Activities of Marian HARKIN related to 2016/2017(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Creating labour market conditions favourable for work-life balance (A8-0253/2016 - Tatjana Ždanoka, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė)
Amendments (28)
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 41 a (new)
Citation 41 a (new)
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas achieving a genuine work- life balance requires not only comprehensive policies including measures for reconciling work, caring for and spending time with family, and time for leisure and personal development, but above all a cultural shift in society, changing its gender attitudes so that work and care are more evenly shared between men and women; Whereas in 2014, the EU 28 employment rate for men (aged 20-64) was 75% while it reached only 63,5% for women, despite the fact that women are better educated; Whereas promoting women's participation in the labour market and their economic independence is crucial for meeting the Europe 2020 headline target (75% of the population aged 20-64 employed by 2020), counteracting the shrinking of the working age population in most European Member States, and boosting growth; whereas GDP per capita losses attributable to gender gaps in the labour market have been estimated at up to 10 percent in Europe; whereas the number of women in the workforce is even lower when considering employment rates in full-time equivalents since the share of part-time employment among women is very high in some Member States, due to constraints such as the shortage of care services and unequal division of unpaid work, or low financial incentives to take up full-time work;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas access to childcare services for young children is the mainan important factor influencing the participation of women in the labour market; whereas only 11 Member States have met the first Barcelona target (childcare available for at least 90 % of children between the ages of 3 and the mandatory school age) and only 10 Member States have achieved the second target (at least 33 % of children under three years)19 ; __________________ 19 Progress report on the Barcelona objectives of 29 May 2013 entitled ‘The development of childcare facilities for young children in Europe with a view to sustainable and inclusive growth’ (COM(2013)0322).
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. Whereas Member States and social partners together have the responsibility to find solutions and possibilities to improve the work/life balance;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the EU is facing unprecedented demographic challenges – an ageing populationrising life expectancy, lower birth rates, changing family structuresnew forms of relation-building and (co)habitation and migration; is concerned that austerity measures have had a negative impact on the sustainability of public finances needed for work-life balance policies and services that foster demographic renewal;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s approach to work-life balance policies as key in addressing socio-economic challenges; calls on the European Social Partners to come forward with an agreement on a comprehensive package of legislative and non-legislative measures regarding the reconciliation of professional, private and family life; calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for such a package in the context of the announced European pillar of social rights should it not be possible for an agreement between the social partners to be reached;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to step up protection against discrimination and unlawful dismissal related to work-life balance and to ensure access to justice and legal action; Calls in this sense on the European Commission to propose policies to improve enforcement of antidiscrimination measures in the workplace, including increasing the awareness of legal rights to equal treatment by conducting information campaigns, reversal of the burden of proof (Zaborska report) and empowering national equality bodies to conduct formal investigations on their own initiative of equality issues and help potential victims of discrimination;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the importance of incorporating a lifecycle approach in work- life balance policies in order to ensure that everyone is supported at different times throughout their life and can actively participate in the labour market and in society as a whole; Calls on the Member States to improve the collection and availability of updated data on indicators on gender equality with a view of analysing and monitoring these for the Country Specific Reports;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Highlights that lack of comparable, comprehensive, reliable and regularly updated equality data makes it more difficult to prove the existence of discrimination, particularly indirect discrimination; Calls on the Member States to collect equality data in a systematic way and with the involvement of national equality bodies and national courts; calls on the Commission to take initiatives to further promote such data collection by means of a Recommendation to Member States, and by tasking Eurostat with the development of consultations aiming at mainstreaming data disaggregation on all discrimination grounds in European Social Surveys' indicators; Calls on the Commission to continue to cooperate with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to improve the quantity and quality of sex- disaggregated data in a systematic way;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Notes the important role of the national equality bodies in the implementation of the Employment Equality Directive, contributing to awareness raising and data collection, staying in touch with social partners and other stakeholders, addressing underreporting and making complaint processes more accessible; calls for the role of the national equality bodies to be strengthened, and their capacities enhanced, including through the provision of adequate funding;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Highlights that the