers; stresses the need to ensure that the green transition becomes an opportunity for agro-food workers in Europe to make the sector greener while tackling discrimination at work, promoting gender equality, and workplace democracy; notes that sustainable farming is estimated to create 20% more jobs than currently, as sustainable farming practises such as mechanical weeding require additional labour; calls for a shift away from input-intensive farming toward nature and knowledge- intensive techniques;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that the green transition of the job market should go hand in hand with upward convergence towards better working conditions and attractive career pathsStresses that the transition must benefit both existing workers and displaced workers who transition to new jobs or undergo significant changes in their work tasks, by ensuring adequate working conditions for all; emphasises that the green transition of the job market should go hand in hand with upward convergence towards better working conditions and attractive career paths; including stronger collective bargaining, decent wages, and good physical and mental health, not least through health and safety at work; recalls in this context the importance of work-life balance and the right to disconnect;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates its call that EU funding, including State aid, should be conditional on public policy objectives, in particular social requirements; underlines that public authorities should lead by example and set social criteria in public procurement; calls to revise the Public Procurement Directive to ensure that benefiting companies support collective bargaining, high-quality jobs, high-quality apprenticeships, decrecalls that making the allocation of EU and national public funds as well as fiscal benefits conditional to the respect of decent working conditions and collective agreements is an effective way to raise labour standards and tackle social dumping; stresses that companies must refrain from relocating their activities outside the EU as well as from distributing dividend payments and equal pay and trainingshare buy-backs whenever they have benefited from public funds;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Underlines that public authorities should lead by example and set social criteria as part of their technical specifications and award criteria in public procurement; regrets that under the current framework, while possibility is given to contracting authorities to value social criteria in their public procurement, the majority of contracts awarded are based on lowest-price criterion only; calls therefore to revise the public procurement Directive to ensure that benefitting companies support collective bargaining, high-quality jobs, high-quality apprenticeships, decent and equal pay, and training;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls that the EU health and safety strategy should take into account specific risks in new sectors and incorporate risks deriving from climate change and environmental degradation; calls for an EU directive on maximum working temperatures, including reduction of working time and longer breaks above certain temperatures, obligation to set up effective ventilation systems for indoor working, mandatory protective equipment, and compensation for working hours lost due to extreme weather events;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance of involving young people in transition planning; calls on the Member States to facilitate access for young people to paid, quality and inclusive traineeships and apprenticeships; condemns the practice of unpaid internships as a form of exploitation of young workers, and a violation of their rights; calls on the Commission and the Member States, in collaboration with Parliament, and respecting the principle of subsidiarity, to propose a common legal framework to ensure fair remuneration for traineeships and apprenticeships in order to avoid exploitative practices;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises that gender equality should become an integral part of green economy strategies; stresses that a just transition focusing solely on most polluting sectors in specific regions will mainly benefit male workers and reinforce existing gender segregation and inequalities; recalls that a green economy without the inclusion of gender equality is inconsistent with the ILO’s decent work agenda; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take all measures to ensure that pre-existing gender inequalities are not transferred to the emerging green economy;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses the important role of work time reduction in the just transition, while maintaining full wages, to increase wellbeing, work-life balance, productivity, to free up time for training and re-skilling activities, and to reflect the need for more rest in the context of the increased labour intensity expected in certain new jobs; calls for a revision of the Working Time Directive toward a 32-hour work week and to ensure that Member States cannot opt out of the maximum 48 hours working week limit; calls on Member States to implement country-wide reductions of working hours but let social partners decide how the reduction should be organised, also to consider the variety of needs of different workers;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the need to offer education and training in areas linked to skills needs that are identified in labour markets and future-oriented sectors to make sure that the labour market is ready for the green transition; adds that more and better skills, hard and soft skills, knowledge and qualifications, whether acquired in formal, non-formal or informal settings, open up new opportunities and empower individuals to participate fully 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 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls that the creation of good- quality jobs and implementation of retention strategies are the best way to attract a skilled workforce and incentivise employers to invest in their worker; highlights that recruitment difficulties and labour shortages are particularly prevalent in sectors with challenging working conditions and poor job quality;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights the acute need for more support towards lifelong training and professional reorientation in line with the 2030 EU target of at least 60 % of all adults taking training every year; highlights that the EU average is only at 45.5%, with those most in need of training being those getting the least training opportunities through their employers; Stresses that every worker must have an individual right to education, employee training and lifelong learning, which should be reflected in all EU and national environmental policies, as well in company mitigation and adaptation strategies; highlights the fact that the right to training should include paid educational leave;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls for a Directive on life-long learning to integrate common life-long learning provisions across the Union, complemented by collective agreements negotiated at sectoral level; calls for such learning provisions to facilitate the acquisition and strengthening of transversal competences, beyond green, sector-specific skills, to facilitate the adaptation and transfer of skills and/or competences from one industry to another, allowing learners to be mobile and adaptable to the every-changing situation on the labour market and beyond; calls for the inclusion of education and training providers which develop competences in informal and non-formal learning environments, so that the pedagogical practices are adapted to the different types of learners and their specific needs;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the role of social dialogue, collective bargaining and social partners in designing national, sectoral and company- specific skills for quality job strategies and training; emphasises that workers should be involved in determining the skills profiles that will be needed to plan the transition of the workforce, and shaping education and training systems to deliver the necessary skills; calls on public and private authorities to closely engage with the social partners, civil society, education and training providers, labour market bodies, learners, and representatives