76 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2016/2095(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the EU in 2010,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
- having regard to the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, which were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and which apply to the whole world including the EU,
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that promoting women's participation in the labour market and their economic independence is crucial for meeting the Europe 2020 target of a 75 % overall employment rate and would boost GDP; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen policies and increase investment supporting female employment in quality jobs, particularly in sectors and positions where women are under- represented, such as the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and green economy sectors, or senior management positions across all sectors;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2013 with recommendations to the Commission on information and consultation of workers, anticipation and management of restructuring (2012/2061(INL)),
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 b (new)
Citation 11 b (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 26 January 2014 on an EU homelessness strategy1a , __________________ 1a Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0043.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 5 October 2016 on the need for a European reindustrialisation policy in light of the recent Caterpillar and Alstom cases (2016/2891(RSP)),
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18
Citation 18
– having regard to its resolution of 20 November 2012 on a Social Investment Pact as a response to the crisis8 and to the Commission’s Social Investment Package of 20 February 2013, including the Commission Recommendation on Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage, __________________ 8 Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0419.
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. 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;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to introduce targets on care for elderly persons, persons with disabilities and other dependants, similar to the Barcelona targets, with monitoring tools which should measure quality, accessibility and affordability; calls on Eurostat, Eurofound and the EIGE (for its Gender Index), to collect relevant data and to carry out studies to support this work;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18 a (new)
Citation 18 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission Recommendation of 3 October 2008 on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market,
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 19 a (new)
Citation 19 a (new)
– having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 20 September 2016 in joined cases C-8/15 P to C-10/15 P (Ledra Advertising and others),
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for the revision of Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation; and to promote among companies the implementation of plans on gender equality, including actions on desegregation, closure of persisting gender pay gaps and pensions gaps, the development of pay systems and measures to support women's careers;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
– having regard to the joint opinion of the Employment Committee and Social Protection Committee on the European Pillar of Social Rights, endorsed by the Council on [15] October 2016,
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve the social partners and civil society in gender equality policies; stresses the importance of adequate funding for such policies, of collective agreements and collective bargaining in combating discrimination and promoting gender equality at work, and of research and exchanges of good practices.
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the European Union needs a paradigm shift towards a strong European social model which enables sustainable prosperity and high productivity based on solidarity, social justice, a fair distribution of wealth, gender equality, a high-quality public education system, quality employment and sustainable growth - a model that ensuresover the long term, in line with worldwide Sustainable Development Goals - a model that ensures adequate and universal good social protection for all, empowers people in vulnerable groupssituations, fights poverty and social exclusion, enhances participation in civil and political life, and improves the living standards for all citizens, delivering on the objectives and rights set out in the EU Treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Social Charter;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. Whereas the European Union must respond swiftly and visibly to increasing frustration and worry among many citizens about uncertain life prospects, lack of opportunities, socio- economic precariousness and growing inequalities;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission is expected to come forward in the spring of 2017 with a proposal for a binding European Pillar of Social Rights that would serve as a basis for updating existing EU legislation, improving the EU’s economic and social governance framework, adapting or establishing relevant financial instruments, and promoting European social standards towards the rest of the world;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the European Parliament, elected directly by European citizens, has a fundamental responsibility and a role to play in defining and adopting the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas fundamental social rights apply to all people in the European Union and the existing body of Union legislation regulating labour, product and service markets applies to all Member States;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the euro area faces, with its present macroeconomic framework, specific challenges to the achievement of employment and social objectives set out in the Treaties, notably in the sense that euro area membership reduces possibilities for the use of macroeconomic policy instruments at national level and creates pressure for tougher and swifter internal adjustment, such as through wages, working conditions, unemployment and scaling back of social expenditure; whereas restoring adequate socio-economic security to compensate for this increased internal flexibility may require introducing specific social