Activities of Verónica LOPE FONTAGNÉ related to 2014/2059(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2014 priorities (debate) ES
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2014 priorities
Amendments (40)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, after six years of economic crisis and negative growth rates, the economic recovery is gaining ground and it is expected to be spread to all Member States by 2015; whereas the Commission’s forecasts for the economic recovery are still fragile and insufficient, the reforms must continue to achieve citizens’ employment and social demands; whereas the Commission recognises that in many parts of the EU the social situation is depressed, that unemployment has reached unprecedented heights and that the divergences among regions and Member States are growing; whereas measures to tackle this employment and social emergency need to be put in place as a matter of urgency;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, notwithstanding a mild decline in unemployment, unemployment rates in the EU are still incredibly alarming (25.005 million in the EU-28 in June 2014); whereas, furthermore, the differences between Member States’ unemployment rates (5 % in Austria, compared with 27.3 % in Greece) represent a major risk both for the economic stability of the EU and for European social cohesion;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the labour market is now one of the major causes of inequality between Member States and between different sectors, showing to divergences in access to employment, working conditions, or wage levels insufficient to guarantee decent living standards;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. Whereas the economic and financial crisis has highlighted the fragility of public finances in some Member States;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. Whereas budget and fiscal consolidation have been necessary to avoid bankruptcy of some Member States and to guarantee the sustainability and viability of the EU economy and the EU welfare state;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
C c. whereas once the economic and budgetary sustainability can be guaranteed, efforts should be focused on economic growth, job creation and social aspects;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the Commission has acknowledged that excessive austerity policies have had a negative impact on economic growth, undertaken because of they failed to take into account the effects of the fiscal multipliers, and that such austerity polic severe situation of several EU economies, have resulted in tough cuts to social spending in fundamental areas such as education, health and pensions, resulting in unprecedented levels of inequality and poverty in the EUhad a negative impact on economic growth and social aspects;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas Article 9 TFEU provides that: «In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall 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 whereas this horizontal clause has not been implemented sufficiently in all policy areas so as to achieve the objectives of Article 3 TEU;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas Art. 174 TFUE provides that "In order to promote its overall harmonious development, the Union shall develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion. In particular, rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps such as the northernmost regions with very low population density and island, cross- border and mountain regions";
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that the focus of the 2014 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) has shifted from solely boosting fiscal consolidation to strengthening the conditions for sustainable growth and employment; recalls that within the current Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) there are still margins intended to facilitate economic growth in the EU, and that differences in the Member States’ economic and social situations need to be taken into account; calls for greater flexibility margins in order to boost job creation; takes the view, however, that some of the structural reforms promoted by the Commission – especially labour reforms, wage devaluation, pension reforms, etc. – may result in the same contractionary effects on the economy or on internal demand as the excessive austerity conducted up to now; calls on the Commission, therefore, to assess the economic and social impact of such policies before recommending them;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the Commission's recognition that fiscal consolidation must continue in a growth-friendly and differentiated manner, which will allow Member States not only to invest in growth and job creation, but also to tackle high debt, unemployment or the challenges of an ageing society;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Welcomes the fact that the Commission takes into account the divergences between Member States apparent in National Reform Programmes (NRPs), but calls on the Commission and Member States to pay special attention to those regions with permanent natural or demographic handicaps, in particular when considering fund allocations;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is deeply concerned that, up to now, the recommendations made as part of the European Semesternomic and financial situation haves taken us further away from achieving the employment and social targets of the Europe 2020 strategy; calls on the new Commission to ask immediately that the Member States report on national progress on the Europe 2020 strategy and correct this discrepancy in their national reform programmes (NRPs) to be presented as part of the next European SemesterMember States to set up well-defined national strategies to move forward with the Europe 2020 strategy in their national reform programmes (NRPs);
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for a true «social pillar’ to be implemented withincontinuing the development of the social dimension of the economic and monetary union (EMU) as part of the process of improving economic governance mechanisms, so as to reduce unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, overcome social dumping and prevent competition for the lowest social standards in the EU;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the Commission’s use of the new employment and social scoreboard for this year’s CSRs; considers it regrettable, however, that these indicators have not been made binding in view of the current employment and social emergency; calls on the Commission, therefore, to put them on an equal footing with macroeconomic indicators, and to includealls for the inclusion of additional indicators – such as child poverty levels, access to healthcare, homelessness, and a decent work index – in the scoreboard in order to allow more effective analysis of Member States’ employment and social concerns;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates