Activities of Marian HARKIN related to 2015/0051(NLE)
Plenary speeches (1)
Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (A8-0205/2015 - Laura Agea)
Amendments (16)
Amendment 90 #
Recital 8
(8) Action in line with the guidelines is an important contribution to reaching the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy. The outcome of the 2014 public consultation on the Europe 2020 Strategy clearly showed how the employment, poverty, social exclusion and education targets of the Strategy are still extremely important and highly relevant. The guidelines constitute an integrated set of European and national policies, which Member States and the Union should implement in order to achieve the positive spill-over effects of coordinated structural reforms, an appropriate overall economic policy mix and a more consistent contribution from European policies to the Europe 2020 strategy’'s objectives.
Amendment 107 #
Annex 1 – section 1 – paragraph 1
Member States should facilitate sustainable job creation, reduce barriers for business to hire people, promote entrepreneurship and in particular support the creation and growth of small and medium enterprises in order to increase the employment rate of women and men. Member States should also actively promote white and green sector jobs, the social economy and foster social innovation.
Amendment 120 #
Annex 1 – section 1 – paragraph 2
Amendment 125 #
Annex 1 – section 1 – paragraph 3
Member States should, together with the social partners, encourage wage-setting mechanisms allowing for a responsiveness of wages to productivity developments. In this respect, differences in skills and local labour market conditions as well as divergences in economic performance across regions, sectors and companies should be taken into account. When setting minimum wages, Member States and social partners should ensure their adequacy and consider their impact on in- work poverty, job creation and competitiveness.
Amendment 133 #
Annex 1 – section 2 – paragraph 1
Member States should promote productivity and employability throughby supporting an appropriate supply of relevant knowledge and skills. Member States should make the necessary investments in education and vocational training systems while improving their effectiveness and efficiency to raise the skill level of the workforce, allowing it to better anticipate and meet the rapidly changing needs of dynamic labour markets in an increasingly digital economy. Member States should devise strategies to address the concern that unless the low demand driving high unemployment is reversed it will foster and perpetuate skill mismatch and skill obsolescence through over qualification and unemployment which, eventually, will lead to a lack of skills. Member States should step up efforts to improve access to quality adult learning for all and implement active ageing strategies to enable longer working lives.
Amendment 145 #
Annex 1 – section 2 – paragraph 2
High unemployment should be tackled and long-term unemployment prevented. The number of long-term unemployed should be significantly reduced by means of comprehensive and mutually reinforcing strategies, including the provision of specificrsonalised active support to long-term unemployed to return to the labour market. The yYouth unemployment needs to be comprehensively addressed, including by equipping the relevant institutions with the necessary means to fully and consistently implement their national Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans and by investing in sectors that have the potential for significant job creation.
Amendment 152 #
Annex 1 – section 2 – paragraph 3
Structural weaknesses in education and training systems should be addressed to ensure quality learning outcomes and prevent and tackle early school leaving. Member States should increase educational attainment and consider, set up and improve dual learning systems where appropriate and upgradinge professional training while at the same time increase opportunities. Member States should either upgrade existing frameworks such as Europass or create a qualification framework for recognising and validating skills acquired outside the formal education system, especially those acquired through non-formal and informal learning.
Amendment 159 #
Annex 1 – section 2 – paragraph 4
Barriers to labour market participation should be reduced, especially for women, older workers, young people, thepersons with a disabledility and legal migrants and other people that face discrimination or exclusion. Gender equality including equal pay must be ensured in the labour market as well asby means of access to affordable quality early childhood education and care as well as the flexibility necessary to prevent the exclusion of those with breaks in their careers due to family responsibilities such as family carers.
Amendment 183 #
Annex 1 – section 3 – paragraph 1
Member States should reduce labour market segmentation. Employment protection rules and institutions should provide a suitable environment for recruitment while offering adequate levels of protection to those in employment and those seeking employment or employed on temporary, part-time or atypical contracts or independent work contracts. Quality employment should be ensured in terms of socio-economic security, education and training opportunities, working conditions (including health and safety), decent wages and work-life balance.
Amendment 192 #
Annex 1 – section 3 – paragraph 2
Member States should closely involve National Parliaments and, social partners and civil society organisations when relevant, in the design and implementation of relevant reforms and policies, in line with national practices, while supporting the improvement of the functioning and effectiveness of social dialogue at national level.
Amendment 200 #
Annex 1 – section 3 – paragraph 3
Member States should strengthen active labour market policies by increasing their targeting, outreach, coverage and interplay with passive measures. These policies should aim at improving labour market access and matching and support sustainable transitions on the labour market, with public employment services delivering individualised support and implementing performance measurement systems. Member States should also ensure that their social protection systems effectively activate and enable those who can participate in the labour market, protect those (temporarily) excluded from the labour markets and/or unable to participate in it, and prepare individuals for potential risks, by investing in human capital Member States should promote inclusive labour markets open to all and also put in place effective anti-discrimination measures.
Amendment 202 #
Annex 1 – section 3 – paragraph 4
Mobility of workers should be ensurpromoted with an aim of exploiting the full potential of the European labour market, including by enhancing the portability of pensions and the recognition of qualifications. Member States should at the same time guard against abuses of the existing rules.
Amendment 219 #
Annex 1 – section 4 – paragraph 1
Member States should modernise their social protection systems to provide effective, efficient, and adequate protection throughout all stages of an individual’'s life, ensuring fairnesssocial inclusion and addressing inequalities. There is a need for simplified and better targeted social policies complemented by affordable quality childcare and education, training and job assistance, housing support and accessible health care, access to basic services such as bank account and Internet and for action to prevent early school leaving and, fight poverty and social exclusion including extreme forms of poverty like homelessness.
Amendment 225 #
Annex 1 – section 4 – paragraph 2
For that purpose a variety of instruments should be used in a complementary manner, including labour activation enabling services and income support, targeted at individual needs. Social protection systems should be designed in a way that facilitate take up of all persons entitled, support investment in human capital, and help prevent, reduce and protect against poverty and social exclusion.
Amendment 238 #
Annex 1 – section 4 – paragraph 3
The pension systems should be reformed in order to secure their sustainability and adequacy for women and men in a context of increasing longevity and demographic change, including by linking statutory retirement ages to life expectancy, by increasing effective retirement ages, and by developing complementary retirement savings and by ensuring that workers who take time out of their employment to care for a family member have the opportunity to build up pension credits.
Amendment 242 #
Annex 1 – section 4 – paragraph 4
Member States should improve the accessibility, affordability, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare and long term care systems, while safeguarding fiscal sustainability.