Activities of Verónica LOPE FONTAGNÉ related to 2013/2158(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2014 PDF (268 KB) DOC (129 KB)
Amendments (67)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the effects of the crisis and of the excessive fiscal consolidation policies pursued in recent years have resulted in an unprecedented and growing divergence in output and employment between core and periphery countries; whereas the core- periphery gap in unemployment rates reached 10 percentage points in 2012, compared with only 3.5 percentage points in 2000; whereas that divergence is forecast to peak this year;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas it is necessary to pursue with a growth friendly and differentiated fiscal consolidation to guarantee the sustainability of the welfare state and public finances in the long term;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas economic improvements should thus be taken as an encouragement to pursue efforts with determination but, lowering the rhythm to focus on growing and employment, in order to keep up the reform programs to improve competitiveness and secure a lasting recovery;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas systematic errors in the Commission’s economic forecasts for growth and unemployment in recent years demonstrate the need for a change of diagnosis and strategy with a view to ending the crisis; whereas the pace of fiscal consolidation has slowed, yet the deflationary impact of certain structural reforms, mostly focusing on external demand, are having the same severe effects on internal demand, with stagnant investment and growth and weak job creationthe pace of fiscal consolidation has slowed, yet there are clear signs that warns about the risk of deflation that combined with the current stagnant investment and growth and weak job creation can be very harmful for the European economy and needs to be addressed;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas the acceleration of the pressure posed by demographic developments on national budgets and pension systems now that the first cohorts of the “baby boom generation” retire;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas life expectancy is continuing to rise: for men form 76.7 years (2010) to 78.6 years (2020), for women from 82.5 years (2010) to 84 years (2020);
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
G c. taking into account the life- expectancy coefficient with a view to the sustainability of pension systems
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas certain macroeconomic imbalances, for instance in the area of external competitiveness, have improved, although internal imbalances between Member States have been exacerbated; whereas evidence shows that a one-size- fits-all policy that relies on external demand and squeezes internal demand is not possible for all eurozone members at the same time; whereas this is heightening the (underestimated) negative impact of simultaneous austerity programmes, thereby depressing internal demand and resulting in over-reliance on demand from third economies, at a time when there are signs of a weakening outlook for emerging economieswhereas it is necessary to continue with structural reforms to enhance competitiveness to foster growth and job creation;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the focus on speed and intensity in pursuing structural reforms has been asymmetrical among Member States, being much more demanding for periphery countries than for core countries, a situation which is liable to exacerbate imbalances in growth creation in the EUwhereas all Member States should share the same impetus and undertake the necessary structural reforms;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas a coherent policy mix combining macroeconomic policies, structural policies, sound labour market institutions, unsegmented labour markets, coordination of collective bargainingwell-functioning labour markets and well-resourced and efficient welfare systems (which serve as automatic stabilisers) is essential in absorbing cyclical shocks;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas since 2010 there has been a growing divergence in the capacity of national fiscal stabilisers to counteract the economic crisis and its employment and social consequences, with this capacity having practically disappeared in those countries hit hardest by the crisis; whereas household incomes, and thus domestic demand, have consequently been less well protected than before, further aggravating the recession; whereas Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs held a public hearing on 9 July 2013 on ‘The social dimension of the EMU – European unemployment benefit scheme’, which identified the need for automatic stabilisers at the eurozone level;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers it regrettable that the employment and social indicators proposed by the Commission are insufficient to cover the Member States’ employment and social situations comprehensively; calls for the scoreboard to include additional indicators, in particular child poverty levels, a decent work index and a European living wage index, in order to allow proper assessment of the social situation in the EU;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Council to define concrete benchmarks for employment and social indicators, in the form of an EU social protection floor, in order to trigger timely activationsupport measures at EU level;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Warns that until now the new Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure has been invoked mainly to urge countries to improve their competitiveness, thereby contributing to deflationary pressures in southern Europe, without requiring the same emphasis on creating inflationary pressures, via wage increases, in those countries with the necessary room for manoeuvre to do so; warns that using the same tools to seek growth via the external sector for all eurozone countries reduces the expected net results by growing external demand at the expense of internal demandwith negative imbalances to address them, mainly by improving their competitiveness, without requiring the same emphasis on Member States with positive imbalances;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the fact that in the AGS 2014 the Commission calls on the Member States to protect or promote longer-term investment in education, research and innovation, energy and climate action; considers this insufficient, however, to allow Member States with already- constrained budgets to accomplish that goal; calls