77 Amendments of María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS related to 2021/2253(INI)
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/522 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
— having regard to the OECD and European Commission joint “State of health” initiative;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 c (new)
Citation 16 c (new)
— having regard to the International Labour Organization report of 7 March 2022, entitled “Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work”,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 d (new)
Citation 16 d (new)
— having regard to the study about policies for long term carers of November 2021 provided by the European Parliament Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 a (new)
Citation 23 a (new)
— having regard to the opinion of the Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health on supporting mental health of health workforce and other essential workers of 23 June 2021,
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 33 a (new)
Citation 33 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission's communication "A Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas" of 2021,
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 34 a (new)
Citation 34 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2022 on the EU Gender Action Plan III,
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EPSR Action Plan sets out concrete initiatives for the implementation of principles that are essential for building a stronger social Europe for just transitions and recovery, including one specifically on long-term care;
Amendment 103 #
B. whereas care encompasses services to address the physical, psychological and social needs of dependcare recipients, as well as support to guarantee the equal exercise of rights, dignity, autonomy, inclusion and well-being for all members of society;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas a high level of human health protection is to be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas accessing care services remains a challenge in the EU’s rural and remote areas, notably outermost regions, in a context of a declining and ageing population, and a lack of connectivity and infrastructure; whereas this demographic trend can contribute to the lower attractiveness of rural areas as places to live and work; whereas this affects in a disproportional way women, who face additional difficulties in trying to reconcile work and life; whereas rural areas face shortages of general practitioners and of specialised and emergency care leading to the emergence of the so-called “Medical Deserts";
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas health is a fundamental right and ensuring access to quality and affordable care should be an obligation of all Member States;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas Personal and Household Services (PHS) are part of the care sector; whereas PHS provide both direct and indirect services; whereas the former include childcare, early childhood education and care (ECEC), long-term care in situations of invalidity, disability or dependence and the elderly peoples’ care and the latter consists of activities such as cleaning, ironing, maintenance, gardening, etc.;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas there is a lack ofcare should be of high quality, accessible and affordable care in nearlyin all Member States; whereas the monitoring of care is hampered by the lack of disaggregated data and the lack of quality indicators;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing challenges in terms of access to formal care servicesshowcasing the many structural problems entrenched in Europe's social care system, i.e. in terms of the ability to access and afford formal care and domestic services, including to timely, affordable and high-quality medical treatment, and highlighted pre-existing care workforce shortages, overloaded health-care systems, and overreliance on informal care or undeclared work, etc.; whereas this situation is worrying as ageing of population is increasing the need for long-term care;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the provision of quality care depends on the existence of a sufficiently large and well-trained workforce, the creation of decent working conditions, decent income and integrated services, and adequate funding;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas in a context of longer care pathways and evolution of practices and technologies, caregivers are accumulating expertise which has to be recognised;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the structures of care need to be changed from centralised institutions to home and community-based care; whereas that shift has been too slow and under-financed;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the undervaluation and invisibility of care work are closely linked with the fact that women dominate in tcarework is too often undervalued and suffers from lack of visibility; whereas women tend to be the primary care givers and dominate the care sector; whereas women’s participation in unpaid care is very high, standing at over 85% in all Member States when care sector; onsidering both daily and weekly engagement17ba; _________________ 17ba EIGE, Beijing Platform for Action 2020 report, 2021
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas according to Eurofound1a, 15,4% of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) are in this situation because they are caring for children or incapacitated adults or have other family responsibilities; whereas 88% of those NEET are women; _________________ 1a https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/fr/topic/ neets
Amendment 375 #
Na. whereas the availability, accessibility and affordability of high- quality childcare facilities are crucial for enabling people, especially women with caring responsibilities to participate in the labour market;
Amendment 440 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 450 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the importance of an integrated approach to common European action on care that pays equal attention to people’s physical, psychological and social needs; with a special attention for some groups in vulnerable positions such as women and girls, children, the elderly and people with disability;
Amendment 489 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that a substantial proportion of care models, services and facilities are outdated and that care recipients should be placed at the centre of care plans; stresses that people centricity is tied to increased integration of care and more holistic care pathways, which are essential to improve benefits to patients as well as quality of care; recognises that integration of care across Europe is currently limited due to lack of appropriate incentives and structures;
Amendment 528 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to promote equal participation and opportunities for women and men in the labour market in care services;