targets, standards and/or financial instruments at the euro area level;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas European labour markets are rapidly evolving towards ‘atypical’ or ‘non-standard’ forms of employment, such as temporary work, part-time work, casual work, seasonal work, on-demand work or self-employment intermediated by digital platforms, which shows many features of employment but does not bring the benefits normally associated with employment; whereas demand for labour is becoming and will likely remain more ‘fluid’ and diversified than in the past; whereas in some cases this can be beneficial for productivity as well as work-life balance; whereas, however, many non-standard forms of employment involve prolonged economic insecurity and precariousness, notably in terms of lower and less certain incomes, lack of possibilities to stand up for one’s working conditions, lack of social and health insurance, lack of a professional identity, lack of a career perspective, and difficulties to reconcile on-demand work with family life;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) cannot be limited to a declaration of principles or good intentions but must consist of real matter (legislation, policy-making mechanisms and financial instruments), delivering positive impact on citizens’ lives already in the short term and enabling support for European construction in the 21st century by effectively upholding social rights and Treaty objectives, strengthening cohesion and upward convergence, and helping to complete EMU in economic and social outcomes, and helping to complete EMU with instruments necessary for this purpose;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that social standards to be articulated by the European Pillar of Social Rights should apply to all countries participating in the Single Market and that legislation, governance mechanisms and financial instruments relevant for their achievement should apply to all EU Member States; finds, however, that the specific constraints of euro area membership call for additional specific social targets, standards and financial instruments to be established at the euro area level; points at the possibility of using the enhanced cooperation mechanism under Article 20 TEU if necessary to build a solid European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights that the EPSR should equip European citizens with stronger means to keep control over their lives and make markets work for shared prosperity, wellbeing and sustainable development; it should enable effective realisation of existing social rights and it should set out new rights where justified in view of new technological and socio-economic developments;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Is convinced that the European Social Model needs to be updated and strengthened to support upward transitions into and within the labour market and to maintain a sense of economic security throughout people’s lives; considers that as the labour market becomes more complex, it is natural that the welfare state also needs to adapt its mechanisms and instruments in order to manage well the various social risks arising;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Underlines that markets are meant to serve people and people are also the most important factor for the good performance of a company and of the entire economy; it is therefore vital to ensure workers’ participation in decision- making on the organisation of work and utilisation of company revenue; points to the good example of social economy enterprises, such as cooperatives, in providing quality employment, supporting social inclusion and promoting economic democracy;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Points out that Europe can go much further in developing a cluster of sectors focused on supporting people’s health, knowledge and ability to participate in the economy; stresses that people-focused services such as education, healthcare, sport or family care services contain an important job creation potential and should not be viewed as a cost to the economy but rather as enabling factors of sustainable prosperity;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Updating existing labour and social standards
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for the enactment of a directive on fair working conditions for all forms of employment, and other relevant legislative measures, based on a sufficiently broad EU definition of a worker and ensuring for every worker a core set of enforceable rights, including equal treatment, social protection, protection in case of dismissal, health and safety protection, provisions on working time and rest time, freedom of association and representation, the right to strike, collective bargaining, collective action, access to training, andin-work support, adequate information and consultation rights throughout subcontracting chains, and a prospect of stabilising the working relationship as open-ended employment after a certain period of time; underlines that this directiveese instruments should apply to employees as well as to all workers in non- standard forms of employment, such as fixed-term work, part-time work, on- demand work, self-employment, work intermediated through online platforms, crowd-working, internship or traineeship; requests that the EU acquis be updated accordingly so as to apply to all workers; and to improve the enforceability of rights;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – introductory part
Paragraph 4 – introductory part
4. Calls for decisive steps towards legal certainty on what constitutes ‘employment’, also for work intermediated by digital platforms; underlines that open- ended employment contracts should remain the norm given their importance for socio- economic security; calls for the directive on fair working conditions to include relevant minimum standards to be ensured in more precarious forms of employment, in particular:
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point b
Paragraph 4 – point b
b. for work intermediated by digital platforms and other instances of dependent self-employment, a definition of employment that is less dependent on full cumulation of the relevant criteria, taking into account ILO recommendation No. 198, according to which the fulfilment of several indicators is sufficient to determine employment; alternatively, a new category of ‘dependent self- employed’ could be established to reduce the grey zone between employment and self-employment; such definition should spell out the labour rights applicable to this category of workers and should ensure their participation in social and health insurance schemes;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point c