on the Commission to explore and promote the necessary reforms to exclude productive investments, for instance in education, and research and development, from the deficit targets established under EU rules so as to ring- fence them, given their potential to generate growth and job;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Call on Member States to make full use of COSME and Horizon 2020 in ordert o help SME’s financing and foster their competitiveness and helping their sustainability not only in the short term, but also in the long term;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers that cohesion policy is essential in helping to reduce internal competitive disparities and structural imbalances; calls on the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to reprogramme unspent structural funding in favour of youth employment programmes and SMEs; calls on the Commission to find special solutions for those countries with very high unemployment rates which will be forced to return EU funds on account of co-financing problems; asks the Commission, to this end, to explore the possibility of excluding Member States’ participation in the co-financing of EU funds or programmes (under heading 1 (‘Sustainable growth’) of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)) from the calculation of their structural deficit as defined in the two-pack;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Is concerned that the Commission’s strategy of restoring EU competitiveness Calls for labour markets more adaptive and dynamic, able to adjust to disruptions in the economic situation withrough an excessive adjustment of unit labour costs via salary reductiont causing redundancies; Recalls that the lack of internal flexibility in many labour markets caused massive redundancies thast sharply eroded the purchasing power of many EU workers, lowered household incomes and depressed internal demand, further fuelling unemployment and social exclusion, particularly in those countries hit hardest by the crisis; points out that a transversal policy for restoring competitiveness must also contemplate strategies focusing on other production costs, price developments and profit margins;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes that decent wages are important not only for social cohesion and fairness in society, but also for maintaining a strong economy; calls on the Commission to propose measures that tackle inequality and guarantee decent pay; calls on the Member States to combat in-work poverty by pursuing labour market policies aimed at ensuring a living wage for those in work;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of reducing pressure on wages through minimum-wage schemes in those countries where exist, which can be different in each country so as to reflect median wage ratios and differing levels of productivity; points out that such a measure may make it possible to reduce deflation risks and inequality and to limit nominal imbalances in competitiveness and current accounts;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to make mandatory the presentation ofMember States to present national general and youth employment plans in the 2014 CSRNational Reform Programmes; considers it regrettable that, despite Parliament’s repeated requests, a significant number of Member States did not present such plans in 2013;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Considers it regrettableRegrets that the Council failed to take account of Parliament’s call for a focus on job quality in its guidance for 2013; calls on the Commission to include job quality, training, dual learning schemes access to lifelong learning, core workers’ rights, and support for labour market mobility and self-employment through increased security for workers in the CSRs based on the AGS 2014;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Stresses that labour market reforms should focus on increasing labour productivity and efficiency in order to boost the EU’s economic competitiveness and allow sustainable growth and job creation, while strictly respecting both the letter and the spirit of the European social acquis and its principles; believes that labour market reforms should be implemented in such a way as to promote internal flexibility and job quality;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Is deeply concerned that, once again, youth unemployment rates are continuing to rise; notes that the situation of unemployed young people is particularly worrying; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to take urgent action in this connection; calls for a European Pact for Youth Employment to implement long-agreed or new measures, and for new resources and measures to be committed with a view to tackling youth unemployment and reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs), taking into account the qualitative aspect of decent work that fully respects core labour standards;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Calls on the Commission to propose a quality framework for traineeships, comprising, inter alia, criteria for proper remuneration, learning outcomes, working conditions and health and safety standardworking conditions and learning outcomes; calls on the Commission, the Member States and the European social partners to implement the Alliance for Apprenticeships in an ambitious manner;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Notes that income inequality is growing across and within the Member States, particularly in the south of the EU and on its periphery; further notes that in many countries the crisis has intensified the long-term trends of wage polarisation and labour market segmentation, which, together with less redistributive tax and benefit systems, have fuelled rising inequality;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Stresses that the high – and, in some cases, growing – tax wedge, especially for low-wage- and second-income-earners, remains an issue in a considerable number of Member States; notes, however, that only a few countries have taken steps to address this problem, not least on account of the limited fiscal margin;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Is concernedNotes that in the AGS 2014 the Commission supports further increases in indirect taxes, which are generally less progressive than direct taxesthat tax systems should be redesigned by broadening tax bases, and shifting the tax burden away from labour on to tax bases linked to consumption, property and pollution; calls on the Commission to take note of the IMF’s October 2013 tax report, which points out that there is scope