Amendment 536 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to present an ambitious European care strategy that builds on everyone’s right to affordable, accessible and high-quality care, as well as on other principles set out in the EPSR and EU strategic documents, and the individual rights and needs of both care recipients and carers, and that encompasses the entire life course, is based on reliable and comparable data, and includes concrete and progressive goals with a timetable and indicators to evaluate progress; is persuaded that this strategy should promote fair and equal working conditions and adequate wages in order to maintain the attractiveness of the care sector for both women and men;
Amendment 544 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to present an ambitious European care strategy that builds on everyone’s right to affordable, accessible and high-quality care, as well as on other principles set out in the EPSR and EU strategic documents, and the individual rights and needs of both care recipients and carers, and that encompasses the entire life course, is based on reliable and comparable data, and includes concrete and progressive goals with a timetable and indicators to evaluate progress and tackle inequalities;
Amendment 550 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Emphasises the need to consult all relevant stakeholders, at both EU, national and local levels, including informal carers representatives and patients organisations, in the preparation of the European Care Strategy to avoid silo policies and to take into account the diversity of situations and needs;
Amendment 565 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the Commission’s plans for the revision of the Barcelona objectives as part of the European care strategy package; calls for upward convergence to be encouraged and for further investment in high-quality care for every child in the EU; reminds that EU funds (Multiannual Financial Framework and notably the European Social Fund +, as well as the recovery and resilience facility) should be used to complement Member States’ investments in childcare;
Amendment 575 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to design childcare, education as well as access to after-school activities such as sports, and other policies and measures in support of children and their families in an inclusive manner and one that upholds the swift and efficient implementation of the European Child Guarantee;
Amendment 576 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses the need for childcare to meet parent’s needs for care during their working hours and school holidays; highlights the importance of developing affordable early childhood education and care to facilitate parent’s return to work, especially women, and to strike a good work-life balance; calls on the Member States to respect a minimum duration for maternity and paternity leave, regardless of the status of the person concerned;
Amendment 579 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Highlights the importance to address the specific needs of children with disabilities, notably to ensure inclusive access to education and empowerment of children with disabilities; calls on the Member States to develop personal assistance services for children with disabilities and ensure decent and attractive working conditions to those professionals accompanying children with disabilities;
Amendment 584 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that social protection and support to families isare essential and calls on the competent national authorities to ensure adequate and accessible social protection systems and integrated child protection systems to leave no one behind;
Amendment 615 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Member States to reform and integrate their social services and protection systems in such a way as to provide effective, comprehensive and equal access to care services throughout the life course, taking a personalised approach, in order to enhance the continuity of care, preventive healthcare, rehabilitation and, whenever possible, independent living;
Amendment 624 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Member States to financially support ways to enhance independence, such as home adaptation or installation of digital detection systems and assistive technologies at home;
Amendment 634 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that accessibility of care derives from a combination of cost and flexibfactors such as cost and flexibility but also workforce availability, waiting time and geographical distances to the closest care facility; believes that in this respect different forms of care service provision should be available, such as in in-home and community-based settings;
Amendment 648 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop the tools required for the regular assessment of the accessibility, availability and affordability of care services and a comprehensive benchmark for monitoring the quality of both formal and informal care services; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote accessible, available, affordable and quality care by ensuring a work-life family balance, promoting healthy lifestyles, setting quality standards of care services and organising quality assurance, ensuring the availability of care services in rural areas, and ensuring affordability;
Amendment 651 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop the tools required for the regular assessment of the accessibility of care services and a comprehensive benchmark for monitoring the quality of both formal and informal care services; Stresses the importance of identifying skills gaps and evaluating future needs, profession by profession, sector by sector, region by region, in order to train a sufficient number of workers to meet the demand;
Amendment 661 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that the free movement of persons and workers is one of the key pillars of the EU, but that challenges to cross-border care remain and that care drain can worsen situations of labour shortages, weakening the ability to provide timely access to care in emigration regions or countries; calls for the protection of the social security rights of all migrant and mobile care workers and care receivers, as this contributes to both dignified working conditions and reducing the propensity toward undeclared work; encourages the development of cross-border training, notably in cross-border regions, in order to share best practices for care staff and facilitate cross-border care;
Amendment 668 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Stresses that a territorialized organization of care according to the density and needs of the population is likely to allow a rationalized and adapted care offer, while fighting against inequalities in access to services and care; calls on the Member States to secure timely access to care across their territories, by putting in place incentives to tackle labour shortages, investing more in care facilities and facilitating access to digital solutions such as telemedicine;.
