Activities of Verónica LOPE FONTAGNÉ related to 2011/2052(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European platform against poverty and social exclusion (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Platform against poverty and social exclusion PDF (357 KB) DOC (207 KB)
Amendments (47)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard to the revised European Social Charter, in particular its article 30 on the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the European Platform on Poverty and Social Exclusion
Amendment 23 #
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,unemployment
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas poverty is detrimental to growth, increases public budget deficits and undermines the EU's competitiveness,the decline in European competitivity undermines growth, causing unemployment and poverty
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the adoption of structural reforms is essential to ensure Europe's competitiveness, create jobs and fight poverty
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 D #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for it to be made clear that the Commission will be legally accountable in on the Commission to fully take account of the correct horizontal social clause as specified in Article 9 TFEU, under which the EU is to take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health, and calls for the Commission to specify how the Platform will affect assessments of the implementation of that clause; calls for the social impact assessments of European policies to go into greater depthe, event that the horizontal social clause is not applied, and calls for the Commission to specify how the Platform will affect assessments of the implementation of that clause where those policies are not initiated by the Commission but by the European Council, as in the case of the Euro Plus pact; considers that such an in- depth analysis of the application of this clause will make it possible to avoid a levelling-down of social standards in Europe and to promote the development of a common social basis in Europe; calls for this social impact assessment to be made with the associations active in combating poverty and to take account of the situation of the poorest people in Europe as a reference; considers that these assessments should involve the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Commission’s departments responsible for social affairs under the responsibility of a director- general reporting to the General Secretariat of the European Commission;
Amendment DD #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas poverty is detrimental to growth, increases public budget deficits and undermines the EU’s competitiveness, because poverty levels in the EU Member States have been high for very many years, the impact of poverty on the economy is steadily increasing; whereas poverty is detrimental to growth, increases public budget deficits and undermines the EU’s competitiveness, factors which in themselves create poverty and unemployment, particularly long- term unemployment, which affects one- third of the jobless, a situation that is worse in the more economically vulnerable countries; whereas the preservation of social rights in the European Union is fundamental in any attempt to address poverty,
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas poverty is a multi-faceted problem requiring an integrated response which is tailored to different stages of life and to people's multi-dimensional needs, and which is based on guaranteeing access to rights, resources and services, to cover basic needs and prevent social exclusion
Amendment EE #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas poverty is a multi-faceted problem requiring an integrated response which is tailored to different stages of life and to people’s multi-dimensional needs, and which is based on guaranteeing access to rights, resources and services, as reflected in the Common Objectives of the open method of coordination on social protection and social inclusion (2006), in order to cover basic needs and prevent social exclusion,
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 I #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls forWelcomes the Commission’s announcement of a Communication on implementing the Commission’s 2008 recommendation concerning the active inclusion strategy and calls for it to include, in particular, a timetable for implementing thits three Ccommission’s 2008 recommendation concerning the active inclusion strategyponent strands, specifying a multi-annual work programme for delivery at national and EU level; expresses its concern at the postponement of the Communication on Active Inclusion to 2012, and asks the Commission to advance the publication of the Communication to 2011; calls for an explicit commitment by the Council, Commission and Parliament to mobilise all policies to reduce poverty, ensuring that economic, employment and social inclusion policies contribute to the eradication of poverty rather than to its increase;
Amendment JJ #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas poverty and social exclusion remain a key social determinant of health1 and life conditions, including life expectancy depe, and oin the social environment and on child povertyparticular the impact of child poverty on child health and well- being, and whereas there is still a significant gap between rich and poor when it comes to health, which is continuing to widen in some respects,affordable access to health services, as well as in income and wealth, which is continuing to widen in some respects, __________________ 1 CSDH (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva, World Health Organization
Amendment KK #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas, because our society is ageing, the number of dependent people will increase considerably in the near future; whereas elderly people, in particular women, are at greater risk of poverty than the general population, in several countries, as a result of their loss of income on retirement and other factors such as physical dependence, solitude and social exclusion; whereas the breakdown of intergenerational social bonds is a major problem facing our societies,
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas employment alone is not sufficienta decent job allows to lift people out of poverty, and whereas the problem of the working poor has gained increasing recognition in recent years,