to tax better and more progressively in order to enhance the legitimacy of the consolidation effort while doing more to promote growth and bring in additional revenue along the way;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Supports the Commission’s call to shift the tax burden away from labour and suggests shifting it towards other forms of sustainable tax such as a harmonised corporate tax, the financial transaction tax (FTT) and carbon taxes;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49.Notes the importance of reducing taxation on labour, especially through well- targeted temporary reductions in social security contributions or job subsidy schemes for new recruits, especially young people, low- paid and low-skilled workers, the long- term unemployed and other vulnerable groups, while ensuring the long- range sustainability of public pension systems;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Is concerned about the increase in poverty among all age groups since the 2013 European Semester cycle; notes that poverty and social exclusion among 18- to 64-year-olds has increased significantly in two thirds of the Member States in recent years, mainly because of rising levels of jobless or low-work-intensity households and in-work poverty; notes that the risk of poverty and social exclusion in 2012 was much higher (48.8 %) for third-country nationals (aged 18 to 64) than for EU nationals;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52 a. Welcomes the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived which will help the most affected by poverty in their basic needed; ask on Member States to use funds properly and address them to most deprived;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Takes note of the CSR proposal for many Member States regarding pension reforms; considers it regrettable that the Commission’s recommendations were made without reference to Parliament’s recommendations in the Green and White Papers on pensions; stresses that pension reforms require national political and social cohesion and must be negotiated with the social partners to be successful;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 a (new)
Paragraph 53 a (new)
53 a. Welcomes the Commission´s note in the 2014 Annual Growth Survey pointing out that in many countries, pension reforms should be completed by linking statutory retirement age to life expectancy more systematically;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Stresses the need to carry out the necessary reforms to guarantee the sustainability of pension systems; believes that it is possible to raise the actual retirement age without raising the mandatory retirement age, byn order to raise effective retirement ages successfully and reducing the number of people leaving the labour market early; believes that in order to raise effective retirement ages successfully, pension reforms need to be accompanied by policies that limit access to early retirement schemes and other early exit pathways, develop employment opportunities for older workers, guarantee access to life-long learning, introduce tax benefit policies offering incentives to stay in work longer, and support active healthy ageing;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54 a (new)
Paragraph 54 a (new)
54 a. Believes that in order to guarantee the well-functioning and sustainability of pension system, Member States should adequate the retirement age life expectancy;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Notes that social protection and social policy, in particular unemployment benefits, minimum income support and progressive taxation, initially helped to reduce the depth of the recession and stabilised labour markets and consumption; stresses, however, that the capacity of these crucial economic and social stabilisers has been reduced to its absolute minimum owing to austerity measures in those Member States in which such stabilisers are most needed; notes that household incomes and domestic demand have consequently been less well protected, which has aggravated the recession in the countries concernedsocial effects of the crisis;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Stresses that social policies and social standards have been widely used as adjustment factors by those EMU members experiencing negative economic shocks; notes that such internal devaluations have had drastic social consequences for national welfare states and their citizens, resulting in a social emergency in many Member Stateshave been affected by the fiscal consolidation requirements by those EMU members experiencing negative economic shocks; Calls on the Member States to improve the adequacy and effectiveness of social protection systems, and to make sure that these continue to act as buffers against poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Invites the December 2013 European Council to define concrete steps forward in terms of building a genuine social and employment pillar as part of the EMU on the basis of the Community methodCommission to evaluate the possibilities to develop the social dimension of the EMU and to elaborate further on the modalities of introducing a European unemployment benefit scheme as an automatic stabiliser for the eurozone;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60
Paragraph 60
60. Stresses that all labour market reforms should be based on reinforced coordination of social dialogue at EU level;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 1 - Paragraph 1
Recommendation 1 - Paragraph 1
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 1 – paragraph 4
Recommendation 1 – paragraph 4
The Councilmmission should definpropose concrete benchmarks for the employment and social indicators in the form of a EU social protection floor in order to trigger timely activationsupport measures at EU level;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 2
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 3 – Paragraph 3
Member States should protect and promote investments in education, research and innovation. Calls on the Commission to explore and promote the necessary reforms to exclude these productive investments from deficit targets established in the EU rules in order to ring fence them, given their potential to generate growth and jobs;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 3 – Paragraph 6
Recommendation 3 – Paragraph 6
