25 Amendments of Jean-Luc BENNAHMIAS related to 2011/2052(INI)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the most vulnerable groups have been those most severely affected by the financial, economic and social crisis and the associated austerity measures,
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas 17% of the EU population live below the poverty threshold, and 8% of Europeans live in conditions of severe material deprivation and are thus unable to afford even the most basic necessities which the observance of human rights would demand,
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas poverty can be classed as a violation of human rights and is thus proof of the effort still needed to achieve the aims set out in Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union,
Amendment A #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Ccalls on the Commission to involve civil society at national and European level and to make discussions with people living in poverty a formal part of the annual convention on povertyboost the involvement in the development of a European strategy at all levels of governance (European, national, regional and local) of organised civil society and of all stakeholders, such as NGOs, social economy organisations, service providers, experts in social innovation and the social partners, as well as people living in poverty themselves, in partnership with the associations in which they freely express their opinions and which have acquired experience and knowledge, particularly through the development of national platforms against poverty and social exclusion in each Member State; calls on the Commission to enhance cooperation between local, regional and national authorities and European Institutions, particularly the European Parliament; believes that the synergies should concern all stakeholders, including SMEs and entrepreneurs; calls for discussions with people living in poverty and social exclusion to be institutionalised, and to be extended at national level, and for their participation and contribution to be made a formal and central part of the annual convention on poverty and social exclusion, and calls for appropriate and regular follow-up of the recommendations so developed;
Amendment B #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls for poverty awareness seminars to be organised in the European institutions and Member State governments by organisations which have specific experience of combating poverty and for experiments in joint training on social and exclusion issues to be made, bringing together European officials and people with hands-on experience of combating poverty;
Amendment C #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for regular, critical monitoring ofthe establishment of a regular, critical evaluation mechanism, involving the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, based on precise indicators at national and European level, by which the multiple dimensions of poverty can be evaluated and the Member States’ progress, by gender and age, towards achieving the poverty reduction target, and towards breaking this target down into sub-targets, can be measured, in view of the fact that the lack of a precise definition of poverty leaves too much leeway for the Member States, to break this target down into sub-targets; hus risking aberrant interpretations; calls on the Commission to improve national and European indicators relating to the comparability of national statistics on the poverty of vulnerable people and to promote, with Eurostat, the production of more precise statistics within a comprehensive scoreboard on poverty and social exclusion by means of which it will be possible to track the number of people below the 50% and 40% levels of median income and on this basis to conduct an annual evaluation of the situations of poverty in the EU, the statistical approach of which should be supplemented by a qualitative and participatory approach; calls on the Commission to ensure the policies implemented are beneficial to all and not just to those close to the poverty threshold;
Amendment E #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to identify more precisely the budget lines relevant to the Platform and the level of appropriations allocated to them, particularly as regards the ESF and its contribution to this flagship initiative through the funding of political priorities such as preventing school drop-out and addressing poverty among children, women, older people and migrant workers; calls on the Commission to set out its proposals on combating poverty and social exclusion in the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework in order to ensure adequate funding of the initiatives launched to combat poverty and social exclusion; calls on the Commission to identify the financial support needed for agreed thematic priorities and to urge Member States to support financially the participation of civil society at national level in National Reform Programmes, the Flagship Platform and National Strategies for social protection and social inclusion; recommends pressing ahead with, and providing increased budgetary funding for, the European programmes which can help combat the various aspects of social exclusion, poverty and social and economic inequality, including health inequality (the research Framework Programme, the Progress programme, etc.);
Amendment FF #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas employmentgrowth and employment, even in a decent job, alone isare not sufficient to lift people out of poverty, and whereas the problem of the working poor has gained increasing recognition in recent years, and whereas the segmentation of the labour market has increased, working and living conditions have very much worsened, particularly during the financial crisis, and work has become much less secure – a trend which must be combated; whereas the problem of the working poor has gained increasing recognition in recent years but is not yet being addressed to an extent commensurate with the challenges it represents for our societies; whereas the number of the working poor has grown considerably in recent years, with 8% of the working population suffering in-work poverty and where 22% of those at risk of poverty are in work1; whereas the fact of people having access to decent, egalitarian working conditions constitutes an advance in terms of reducing poverty and social exclusion among families and people living alone, __________________ 1 EUROSTAT (2009), SPC Report: SPC Assessment of the social dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy (10 Feb. 2011)
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas employment alone is not sufficient to lift people out of poverty, and whereas the problemnumber of the working poor has gainedrown considerably in recent years and the increasing precognition in recent yearsvalence of insecure working conditions should be combated,
Amendment L #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Supports the creation of decent jobs through vocationalConsiders that a full and effective way out of poverty can only be found if the appropriate strengthening of social protection instruments is accompanied by significant reinforcement of education and training paths at every level; supports the development of more inclusive education systems to tackle the problem of students dropping out and enable young people from disadvantaged social groups to reach a higher level of education, with a view to countering the intergenerational transmission of poverty; supports access to validation of acquired experience and life-long training, and the provision of personalised job-seeking assistance, in particular for disadvantaged groups; s a means of reducing poverty by securing access to employment, in particular for disadvantaged groups, to help them to access decent jobs; regards it as essential, therefore, for life-long learning programmes to be implemented properly and developed, and for Member States to cooperate in the fields of education and vocational training and personalised job-seeking assistance, and stresses that more measures of this kind must be taken to assist the most vulnerable sectors of the population; recommends the development of an EU strategy to tackle in-work poverty and create quality jobs, agreeing principles for quality work;
Amendment MM #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas unemployment among young people, which is already higher than for other age groups, has exploded in the EU since the crisis and now runs at over 20% reaching a critical level in all Member States, which puts young people at risk of falling into poverty from a very early age; whereas this alarming situation calls for urgent political, economic and social responses and will, in combination with demographic changes, aggravate skills shortages; having regard to the vital role that vocational training can play in helping young people and low skilled workers to join the labour market; whereas, however, getting a job does not always mean escaping poverty, and whereas young people are especially susceptible to falling into the category of working poor,
Amendment R #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to initiate a horizontal anti-discrimination directive with a view to further eradicating discrimination; Urges the Member States to agree and adopt as soon as possible the proposal for a Council directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (COM(2008)0426); calls on the Commission to continue to support the overcoming of technical difficulties within the Council in order to ensure a swift agreement is reached, and to close gaps in the existing anti-discrimination legislation which is currently not covering all relevant aspects, with a view to further eradicating discrimination, including social discrimination; Note: A citation referring to the Kosa report will be added by oral amendment.