Amendment LL #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas women are in general more vulnerable to poverty than men owing to various factors such as gender discrimination at work, which results in the persistent gender pay gap, the resulting pension disparities, and labour market discriminationbut also career breaks in order to care for dependants and labour market discrimination; whereas only 63% of women work in Europe, compared to 76% of men, and having regard to the lack of support networks and concrete measures to help parents achieve a work/life balance, including affordable care services,
Amendment N #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Ccalls for equal rights and equal social protection for all workers in each Member State, with due regard for differing practices, collective labour agreements and legislation in the various Member States and for the subsidiarity principle, for respect for equal rights and equal social protection for all in each Member State, whether they are Union citizens or third- country nationals; calls on Member States to fight against illegal and undeclared work;
Amendment P #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Acknowledges the need to assess the impact of EU funds in terms of achieving the poverty reduction target, even where this is not their primary objective, where possible, the effectiveness, impact, coordination and value for money of EU funds, especially of the European Social Fund (ESF) in terms of achieving the poverty reduction target, even where this is not their primary objective, reducing the economic discrepancies, prosperity imbalances and differences in living standard levels across EU Member States and regions, and therefore promoting economic and social cohesion; maintains that priority must be given to projects that combine employment targets and strategies with integrated active inclusion approaches, such as projects designed to strengthen intergenerational solidarity at regional and local level or which specifically contribute to realising gender equality and the active inclusion of vulnerable groups; stresses the importance of effective action for solidarity, including reinforcement, anticipation of transfer and reduction of cofinancing in respect of budgetary funding for creating decent jobs, supporting productive sectors and fighting poverty and social exclusion, rather than creating new forms of dependence; stresses the importance of supporting the combat of poverty and social exclusion, and access to quality employment and non discrimination, ensuring adequate income and promoting access to quality services;
Amendment Q #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Member States to submit national reform programmes consistent with the aim of the Platform, and calls on the Commission to refrain from restricting the Member States’ capacity for investment and social spending in the context of economic governance, bearing in mind that poverty reduction requires smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as indicated in the Europe 2020 strategy; with the Union's objectives of social and sustainable development, and, supporting the Commission’s recognition that poverty ‘is unacceptable in 21st Century Europe’, calls on them to refrain from calling into question wage indexation systems and collective labour agreements or restricting, in an unreasonable and unjustified way, their capacity for investment and social spending in the context of economic governance, whilst ensuring the sustainability of public finances and the creation of well-paid work, bearing in mind that poverty reduction is an essential corollary of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as indicated in the Europe 2020 strategy; calls for clarification of the status of national action plans for social inclusion and, in particular, the question of their integration into national reform programmes under the EU 2020 strategy; calls on the Commission to develop country-specific Recommendations to meet the poverty reduction target, especially in case of failure, bearing in mind that poverty reduction requires us to step up our efforts and mobilise all parties and all our resources to significantly reduce poverty and extreme poverty in the medium term and to greatly reduce or eradicate poverty by 2020 at the latest; proposes that the Commission draw up guidelines for the Member States at European level to ensure that local authorities and other stakeholders participate effectively in the drafting of national reform programmes; notes that ‘territorial pacts’ potentially offer the most comprehensive and consistent means of involving local authorities in this process, as proposed in the Fifth Cohesion Report; considers that there would be no hope of achieving the Europe 2020 strategy aim of reducing by 20 million the number of people at risk of poverty if austerity measures which are a step backwards in terms of employment and social protection were adopted by the Member States;
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 T #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. AdvocatesRecommends the Member States to adopt a proactive decent housing policy in order to ensure universal access to decent, affordable housingquality housing at affordable prices or on preferential terms of purchase, and to prevent the loss thereof, with guaranteed access to services essential to health and safety, the lack of such housing being a serious affront to dignity, along with a proactive energy policy that steps up the use of renewable energies and boosts energy efficiency in order to combat energy poverty; calls for more attention to be paid to housing for migrants, who are often exploited and forced to live in sub- standard housing; recalls Protocol 26 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon on social housing and calls for the provisions contained therein to be respected, in particular on the Member States’ freedom to organise social housing, including the question of financing; encourages the Member States to implement special housing programmes and opportunities for homeless people, in view of guaranteeing the most basic standards of living for the most vulnerable in society;