of organisations or bodies active in the field of skills, education, training, and lifelong learning;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States to integrate sustainable development, environmental competences and skills into training and education systems; calls for a swift adoption of the proposed Council Recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that training should be of a good enough quality and lead to a qualification that is validated through transparent and clear recognition and certification systems which allow for comparability; stresses that training should be of a good enough quality and lead to a qualification that is validated through transparent and clear recognition and certification systems which allow for comparability; calls on the Union and Member States to promote and continue the implementation of tools and instruments for the increased transparency of qualifications, including qualifications awarded outside the Union, and for the validation of non-formal and informal learning;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to include for all environmental legislation a socio- economic impact assessment taking into consideration jobs, skills and working conditions; stresses that such impact assessment is not meant to lower the ambition of any climate law, but to make it possible to identify the needs in term of job profiles and the necessary skills and qualifications, on the basis of which training, upskilling, and reskilling plans can be developed, as well as any additional measures for health and safety at work; stresses that all environmental policies with a potential impact on employment and working conditions should go through social partners consultation according to Article 154 TFEU, as for social policy initiatives; calls on the Commission to reflect the findings of such impact assessments in its sectoral transition pathways;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for a revision of the Energy Union Governance Regulation in order to update the national energy and climate plans with just transition objectives, by identifying the social challenges and opportunities expected from the transition to net zero as well as the detailed measures and resources that will be necessary to manage them;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls for the creation of a European Just Transition Observatory, with the involvement of sectoral social partners, to monitor the implementation of all policies and measures related to the European Green Deal on employment, quality jobs, and working conditions;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Highlights the importance of the Member States in promoting sectoral social dialogue and collective bargaining, especially in newly emerging green industries, and also in ensuring the inclusion of small and medium-sized businesses including social economy enterprises; stresses that the Minimum Wage Directive represents a great opportunity to strengthen collective bargaining and the presence of trade unions in emerging sectors;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls for mandatory just transition plans to be adopted by all companies affected by the green transition, negotiated with trade unions and worker representatives; stresses that such plans should ensure that companies’ operations and value chains are compatible with the Green Deal targets and should also specify the accompanying social measures aimed at promoting employment and quality jobs, including addressing strategic jobs and skills planning and related training policies; highlights that such plans should include the changes in job requirements, including job losses and new jobs created, and related skill requirements; calls on public authorities to use this information to design green labour market policies designed to proactively match potential, new and existing workers to the jobs expected;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls for a major shift in the EU from taxing wages to taxing wealth and highly polluting activities in order to incentivise job creation, including in the circular economy, and reduce inequalities;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Highlights the importance of strong safety nets to complement job creation measures and ensure that no one is left behind, including adequate minimum income support, adequate unemployment benefits and minimum wages; calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a revised permanent SURE instrument to support national unemployment schemes in the context of the transition; stresses that an EU directive on adequate minimum income could contribute to the goal of reducing poverty by at least half in all Member States by 2030 and ensuring the integration of people absent from the labour market;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Notes with concern that the Youth Guarantee has so far not fully reached its goals and calls for reinforced measures, including making full use of the opportunities provided by the ESF+, to promote employment through active interventions for labour market integration and the creation of sustainable entry-level positions, to be not replaced by traineeships;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recognises the importance of impact investing in providing finance to organisations addressing social and environmental needs with the explicit expectation of a measurable social and environmental return, including on employment and job quality; emphasises the positive effect that impact investing could have on job creation in the context of the just transition; regrets the lack of an EU-wide definition of “impact investment” and the connected risk of green and social washing; calls for a definition of impact investment;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls for the swift creation of a European sovereignty fund with newly allocated EU money to mobilise large-scale investments in green technology; stresses the added value of such new joint instrument to support fiscally constrained member states, protect the single market from unfair subsidy races, and coordinate EU industrial policy; regrets the lack of ambition of the Commission proposal on the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, which boils down to a reshuffle of existing funds with little newly allocated EU money, cementing a national and state-aid centred approach to industrial policy in Europe;
Amendment 374 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls for an expansion in size and thematic scope of the Just Transition Fund; with the inclusion of other sectors and a more holistic approach to facilitate the achievement of EU’s climate goals and the European Pillar of Social Rights’ objectives;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Is concerned about the implications of higher interest rates for green investments and the related potential for job creation in sustainable sectors; stresses that rate rises will likely disincentivise new green investments that have large upfront costs and thus face higher funding costs, when compared to fossil fuel alternatives with relatively low upfront costs; calls on the ECB to assess the possibility of applying differentiated rates to support green investments and disincentivise brown investments;
Amendment 383 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Calls on the Commission to continue monitoring and fostering investment and spending on quality job creation within NextGenerationEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the European Social Fund Plus and to ensure that the European Parliament remains closely involved; recalls the opportunity provided by the InvestEU social investment and skills window to generate social impact investments;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Emphasizes that investments in young people are known to have a positive impact on the employment and participation of young people in society and produce measurable social and financial returns on the funds invested, fostering economic development while achieving social goals; calls on the Member States to ensure complementarity between measures under the RRF and other EU programmes such as the reinforced Youth Guarantee, the European Child Guarantee and national investment and measures to promote skills, education, training and labour market integration in compliance with their own needs and specific national conditions;