Activities of José GUSMÃO related to 2020/2244(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester: annual sustainable growth strategy 2021 – European Semester: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy 2021 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021
Amendments (24)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the COVID-19 outbreak has reversed the positive trend of the employment rate of the last six years in the EU-27, resulting in a reduction of the number of persons in work of about 6.1 million in the second quarter of 2020 and a predicted decrease of 4.5 % over the year 202014 ; whereas workers who remain in the labour market have faced a considerable reduction in hours worked and, consequently, loss of income; _________________ 14Commission proposal of 18 November 2020 for a joint employment report of the Commission and the Council for 2021 (JER 2021).according to Eurostat, 8.5% of the population aged less than 60 years in the EU lived in 2019, before the pandemic crisis, in households where the adults worked less than 20% of their total work potential during the past year facing worrying situations of in-work poverty; whereas a significative number of jobs offered, namely to younger workers, were precarious jobs; whereas workers who remain in the labour market have faced a considerable reduction in hours worked and, consequently, loss of income;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas hours worked are set to increase faster than headcount employment and employment may also fall further when short-time work schemes are discontinued; whereas the reallocation of workers is usually a lengthy process and employment is therefore expected to decline slightly in 2021in 2021 together with the aggravation of precarious working conditions;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas before COVID-19, although with relevant differences between Member States, economic trends were generally described as positive in the European Semester annual reviews; whereas evidence shows that persistent and increasing inequalities remain among persocitizens, and between and within states and regions, reinforcing the already high level of poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas women are particularly vulnerable to labour market changes owing to social care duties, occupational segregation and their more precarious employment; whereas an intersectional evaluation shows that women in vulnerable groups, such as young women with children, Roma, persons with disabilities, homeless or those of a migrant origin, are more likely to be in a worse position;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the gender employment gap (11.4 %) , gender pay gap (14 %) and gender pension gap (30 %) remain unacceptably high; whereas improving employment opportunities for women, ensuring equal pay and facilitating a good work-life balance, including for men, are vital to sustainable economic growth and development, productivitysocial and economic development, and long-term fiscal sustainability in the EU;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas unemployment among temporary workers has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas one in five workers in the EU holds a poor quality job facing serious situations of chronic in-work poverty; whereas it is expected that in the next decade, job polarisation and non-standard forms of employment will increase further and there will be more jobs at the higher and lower ends of the skills spectrum16 ; which will result in further inequality and labour market segmentation; _________________ 16 Eurofound (2018), Upward convergence in the EU: Concepts, measurements and indicators, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas new forms of employment have emerged or intensified, such as teleworking and non-standard ways of working, and whereas new realities have also emerged and existing trends have intensified during lockdowns, including domestic violence against women, elderly and health problems among workers, particularly psychological ones;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the pandemic has exacerbated health and social inequalities17 and whereas the poverty rate is predicted to increase as one of the effects of the COVID-19: whereas Eurofound suggests complementing the S, already unacceptable before the crisis (more than 20 million citizens living at risk of poverty in the EU) is predicted to increase as one of the effects of the COVID-19 affecting new groups of citizens on the top of those already at risk of poverty: whereas Eurofound suggests reinforcing the role of the social Sscoreboard by accompanying the EPSR with additional indicators covering job quality, social justice and equal opportunities, robust social welfare systems and fair mobility; _________________ 17EuroHealthNet (2020), Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring health equity. The role of the European Semester.