Amendment U #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for Roma people, and the organisations that represent and work with them, to be actively involved in the elaboration and implementation of the national Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, so as to contribute to achieving the EU poverty target; calls on the European Union and the Member States to establish the European strategy to promote Roma inclusion as soon as possible, and calls on the Member States to propose, by the end of this year, measures to promote the inclusion of Roma in accordance with the European framework for coordinating national Roma inclusion strategies presented by the Commission in April 2011; stresses that, as with the fight against poverty and social exclusion, the inclusion and integration of the Roma will require greater effort to achieve, by 2020, their full inclusion and an end to the numerous forms of discrimination to which they are subject; 16a. calls for other marginalised communities such as immigrants to be involved in all EU or Member State policies relating to their social inclusion;
Amendment V #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for the fight against child poverty to focus on prevention through the provision of equal access to high-quality early childhood serviceseducation and care services, in order to prevent children from starting school life with multiple disadvantages, and to other provisions for children (activity centres during the school period and holidays, etc., extracurricular, cultural, sports activities, etc.), ensuring that the network of such services and centres covers all areas adequately; calls for financial support for proven services and the systematic integration of family-support policies in all relevant areas of activity, combining a universal approach with targeted measures for the most vulnerable families, in particular the families of handicapped children, single-parent families and large families; calls for the relationship between parents and children to be given particular attention in programmes to combat poverty and social exclusion in order to prevent children being placed in care as a consequence of severe poverty;
Amendment W #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Wishes the Commission to initiate a framework directive on minimum incomelaunch, in full compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, a consultation on the possibility of a legislative initiative on a sensible minimum income that will allow economic development, designed to prevent poverty and serve as a basis for people to live in dignity, play their full part in society and make headway with finding employment or identifying training opportunities and playing an automatic stabilising role for the economy, with due regard for differing practices, collective labour agreements and legislation in the various Member States, the definition of a minimum income being the prerogative of the Member State; wishes the Commission to help Member States share best practice on minimum income levels and encourages Member States to develop minimum income schemes based on an average of 60% of the median income in each Member State;
Amendment Y #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Maintains that elderly care facilitiesprogrammes, including home care, must be developed and reviewed in all the Member States so as to prevent elderly people falling into exclusion or poverty and that financial support should also be provided if possible for families caring for the elderly, in line with achieving the sustainable society and with particular regard to active ageing and improving support for solidarity between generations and encouraging accessibility and solidarity and improving the quality of long-term care; calls on the Commission to assess whether a directive on carer’s leave could help achieve this;
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 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas health and life expectancy depend on the social environment and on child poverty,conditions, including life expectancy, are closely related to everyone’s social environment from early childhood and whereas there is still a significant gap between rich and poor when it comes to health, which is continuing to widen in some respects,
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas elderly people, in particular women, are at greater risk of poverty than the general population as a result of their loss of income on retirement and other factors such as physical dependence, solitude and social exclusion; whereas the breakdown of intergenerational social bonds is a major problem facing our societies,
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas womensingle parent families are more vulnerable to poverty owing to various factors such as the persistent gender pay gap, the resulting pension disparities, and labour market discrimination,
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas 20% of children are at risk of poverty, compared with 17% of the EU'’s overall population, and low-income families are amongst the categories most exposed to poverty
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to actively involve civil society at national and European level and to make discussions with people living in poverty a formcentral part of the annual convention on poverty; calls for appropriate and regular follow-up of the recommendations so developed;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for it to be made clear that the Commission will be legally accountable in the event thaton the Commission to survey the correct application of the horizontal social clause ias not appliedspecified in the article 9 of the TFEU, and calls for the Commission to specify how the Platform will affect assessments of the implementation of that clause;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for a timetable for implementing the Commission's 2008 recommendation concerning the active inclusion strategyn integrated EU anti-poverty strategy based on human rights, in particular economic and social rights;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Supports the creation of decent jobs through vocational training and the provision of personalised job-seeking assistance, in particular for disadvantaged groups;Calls on the Commission to tackle the phenomenon of the working poor as well as to create secure jobs and ensure the correct application of flexible contract arrangements so as they cannot be abused.