Amendment S #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the Commission’s desire to clarify the legal framework applicable to social economy enterprises so that there are no obstacles hindering their contribution to poverty reduction; , through various initiatives, to take more account of the role of social economy actors – as defined in Parliament’s resolution of 19 February 2009 on the social economy – in particular by clarifying the legal framework applicable to social economy enterprises (for mutual societies, foundations and cooperatives) so that there are no obstacles hindering their making a full contribution, with legal certainty, to reducing poverty and social exclusion by proposing innovative and sustainable responses to citizens’ needs, while stressing that the social economy is not limited to this scope of activities; is concerned, however, about the lack of reference to the Statute for a European association, given that the not-for-profit sector is a major actor in the fight against poverty; stresses, however, that the measures currently proposed to promote the social economy, in particular associations and mutual societies, do not adequately reflect its potential contribution to the policy to combat poverty and social exclusion, the economy and the European social model and, more generally, do not match its role in responding to the consequences of the economic and social crisis; stresses, in particular, its demands and expectations in relation to the recognition of SSGI, as reaffirmed in the resolution of the European Parliament on the future of social services of general interest adopted on 5 June 2011 (A7-0239/2011); notes the proposals for a revision of the Community provisions on public procurement procedures and state aid, and recalls its demand for them to be adapted to the specific nature of the tasks of SSGIs and to the way in which they are organised; supports the creation of decent jobs and the provision of personalised job-seeking assistance via specialised training and placement agencies and social economy enterprises in view of their expertise in helping disadvantaged persons enter employment; reiterates its call for a framework directive on the quality and accessibility of social services of general interest, in particular in the areas of health, education, public transport, energy, water and communication; Note: A citation referring to the De Rossa report will be added by oral amendment, and amendment 312 will be voted on outside the compromise.
Amendment Z #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the most vulnerable groups have been those most severely affected by the crisis and the associated austerity measures, 116 million people in the European Union are at risk of poverty and 42 million (i.e. 8%) live ‘in conditions of severe material deprivation and can not afford a number of necessities considered essential in order to live a decent life in Europe’1; whereas poverty is the unacceptable reflection of an uneven distribution of wealth, income and resources in a prosperous European economy; whereas the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and disabled people, have been those most severely affected by the financial, economic and social crisis and the austerity measures currently being taken in the EU in the context of the ‘Euro Plus Pact’ and the ‘governance package’, which could worsen the situation for these groups and put at risk of unemployment, economic insecurity or poverty millions of people who were still managing to live on, and meet their basic needs from, their wages or retirement pension, notably as a result of cuts in public service and social assistance budgets; whereas applying tougher conditions and penalties in social activation policies in response to the crisis aggravates the difficulties faced by the most vulnerable people at a time when few decent jobs are on offer; whereas the gap between rich and poor is getting ever wider as the crisis continues; __________________ 1 European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion (COM(2010)758 final).
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas family policies are an essential part of policies to address poverty and social exclusion ,
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas unemployment among young people, which is already higher than for other age groups, has exploded in the EU since the crisis, reaching a critical level in all Member States; whereas this alarming situation calls for urgent political, economic and social responses,
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to involve civil society, in particular NGOs, social economy organisations and the social partners, at national and European level and to make discussions with people living in poverty a formal part of the annual convention on poverty; believes that the synergies should concern all stakeholders, including SMEs and entrepreneurs;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls for poverty awareness seminars to be organised in the European institutions and Member State governments by organisations which have specific experience of combating poverty;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for regular, critical monitoring of, based on precise indicators at national and European level, by which the multiple dimensions of poverty can be evaluated and the Member States’ progress towards achieving the poverty reduction target can be measured, and for the Member States to break this target down into sub-targets; calls on the Commission to promote, with Eurostat, the production of more precise and more regular statistics and on this basis to conduct an annual evaluation of the situations of poverty in the EU;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to identify the budget lines relevant to the Platform in order to ensure adequate funding of the initiatives launched to combat poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for the Platform to be geared towards asserting the rights which enable everyone to live in dignity, particularly in the field of employment, housing, health care, social security and adequate living standards, justice, education, training and culture, and the protection of families and children;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Supports the creation o f decent jobs through vocational training and the provision of personalised job-seeking assistance, in particular for disadvantaged groups; stresses the importance of education, initial and on-going training, apprenticeships and vocational training as a means of reducing poverty by securing access to employment; regards the provision of personalised job-seeking assistance as essential, and stresses that more measures of this kind must be taken to assist the most vulnerable sectors of the population;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to initiate a horizontal anti-discrimination directive with a view to further eradicating discrimination, including social discrimination;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the Commission’s desire to clarify the legal framework applicable to social economy enterprises, which are central actors in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, so that there are no obstacles hindering their contribution to poverty reductionsocial progress in the EU;
Amendment 392 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Calls for the establishment of a mechanism to assess the work of the European Platform Against Poverty and Social Exclusion on a regular basis in order to improve the Platform’s work and effectiveness;