Paragraph 4 – point c
c. limits regarding on-demand work: zero-hour contracts should be banned and certain core working hours should be guaranteed to all workers; work requested at short notice should also involve correspondingly higher remuneration;
Amendment 374 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the need for renewed upward convergence in wages throughout the EUIs concerned about the declining labour share of total income in Europe over the past decades; emphasises the need for an overall pay rise in Europe and for renewed upward convergence in wages throughout the EU in order to boost demand, enable sustainable growth and reduce inequality; calls on the Commission to actively support a wider coverage for collective bargainingagreements; considers that to ensure decent living wages, non-discriminatory minimum wages set at a decent level are necessary; recommends the establishment of national wage floors through legislation or collective bargaining, with due respect for the practices of each Member State, with the objective of attaining at least 60 % of the respective national average wage; recognises that changes in wage levels should go hand in hand with commensurate adaptations in financial support to public sector in order to avoid negative impact on the extent or quality of services provided;
Amendment 394 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that the right to healthy and safe working conditions also involves protection against workplace risks as well as limitations on working time and provisions on minimum rest periods and paid annual leave; awaits Commission proposals for legislation and other concrete measures to uphold this right for all workers, reflecting all current knowledge about health and safety risks and taking into account new ways of working associated with digitalisation and other technological developments;
Amendment 418 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the importance of collective rights; expects the Commission to step up concrete support for strengthening social dialogue in Member States and sectors where it is weak owing to the prolonged crisis or the prevalence of non-standard forms of employment; underlines the benefits of involving workers in company management, including in transnational companies, and the need to improve their information, consultation and participation, also to make good use of new forms of work organisation, ensure that work is meaningful and rewarding and anticipate economic change; calls for improved enforcement of European legislation on European Works Councils and the information and consultation of workers and for effective measures ensuring that company restructuring takes place in a socially responsible manner;
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Supports more integrated provision of social protection benefits and social services as a way to make the welfare state more understandable and accessible while not weakening social protection; underlines the need for adequate and universal social protection and social investment throughout people's lives, enabling everyone to participate fully in the society and economy and sustaining decent living standards; points to the importance of informing citizens about social rights and to the potential of e- government solutions, possibly including a European social security card, which could improve individual awareness and also help mobile workers clarify their contributions and entitlements in home and host countries; highlights the importance of personalised, face-to-face support to excluded and vulnerable households;
Amendment 466 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Agrees with the importance of universal access to timely, good-quality and affordable preventative and curative health care, free from discrimination; considers this as a right that must be upheld; emphasises that all workerspeople must be covered by health insurance; agrees that increased health prevention and disease prevention is an obvious social investment that pays for itself;
Amendment 488 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is aware that rising life expectancy and workforce shrinking pose a challenge to the sustainability and adequacy of pensions systems and to intergenerational fairness; reaffirms that the best response is to increase the overall employment rate; considers that pensionable ages should reflect, besides life expectancy, other factors including labour market trends, the economic dependency ratio, the birth rate and differences in job arduousness, with particular attention to specific disadvantages such as those faced by people with disabilities; recalls the importance of investments in active ageing and of arrangements enabling people who have reached their pensionable age to continue working at their desired level of intensity while being able to draw their pension;
Amendment 514 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Insists that all workers should be covered by insurance against involuntary unemployment or part-time employment, coupled with job-search assistance and investment in (re)-training; recalls that decent unemployment benefits reduce the pressure to take 'any job' and are therefore useful for productivity; considers that the EPSR should set out minimum quality standards for national unemployment insurance schemes, which would help to improve their effectiveness as well as maximising the economic stabilisation potential and minimising institutional moral hazard involved in a possible European unemployment (re)- insurance scheme that could be established for the Eurozone and open to other Member States; such minimum standards should apply in particular to the coverage of national schemes, activation requirements and the quality of job-search support provided to unemployed people;
Amendment 545 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls for a European framework for adequate minimum income schemes; highlights the importance of such schemes for maintaining human dignity as well as their role as a form of social investments enabling people to undertake training and/or look for work; notes with concern that in some Member States, no minimum income schemes are in place or they provide less to their recipients than the subsistence minimum; reminds also of the importance of material assistance schemes such as those supported by the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived; encourages stronger provision of support for active social inclusion and labour market (re-)integration alongside minimum income and material assistance schemes;