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for equalnsuring the respect of enshrined rights and adequalte social protection for all workers in each Member State; calls on Member States to fight against illegal and undeclared work;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Urges Member States to step up their efforts to substantially and effectively combat the phenomenon of undeclared employment, which, in addition to the enormous adverse economic consequences it has for the viability of social security systems, is incompatible with the principles of decent work and denies access to social security systems, thereby creating a severe risk of poverty;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Urges Member States, as part of measures to support participation in employment, especially of women, through the reconciliation of work and family life, to facilitate access to quality and affordable care facilities, since a large proportion of EU citizens remain outside the labour market as they are taking care of a family member, which increases the risk that they will fall into poverty;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Acknowledges the need to assess the impact ofinvest more effectively EU funds in terms ofhe view to achievinge the poverty reduction target, even where this is not their primary obfor example by mainstreaming social inclusion through all ESF-funded projectives; maintains that priority must be given to projects that combinpursue employment targets and strategies with ain an Active iInclusion approach;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Member States to submit national reform programmes consistent with the aim of the Platform, and calls on the Commission to refrain from restricting the Member States' capacity for investment and social spending in the context of economic governance,to take necessary measures aimed at ensuring the sustainability of public finances and to adopt necessary reforms to guarantee the creation of employment bearing in mind that poverty reduction requires smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as indicated in the Europe 2020 strategy;
Amendment 303 #
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;close gaps in the existing anti-discrimination legislation which is currently not covering all relevant aspects.
Amendment 314 #
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 nowill be no more obstacles hindering their contribution to poverty reduction;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Advocates a proactive housing policy in order to ensure universal access to decent, affordable housing, along with a proactive energy policy that steps up the use of renewable energies and boosts energy efficiency; Member States shall be encouraged to implement special housing programs and opportunities for homeless people, in view of guaranteeing the most basic standards of living for the most vulnerable in society;
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for Roma to be involved in all EU or Member State policies relating to their social inclusionpeople, and the organisations that represent and work with them, to be actively involved in the elaboration and implementation of the national Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, so as to contribute to achieving the EU poverty target;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for the fight against child poverty to focus on prevention in various ways, such as through the provision of access to early childhood services, ensuring that the network of such services covers all areas adequately, through programmes supporting impoverished families and by providing children with equal opportunities in education;
Amendment 358 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Emphasizes that the fight against poverty requires a holistic and consistent approach, embracing all policy areas; it is particularly important to reinforce actions at both European and national level in terms of both prevention and intervention to address this phenomenon;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Wishes the Commission to initiate a framework directive on minimum incomeEncourages Member States to develop minimum income schemes at Member States level, designed to prevent poverty and serve as a basis for people to live in dignity and make headway with finding employment or identifying training opportunities, with due regard for differing practices, collective labour agreements and legislation in the various Member States;
Amendment 383 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Maintains that elderly care facilitiesprograms, including home care, must be developed in all the Member States so as to prevent elderly people falling into exclusion or poverty;