Amendment 672 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Repeats its call for a common definition of disability, as well ascalls for the mutual recognition of disability status in the Member States; in line with Article 18 of the UNCPRD1a, supports the implementation and expansion of the European Disability Card to all Member States paving the way for a mutual recognition of disability rights across the EU; _________________ 1a https://www.un.org/development/desa/disa bilities/convention-on-the-rights-of- persons-with-disabilities/article-18- liberty-of-movement-and-nationality.html
Amendment 682 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Considers that the Care Strategy should contribute to the achievement of the goal of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of transitioning from institutional to family or community-based care;
Amendment 687 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for the prioritisation of mental health within public health policy at EU level by adopting a horizontal “Mental Health in all policies approach” providing for comprehensive prevention measures on Mental Health determinants and seeking to reduce inequalities including on access to support and treatment services;;
Amendment 704 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls onWelcomes the Commission to establish a comprehensive set of i’s commitment to present a revision of the Barcelona targets on early childhood education andi cators for long-term care, and correspondingre in 2022; Calls on the Commission and Council to develop comprehensive and similar targets and tools for disaggregating and monitoring the accessibility, availability, affordability and quality of care, similar to the Barcelona objectives for childcare; believes that targets and indicators are needed on decent care work, involving care service users, care workers and informal carers, and could be used to guide investment, funding and training to ensure better access to quality services for those in need as well as ensuring women’s continued participation in the labour market unhindered by unequal caring responsibilities;
Amendment 725 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Stresses the need to evaluate the impact of care with indicators on the healthy life expectancy and the quality of life of beneficiaries;
Amendment 743 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes that between 40 and 50 million people in the EU provide informal care on a regular basis, the majority of whom are women; notes that this work tends to be long term and can hinder formal labour market participation, resulting in less career’s opportunities or even acceptance of jobs below the level of skills of the informal carer, leading to a loss of income and aggravatingon of the gender pension gap; stresses that those detrimental effects are closely associated with the intensity of care provided;
Amendment 751 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Highlights the necessity to overcome the lack of sharing of unpaid domestic work and care responsibilities mainly performed by women and strengthen the fight against gender stereotypes, as well as to introduce family- friendly working arrangements, such as adaptable working hours and the possibility of teleworking, in order to allow women and men to better reconcile their professional life with their private life;
Amendment 757 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Calls on the Member States and relevant authorities to recognise the pivotal role of informal carers, especially women, not only though awareness activities but also through adequate support including financial compensation;
Amendment 761 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19 c. emphasizes the need of informal carers to be closely involved and supported by care professionals;
Amendment 762 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
19d. stresses that, without undermining the need for informal care, investing in formal care services can significantly relieve the pressure on informal carers, notably women, and avoid some of the detrimental effects on their work-life balance and career’s prospects, therefore contributing to gender equality;
Amendment 781 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Urges the Commission to propose a common coherent package of actions at EU level on informal care, and, where the competences are at the national level, calls on the Member States to support this European strategy by ambitious and coordinated actions to identify and recognise the different types of informal care provided in Europe, and to guarantee carers minimum standards of rights, financial support and other additional support services, including time off for carers, andccess to education, training and life-long learning, pension rights, a work- life balance and rehabilitation services for carers and care recipients;
Amendment 801 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Calls on the Member States to facilitate the labour market reintegration of workers who took a long career break to provide care to relatives, including through up-skilling and re-skilling;
Amendment 803 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Stresses the importance of involving informal carers representatives in the drafting of the European Care Strategy in order to take into account the diversity of their situations and needs;
Amendment 807 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6
Subheading 6
Decent and attractive working conditions for all workers in the care sector
Amendment 811 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges the Member States to place adequate staffing levels and investment in care staff at the centre of their care policies, and to support the creation of quality jobs in the sector; with decent remuneration and further training and development opportunities in the sector, stresses in this regard the need for contracts with adequate work hours to ensure both quality of care, quality of working conditions and decent wages; believes in necessity to eliminate the gender income gap;
Amendment 829 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Highlights that both job creation perspectives and existing labour shortages are showing the urgent need to make those occupations more attractive;
Amendment 839 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure decent working conditions for all workers in the care sector, both formal and informal, and to adopt high standards of occupational health and safety, in line with and beyond the ambition of the recently adopted EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027 in order to prevent work- place accidents and illness, which could lead to a reduction of absenteeism, turnover and poor workers health;