Amendment 558 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Agrees that all persons with disabilities must be ensured individualised enabling services and basicprovided by adequately qualified professionals and income security allowing them a decent standard of living and social inclusion; with adequate support even when they take up paid work; expects the Commission to follow up swiftly on the Parliament's recent resolution on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
Amendment 573 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers access to quality and affordable long-term care services, including home-based care, to be a right that should be upheld with the help of suitably qualified professionals employed under decent conditions; believes that low- income households should therefore be targeted by adequate public services and tax deductionsnotes with concern that availability and affordability of long-term care remain a major problem across Europe, trapping informal family carers at home and preventing them from pursuing their careers; deplores frequent abuses of carers employed through work agencies or on an informal basis; believes that adequate public services and tax deductions should be therefore put in place for households, in particularly those living on low incomes, to avoid institutionalisation and the risk of poverty; repeats its call for legislation on carers’ leave accompanied by adequate remuneration and social protection; calls on the Commission to set out a concrete action plan in this area;
Amendment 585 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to introduce targets on care for elderly persons, persons with disabilities and other dependants, similar to the Barcelona targets, with monitoring tools which should measure quality, accessibility and affordability; calls on Eurostat, Eurofound and the EIGE (for its Gender Index), to collect relevant data and to carry out studies to support this work;
Amendment 597 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers child poverty to be a major issue on which Europe should ‘act big’ given the obvious potential for large positive impact on children's development, parents' labour market prospects and reduction of inherited social disadvantage; calls for the swift implementation of a Child Guarantee in all Member States, so that every child now living inat risk of poverty can have access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and proper nutrition; underlines the importance of pre-natal care and early childhood development; calls for inclusive education systems at all levels, including after- school care; recognises that implementation of the Child Guarantee will require adequate financing at national and European level, possibly involving an increase of the European Social Fund and/or support from a new convergence instrument for the Eurozone; requests that national public investments in the Child Guarantee be considered within a 'silver rule on social investment' under the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 607 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. 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;
Amendment 617 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls foron Member States to deliver on the right to adequate housing inter alia through legislation to ensure that access to social housing or adequate housing benefits are provided for those in need, obviously including homeless people, and that vulnerable people and poor households are protected against eviction; calls for tax incentives to help young people on low incomes set up their own householdconcrete measures to prevent and reduce homelessness with a view to its gradual elimination, based on combining provision of housing with relevant social services supporting social and economic inclusion; reminds that the increased need for support for low and medium- income households' housing is closely related to increased labour market precariousness and income inequalities; calls for help for young people on low incomes set up their own households; highlights investments in energy efficient social housing as a win-win for jobs, the environment, reduction of energy poverty and realisation of social rights; calls for greater use of the EFSI to support urban renewal and affordable, accessible and energy-efficient housing provision;
Amendment 643 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for legislation ensuring fair access for all to good-quality and affordable social services of general interest and other essential services, such as e-communications, energy, transport and financial services; highlights the very useful role of social enterprises and not- for-profit organisations in this context given that their primary objective is not maximisation of financial returns but positive social impact;
Amendment 657 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Supports a Skills Guarantee as a new right for everyone to acquire fundamental skills for the 21st century, including digital literacy; highlights this as an important social investment, requiring adequate financingincluding digital literacy; stresses that education systems should be inclusive, providing good-quality education equitably to the whole population, responding to labour market needs, enabling people to be active European citizens and preparing them to be able to learn and adapt throughout their lives; considers that completion of secondary education should be obligatory in 21st century Europe and that relevant programmes must put in place to give a new chance to all young people who have dropped out from primary or secondary school; considers that the Skills Guarantee should involve individualised assessment of learning needs, a quality learning offer as well as systematic validation of skills and competences acquired, enabling their easy recognition on the labour market; highlights the Skills Guarantee as an important social investment, requiring adequate financing at national and European level, possibly involving an increase of the European Social Fund and/or support from a new convergence instrument for the Eurozone; requests that national public investments in the Skills Guarantee be considered within a 'silver rule on social investment' under the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 701 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point a