Employment Equality Directive mentions the disproportionate impact of multiple discrimination in the fields of employment & occupation on women; recommends that national, regional and local authorities, law enforcement bodies, including labour inspectors, national equality bodies and civil society organisations, increase their monitoring of the intersectionality between gender and other grounds in cases of discrimination and in practices;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Considers it necessary that adequate training on non-discrimination legislation in employment and case-law is provided for employees of national, regional and local authorities and law enforcement bodies and labour inspectors; believes that such training is also of critical importance for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police force;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6e. Calls on the Commission to continue to work with EIGE to support further research on gender-relevant issues, including on women and men's perceptions of their role in the labour market and of the sharing of activities within the household, as well as their perceptions of working conditions and factors that limit opportunities in the labour market in EU-28 Member States;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6f. Calls on the Commission to regularly review the progress achieved on critical areas of concern as identified in the Beijing Platform for Action for which indicators have already been developed by EIGE, taking the outcomes of these reviews into account in the Commission's assessment of gender equality in the EU;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to address gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work and to promote an equal sharing of responsibilities and costs for children and care for dependants between women, men and society as a whole;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Urges the Commission to adopt a post-2015 Gender Equality Strategy and to implement it through the European Semester, including the Annual Growth Survey and the country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to put in place proactive policies designed to support women entering, returning to and staying in the labour market with stustainable and quality employment;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve the social partners and civil society in gender equality policies; stresses the importance of collective agreements in combating discrimination and promoting gender equality between women and men at work, and of research and exchanges of good practices;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Strongly regrets that the Commission withdrew the revision of the Maternity Leave Directive and calls as a matter of urgency for it to return with an ambitious proposalWelcomes in the Commission's work programme 2016 particularly the fact that "special attention will be paid to work-life balance of working families, with a view to increasing women's participation in the labour market"; expects by the end of the year an initiative of legislative and non legislative proposals in this respect, guided by the principle of better regulation as part of the Commission Working Programme 2017; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women are paid for the duration of maternity leave; stresses that maternity leave must be accompanied by effective measures protecting the rights of pregnant and new mothers, reflecting the recommendations of the World Health Organisation21 ; __________________ 21 http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en /
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 – point 1
Paragraph 15 – point 1
(1) a paternity leave directive with a minimum of a two-week compulsory fully paid leave;
Amendment 345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Member States to effectively implement the Barcelona targets by 2020 and to endorse the 2014 quality framework on early childhood education and care; Recalls that investing in social infrastructure ,such as child care, does not only generate considerable employment effects, but also significant additional income for the public sector in employment taxes and savings in respect of unemployment insurance; believes that adequate child care should be available and affordable also to allow parents to achieve educational goals;
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls for the introduction of targets on care for elderly and other dependants, with monitoring tools within the European Semester; calls on Eurostat and Eurofound to collect relevant data and to carry out studion Eurostat and Eurofound to collect relevant data and to carry out studies on the basis of which the Commission and the Member States are to establish qualitative standards for all care services;
Amendment 373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Points out the high levels of working poor throughout Europe, with some people having to work more and longer, even combining several jobs, in order to earn a decent income; calls on the Member States and social partners to develop measures ensuring adequate wages for all workers, and to close the gender pay gap;
Amendment 428 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Welcomes the Commission's launch of a public consultation on the European Pillar of Social Rights to gather views and feedback on a number of essential principles to support well- functioning and fair labour markets and welfare systems within the euro area;
Amendment 438 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Underlines that leisure inequality and unequal sharing of responsibilities between women and men hascan have an impact on women’s personal development, learning of new skills and languages, and participation in social, political, cultural and community life;
Amendment 445 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 463 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Member States to put in place adequate income schemes in line with national practices and traditions to enable people to live a life in dignity, to support full participation in society and to ensure independence throughout the life cycle;