Amendment 87 #
M. whereas the demographic challenge requires a comprehensive approach based on a mix of policy solutions in the fields of pensions, social security, care services, housing, early childhood schools, long- term care, health systems, fighting poverty and social inexclusion, integration of migrants and work-life balance, gender equality, high levels of employment and wages;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas we face a critical time in our history, with the ideathere is clear evidence that the pursued economic paradigm for the last 30 years that economic growth automatically trickles down to all sectors of society beingis widely discredited; whereas we are witnessing a thinning of the middle class, increasingly precarious job conditions for blue collar and platform workers and growing polarisation in terms of income and wealth;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas, contrary to the crowding- out hypothesis that has prevailed in economic thinking for the last three decades, public investment and its crowding-in effects should play a central role in this new economic paradigm; a totally different economic paradigm, namely counteracting the perverse effects of the rules of the stability pact;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the inclusion of the EPSRat after 3 years of being approved the EPSR will be included in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy (ASGS) 2021; urgently calls for fairness and social rights to be given the same importance in thea new social and economic model as macro-economic stability; emphasises the centraldecisive role of the Social Scoreboard in the European Semester18 ; _________________ 18Social Score of Indicators. Eurostat 2020 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european -pillar-of-social-rights/indicators/social- scoreboard-indicators;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. States that 10 years after the introduction of the European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination, employment and social imbalances in Europe, such as labour market segmentation, wage dispersion andinequality and dispersion and poverty growing, namely child poverty, have not been resolved but have worsened, demonstrating that public policies at the national level are insufficient for building a fairer European labour market, and that stronger and further-reaching policies at EU level are needed; the country-specific recommendations, guided by the objectives of the Stability and Growth Pact, are detrimental to social inclusion and for building a fairer European labour market, and should thus be subject to significant reforms;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise its failure and reform the financial legal framework and the European Semester process in order to strengthen democratic accountability and the involvement of the European Parliament; stresses that the social progressinclusion objectives regarding social welfare systems and quality employment must be shieldexempted from the application of macroeconomic conditionality and the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the ASGS 2021 mentions delivering on the EU objective of competitive sustainability but that this is neither a concept defined as an objective in the EU Treaties nor does it feature in the UN SDGs; calls on the Commission, therefore, to deliver on the objectives defined in Article 3, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 98-11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as well as to be more precise in the definition of resilience, understood beyond the ability not only to withstand and cope with challenges but also to undergo transitions in a sustainable, fair, and democratic manner19 ; _________________ 19Commission communication of 9 September 2020 entitled ‘2020 Strategic foresight report – Charting the course towards a more resilient Europe’ (COM(20200493).
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the need to integrate social progressinclusion as an investment priority, together with green and digital transitions, in order to protect vulnerable peopleour societies against the additional negative impact of the current crisis; recalls that social progressanti-poverty and social inclusion integrated plans must be included in national recovery and resilience plans, outlining the implementation of the EPSR and of social investment;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that fiscal flexibility to support investment in social rights is vital, as is the mainstreaming, effectively and at all stages, of all principles enshrined in the EPSR; demands that any proposed fiscal measures be ex-ante assessed and monitored against the provisions of Article 9 of the TFEU to evaluate their social impact towards poverty proofing mechanisms, and that they only be considered when they will be beneficial for upward social convergence and increasing wellbeing standards in Member States;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop a quality employment package, based on inclusive mechanisms counteracting the present trends, namely on precariousness and in- work poverty, including legislative initiatives aimed at improving wages and protecting decent working conditions for all, with a particular focus on telework, the right to disconnect, mental well-being at work, occupational health and safety, the rights of platform workers, ensuring quality jobs for essential workers, and strengthening democracy at work and the role of the social partners and collective bargaining;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that social dialogue and collective bargaining are key instruments for employers and trade unions to establish fair wages and working conditions, and that strong collective bargaining systems increase Member States’ resilience in times of economic crisis; Considers in that regard that there is still room for greater involvement of the social partners in a number of Member States, particularly where that involvement was reduced, in developing and implementing policies and reforms; Reiterates its call for concrete measures to strengthen social dialogue and collective bargaining, including the proposals to make financial support to companies conditional on the respect for trade unions and applicable collective agreements and to exclude companies which have engaged in criminal activities or union-busting or have refused to participate in collective bargaining from public tenders;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Firmly believes that a democratic, resilient and socially just recovery should be based on social dialogue, including collective bargaining. Reiterates its view that Member States should take measures to promote high trade union density as well as to reverse the decline in collective bargaining coverage;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for a quality employment package based on inclusive mechanisms counteracting the present trends, namely on precariousness and in-work poverty and notes that macroeconomic policies, balanced with social investment, that guarantee high levels of quality employment, as well as fair taxation, are essential for the sustainability of our national pension systems in a demographic context of ageing European populations;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States to ensure the existence and access to high- quality free healthcare services and to refocus health systems on preventive care, notably by implementing relevant country- specific recommendations;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls for better coordination between economic and social policies and between the different recovery funds and structural funds, namely ESF+ and ERDF, in order to improve synergies and boost social investment resources;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Points out that fairness conditions must be established for companies that wish to access public funds and support in order to avoid such support going to companies based in tax havens, to those without significant worker participation in company matters or codetermination, or those that do not respect trade unions and the applicable collective agreements; or those without a ban on bonuses to limit CEO and top executive remuneration;