Paragraph 19 – point a
a. social insurance schemes must be broadened in order to enable all workers to accumulate entitlements providing income security in situations such as unemployment, involuntary part-time work, old age or career breaks for family or training reasons;
Amendment 711 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point b
Paragraph 19 – point b
b. all workers should have a personal activity account, easily accessible through a website and/or a smartphone application, where they could consult their accumulated social entitlements and other social rights, including to lifelong learning; adequate data protection should be ensured;
Amendment 717 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 19 – point b a (new)
ba. digital platforms and other intermediaries should have an obligation to report all work undertaken through them to the competent authorities for the purpose of ensuring adequate contributions and protection through social and health insurance for all workers, even if they work in short gigs;
Amendment 720 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Points out that secure professional transitions require adequate investment, both in the institutional capacity of public employment services and to assist individual job-search and upskilling at the earliest stage possible; reminds of the useful role of the European Social Fund in supporting active labour market policies throughout Europe and of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which supports re-skilling and return to employment in case of regional economic shocks and large-scale lay-offs;
Amendment 731 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for full implementation of the Youth Guarantee for all people under 30, with emphasis on quality offers and effective outreach to all NEETs, and of the recommendation on the long- term unemployed; highlights these as important structural reforms and social investments that are in need of adequate financing, possibly involving an increase of the European Social Fund, an extension of the Youth Employment Initiative by more than the €1bn foreseen under the MFF 2014-20 mid-term review, and/or support from a new convergence instrument for the Eurozone; requests that national public investments for the Youth Guarantee and integration of long-term unemployed be counted within a 'silver rule on social investment' under the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 783 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to set out new concrete measures to ensure non- discrimination and equal opportunities and enhance labour market participation and social integration of under-represented groups, building e.g. on the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies; points to the acute need to help vulnerable migrants arriving in Europe, notably children and women, regardless of their status, and calls for a flexible use of the European Social Fund for this purpose;
Amendment 813 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Emphasises that labour mobility within the EU is a right whose exercise must be supported but which, also through readily available information on the rights and duties of mobile workers and a smoothly functioning system of social security coordination; notes, however, that mobility should not be forced on workers by poor economic conditions in their home regions, and should not undermine host countries’ social standards; highlights that mobile workers are usually net contributors to host countries' public budgets; calls for adequate investments in public services in areas experiencing population increases;
Amendment 841 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to propose a clear roadmap for legislative updates and other measures that are necessary for full practical application of the EPSR; highlights that in cases of conflict of law,order to protect fundamental social rights, provisions such as the horizontal social clause (Article 9 TFEU) should be properly applied;, in particular through:
Amendment 846 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 – point a (new)
Paragraph 25 – point a (new)
(a) thorough social impact assessments in the context of 'better regulation';
Amendment 847 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 – point b (new)
Paragraph 25 – point b (new)
(b) full compliance with social rights and thorough pursuit of the Treaties' social objectives in the context of economic governance and financial assistance programmes; and
Amendment 848 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 – point c (new)
Paragraph 25 – point c (new)
(c) helping to resolve situations where economic freedoms and fundamental social rights may be in conflict;
Amendment 858 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 – introductory part
Paragraph 26 – introductory part
26. Considers that the objective of upward social and economic convergence should be underpinned by a set of targets, building on the Europe 2020 strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals and serving to guide the coordination of economic, employment and social policies in the EU, with due regard for Member States' starting positions; believes that these targets could also form part of the Convergence Code currently being discussed for the euro area, and could be based on the followinga set of social and economic indicators which are directly affected by public policies; the social indicators should include notably:
Amendment 868 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 – point a
Paragraph 26 – point a
a. the early school-leaving rate (before completion of secondary education);
Amendment 915 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 – point i
Paragraph 26 – point i
i. the total investment rate (gross fixed capital formation and social investment) and its implications for job creation and overall productivity;
Amendment 938 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls for a rebalancing of the European Semester so that the existing scoreboard of key employment and social indicators and the new Convergence Code are directly and transparently taken into account in formulating CSRs and the euro area recommendation as well as for the activation of EU instruments; considers that the instruments of the European Employment Strategy and social open method of coordination should also be reinforced to this end; urges a stronger role for the Macroeconomic Dialogue with social partners in the formulation of the economic policy mix at European level; considers ‘macro-social surveillance’ to be of great importance, notably at the level of the Eurozone, for avoiding that economic imbalances are reduced at the expense of worsening the employment and social situation; reiterates its call for a European agenda of structural reforms and investments aiming to strengthen growth potential based on quality jobs and productivity, to promote fair, robust, efficient and fiscally sustainable welfare systems, and to foster a sustainable transition of Member States’ economies towards greater resource efficiency; invites the Commission in this context to develop benchmarking of relevant policy packages;