Amendment 846 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Recalls that certain medicinal products contain one or several substances which meet the criteria for classification as carcinogenic (categories 1A or 1B), mutagenic (categories 1A or 1B) or reprotoxic (categories 1A or 1B) in accordance with Regulation (EC) No1272/2008 and therefore fall under the scope of Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxics at work; looks forward for the foreseen publication in 2022 of the guidelines for handling those substances as well as for the development of a definition and indicative list of such Hazardous Medicinal Products;
Amendment 856 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23b. Stresses that specific attention should be paid to the mental health of care workers which has been particularly impacted by the pandemic; Welcomes, in this regard, the contribution of the expert panel on effective ways of investing in health (EXPH) in its opinion on supporting mental health of health workforce and other essential workers; Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure adequate follow-up and implementation of these recommendations;
Amendment 862 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 c (new)
Paragraph 23 c (new)
23 c. Stresses that wage increases are associated with greater recruitment of long-term care workers, longer tenure and lower turnover according to OECD17e; Welcomes the proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages to improve the adequacy of minimum wages and promote collective bargaining, which could have a positive impact on the care workforce whose pay are often too low; encourages public and private entities go beyond the minimum level of wages to make care professions more attractive; _________________ 17e https://www.oecd- ilibrary.org/docserver/92c0ef68- en.pdf?expires=1647941287&id=id∾cna me=ocid194994✓sum=D863115B583D2A 82CECF11D7D54A37B1
Amendment 867 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 e (new)
Paragraph 23 e (new)
23e. Calls on the Member States to ensure enforcement of labour standards for all workers in the sector;
Amendment 882 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Stresses that the role of caregivers should be, above all, to take care and therefore considers necessary to cut unnecessary red tape and avoid as much as possible assigning them administrative task which can be managed by administrative assistants or suitable digital tools;
Amendment 886 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24b. Highlights that certain medical tasks can be shared with other health professionals (such as pharmacists or nurses), thus allowing a better distribution of workloads, more medical time to devote to patients, and closer collaboration between professionals, keeping in mind that multidisciplinary practices are also a guarantee of continuity of care and harmonization of care pathways;
Amendment 887 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Amendment 888 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 d (new)
Paragraph 24 d (new)
24d. Calls on the European Commission and Member States to address the issue of undeclared work in the care sector;
Amendment 889 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Acknowledge that the care workforce is increasingly relying on migrants, hence, calls on the Commission to include this aspect in the forthcoming European Care Strategy with a view to avoid illegal forms of employment, stresses that the Migrants care workforce specific challenges, such as access to work permit or to formal employment and social protection coverage should be adequately addressed and that undeclared work should be tackled; Recalls that mobile and migrant workers play a significant role in the provision of bothhome, community-based and residential care and home care in the EU;
Amendment 902 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Stresses, however, that due to a ‘care drain’ phenomenon (with many Long term care workers from Central and Eastern Europe moving to Western Europe for better salaries), certain Member States are facing labour shortages and therefore significant challenges to provide their population timely access to care; emphasizes the need for Member States to invest and develop all together the attractiveness of care professions to retain care workers;
Amendment 921 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Member States to swiftly and fully transpose and implement the Work-Life Balance Directive; stresses that only an equal share of care responsibilities between men and women by means of minimum non-transferable and adequately paid leave periods would enable women to increasingly engage in full-time employment and achieve a work- life balance;
Amendment 928 #
27. Calls on the Member States to facilitate the labour market reintegration of workers after care leave or longer career breaks paying special attention to women, whose career and income are more often affected by care leave;
Amendment 935 #
27a. Calls on Member States to draw on the EU Skills Agenda to ensure further skilling and upskilling of care workers, and provide opportunities for all carers to participate in vocational education and training and gain qualifications, paying special attention to women after care leave;
Amendment 982 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Stresses the importance of discouraging undeclared work and of promoting standardisation of care work, notably through better opportunities for declared care workers but also by formalizing means of covering expenses, for example via social vouchers;
Amendment 984 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 b (new)
Paragraph 29 b (new)
29b. Calls on the Member States and the European Commission to reverse the highly stigmatised image of formal and informal care occupations through national and European awareness-raising campaigns, targeting specifically but not exclusively gender stereotypes;
Amendment 988 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Member States to adopt approaches to measuring and valuing the contribution and outputs of care, in particular informal/unpaid care and housework, and to address the prevalence of undeclared or under-declared care work to ensure decent working conditions and avoid negative impact on the right and well-being of workers as well as of care recipients;
Amendment 994 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Recalls on the Commission and the Member States to fund and promote measures that address the disproportionate burden of unpaid work that women have to bear, and to support actions helping women workers moving from the informal to the formal economy; underlines that women and men should equally share unpaid care and domestic responsibilities; calls for concrete steps to be taken towards recognising, reducing and redistributing unpaid care and domestic work;