The Commission should urgently reprogramme the unspent Structural Funds in favour of youth employment programs and SMEs. Calls on the Commission to find special solutions to those countries with very high rates of unemployment, that, due to co-financing problems, will be forced to return the European funds. In this sense asks the Commission to explore the possibility of excluding Member States participation in cofinancing of EU funds or programs, within the heading 1 ‘sustainable growth’ of the Multiannual Financial Framework, from the calculation of the structural deficit as defined in the two-pack;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 1
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 1
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 3
The Commission should pursue a more balanced exit to the crisis and put ambition on the recommendations to core countries with margin of manoeuvre to pursue expansionary policies via wage increases which will help lower the excessive deflationary pressures on Southern Europe and will help to avoid the risks of exacerbating imbalances in growth and job creation in the Eurozone;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 4
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 4
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 6
Recommendation 4 – Paragraph 6
The Commission should explore reducing pressure on wages through minimum-wage schemes in those countries where exist allowing them to be different in each country in regards to its median wage ratio and reflecting different levels of productivity, which could allow reducing deflation risks, reduce inequalities, limit nominal competitiveness and current account imbalances;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 5 - Paragraph 1
Recommendation 5 - Paragraph 1
The Commission should note that private deleveraging is being hampered by excessive focus onshould be paid the same attention that public debt reductions and calls for a most balanced approach to avoid a major drag for European growth and job;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 1
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 1
National general and youth employment plans The Commission should make mandatory the presentation ofMember States should present national general, and youth employment plans in the CSR 2014 National Reform Programmes;
Amendment 256 #
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 9
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 9
Foster cooperation and synergies between the education-training sector and enterprises to anticipate skills’ needs and adapt education and training systems to the needs of the labour market with the objective to provide the workforce with necessary skills and facilitate the transition from education and training to work; in this context, dual learning schemes, should play a key role;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 13
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 13
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 15
Recommendation 6 – Paragraph 15
The Commission should propose a quality framework for traineeships comprising, inter alia, the criteria for properly remuneration, learning outcomes, working conditions and safety and health standards; , learning outcomes, and proper working ;calls on the Commission, Member States and the European social partners to implement the Alliance for Apprenticeships in an ambitious manner;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 – Paragraph 1
Recommendation 7 – Paragraph 1
The Commission should develop appropriate measures to revise the European law to guarantee the portability of pension rights and guaranteeing for a period of at least three months continuation of employment benefits while searching work in another Member States given the numbers of workers, particularly young people, departing their countries of origin for others within the EU in search of employment opportunities;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 7 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 7 – Paragraph 3
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 8 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 8 – Paragraph 3
Member states should shift the tax burden away from labour towards other forms of sustainable taxes such as a harmonised corporate tax, the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) and taxes on carbon;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 8 – Paragraph 5
Recommendation 8 – Paragraph 5
Taxation on labour, especially well targeted temporary reductions in social security contributions or job subsidy schemes for new recruits, especially on young people low paid and low skilled workers, long-term unemployed and other vulnerable groups, should be reduced ,while ensuring sustainability of public pension systems in the long run;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 10 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 10 – Paragraph 3
In order to guarantee the sustainability of pension systems: it is possible to raise the actual retirement age without raising the mandatorybelieves that to successfully raise effective retirement age bys and reducing the number of people leaving the labor market early; believes that to successfully raise effective retirement ages, reforms in pension systems need to be accompanied by policies that limit the access to early retirement schemes and other early exit pathways, develop employment opportunities for older workers, guarantee access to life-long learning, introduce tax benefit policies giving incentives to stay longer at work, and support active healthy ageing
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 10 – Paragraph 3 a (new)
Recommendation 10 – Paragraph 3 a (new)
Notes the uneven progress and level of ambition across Member States in formulating and implementing structural reforms aimed at raising employment, phasing out early retirement schemes and evaluating, at Member state level and together with social partners, the need to put both the statutory and effective retirement age on a sustainable footing with increases in life expectancy;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 11 – Paragraph 3
Recommendation 11 – Paragraph 3
Invites the European Council in December to define concrete steps forward in terms of building a genuine social and employment pillar as part of the EMU on the basis of the community methodCommission to evaluate the possibilities to develop the social dimension of the EMU and to further elaborate on the modalities of introducing a European unemployment benefit scheme as an automatic stabilizer for the Eurozone
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Recommendation 12 – Paragraph 1
Recommendation 12 – Paragraph 1
All labour market reforms should be based on reinforced the coordination of the Social Dialogue at EU level;