Amendment 962 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls for a ‘silver rule’ on social investment to be applied when implementing the Stability and Growth Pact, namely to consider certain public social investments having a clear positive impact on economic growth (e.g. childcare or education and trainingthe Child Guarantee, education, the Youth Guarantee and the Skills Guarantee) as being eligible for favourable treatment when assessing government deficits and compliance with the 1/20 debt rule; highlights that fiscal consolidation should not undermine national co-financing of European funding for social investment;
Amendment 965 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Reiterates its call for joint meetings to be held between the EPSCO and ECOFIN Council formations with a view to promoting better coordinated socio-economic policies, as well as for regular meetings of euro area labour and social ministers serving to improve policy coordination within the Eurozone and properly address social imbalances;
Amendment 977 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Highlights that today’s phenomena of capital-intensive production, and the important contribution of intangible assets to the creation of added value on the one hand, and high rates of inequality and the continuing rise in ’atypical’ work on the other hand imply a need to increase the role of general tax revenue in cofinancing social insurance schemes in order to provide decent social protection for all; financing welfare systems in order to provide decent social protection for all; recalls that accumulation of social insurance entitlements through work is an important aspect of decent work and is likely to contribute to longer-term economic and social stability more than means-tested benefits or unconditional basic income schemes can do; points out, however, that the current tax wedge on labour (including social security contributions from employees and employers) should be reduced and social insurance schemes should be cofinanced to a greater extent from other sources of revenue, including taxation of capital gains, intangible assets, wealth or pollution; highlights also that combatting corporate tax avoidance is crucially important for ensuring an adequate level of public investments and the sustainability of welfare systems;
Amendment 984 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Calls for a swift launch of the long-delayed Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) in order to reduce administrative burden on national authorities;
Amendment 998 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 – point a
Paragraph 30 – point a
a. the strengthening of the Youth Employment Initiative to maintain its funding from the dedicated budget line at €3 billion per year;
Amendment 1031 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission and the EIB Group to refocus the EFSI on job creation and sustainable development, including through social investment, and adapt its risk/return requirements accordingly;
Amendment 1060 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 – point a
Paragraph 32 – point a
a. a fund for renewed structural convergence, supporting the implementation of socially just reforms and investments that are necessary for increasing the growth potential of crisis- affected areas and restoring upward social convergence, including implementation of the Youth Guarantee, Skills Guarantee and Child Guarantee; such a fund could co- finance the Youth Employment Initiative as well as a 'European Skills Initiative' and a 'European Initiative against Child Poverty' which could be considered as financing mechanisms to support the implementation of the Skills Guarantee and Child Guarantee respectively, with support calibrated based on structural needs (e.g. dropout rates, child poverty) as well as on the cyclical economic situation in the Member States or region concerned;
Amendment 1076 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 – point b
Paragraph 32 – point b
b. a European unemployment insurance or re-insurance scheme, complementing national schemes in cases of severe cyclical downturn and helping prevent the translation of an asymmetric shock into structural disadvantage; this scheme should be equipped with relevant safeguards against lasting transfers or unintended weakening of existing national schemes; in particular, it should be complementary to national schemes without replacing them, it should provide only short-term support related only to cyclical unemployment and/or reduction of working hours due to a cyclical downturn, and it should be financed from general tax revenue as opposed to social insurance contributions; the scheme should be strongly linked to re-training measures and underpinned by minimum standards regarding the coverage of national schemes, activation requirements and the quality of job-search support provided to unemployed people;
Amendment 1090 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to integrate the above-mentioned financial instruments in its proposals for the post- 2020 multiannual financial framework and its white paper on the future of the EU and EMU;
Amendment 1098 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to translate the EPSR into relevant external action, in particular by promoting the implementation of the UN SDGs, the ILO conventions, relevant G20 conclusions and European social standards through trade agreements and strategic partnerships; calls for provisions ensuring equal treatment in terms of wages and working conditions as a precondition for labour migration schemes in the framework of trade agreements;
Amendment 1118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Considers that the EPSR should be adopted in 2017 as a binding agreement between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council, involving social partners and civil society at the highest level, and should contain a clear roadmap for implementation, with concrete commitments and target dates;