its call for a meeting of the Eurogroup employment and social affairs ministers to be held prior to euro summits whenever necessary, so as to ensure that social and employment concerns are addressed more fully in the discussions and decisions of the eurozone authorities, and with a view to contributing to the meetings of the eurozone heads of state and government; believes thatin the importance of joint meetings between the EPSCO and ECOFIN Councils with the aim of achieving a coherent position are also crucialwhenever necessary;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’s recognition that the impact of fiscal consolidation measures, taken in order to guarantee not only the sustainability of some Member States economies, but the sustainability of the whole European economy, on the EU employment and social situation has been severe and far- reaching; calls for the immediate fulfilment ofon Member States to fulfil all the employment and social obligations set out in the Treaties and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; calls on the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights to assess thoroughly the impact of these measures on fundamental rights and to issue recommendations in the event of breaches of the Charter;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the abovementioned mild decline in unemployment rates in the EU; recalls, however, that the Europe 2020 strategy accurately states that the figure to watch is the employment rate, which indicates the availability of human and financial resources to ensure the sustainability of our economic and social model; asks that the slowdown in the unemployment rate not be confused with the recovery of lost jobs, as no account is taken of increased emigration or forced early retirement;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the new Commission to make the employment recovery a true priority by establishing an ambitious and holistic strategy for quality job creation, which should involve all the new Commissioners; takes the view that, to this end, each Commissioner should draw up a quality employment plan for their specific policy area, including concrete measures, a budget allocation and a calendar for its implementation;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is concerned that the Commission’s strategy of restoring EU competitiveness through an excessive adjustment of unit labour costs via salary reductions has sharply eroded the purchasing power of many EU workers, lowered household incomes and depConsiders that the EU competitiveness recovery cannot be reached by cost- cutting alone, but needs to be accompanied by incresased internal demand, further fuelling unempvestment in research and develoypment and social exclusion, particularly in those countries hit hardest by the crisis, education and skills and resource efficiency; points out that a cross-sectoral policy for restoring competitiveness must also contemplate strategies focusing on other production costs, price developments and profit margins, and on boosting innovation and excellence;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the Commission’s call, in its umbrella communication on the CSR in the EU as a whole, to invest more in R&D, innovation, education, skills and active labour market policies, together with energy, transport and the digital economy; considers, however, that in the context of the current process of fiscal consolidation these goals can be achieved only through greater flexibility within the SGP;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Is concerned that financial fragmentation in the Euro area is, in some cases, jeopardising SMEs growth and sustainability; calls for a restoration of the economy's lending capacity, which allows SMEs to invest and create jobs, as well as for easing the access to entrepreneurship and the access of SMEs to programs such as COSME or Horizon 2020;
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Calls on Member States to eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens and bureaucracy for the self-employed, micro- enterprises and SMEs and to facilitate the conditions for start-up of businesses;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Stresses the need to shift the tax burden away from labour towards other forms of sustainable tax in order to promote growth and job creation;
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is concerned that, in many Member States and sectors, job losses are couStresses the need to ensure that peopled with a decline in job quality, an increase in precarioutemporary or part-time contracts forms of employment and who are self-employed have a deterioration in basic labour standardsquate social protection; stresses that the Commission and the Member States need to make dedicated efforts to address the increase in involuntary part-time employment and temporary contracts, payless internships and apprenticeships, and bogus self- employment, together withguarantee job quality and to tackle the activities of the black economy;
Amendment 133 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Observes that, in its 2013 annual report on the EU employment and social situation, the Commission highlighted the importance of social protection expenditure as a safeguard against social risks; notes, however, that social policies and social standards have been widely used as adjustment factors by those EMU members experiencing negative economic shocks; considers it regrettable that the CSRs do not refer to European automatic stabilisers; recalls the importance of suchrecalls the importance of the automatic stabilisers in dealing with asymmetrical shocks, in avoiding excessive depletion of national welfare states and thus in strengthening the sustainability of EMU as a whole; reiterates its call on the Commission to produce a Green Paper on automatic stabilisers in the eurozone;
Amendment 155 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Highlights the rising number of workers, particularly young people, departing their countries of origin for other Member States in search of employment opportunities, and is deeply concerned about the persistent divergences between those Member States creating employment and those supplying a low-cost labour force; urges the Commission to develop a better legal framework for cross-border movement of workers in order to ensure freedom of movement while consecrating the principle of equal treatment and safeguarding wages and social standards; calls for the establishment in each Member State, either by law or through collective bargaining, of a minimum wage equivalent to at least 60 % of the respective national average wage; urges the Commission to guarantee the cross-border movement of workers in order to ensure freedom of movement while consecrating the principle of equal treatment and safeguarding wages and social standards;
Amendment 171 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the mild decline in youth unemployment, but points out that it is still at alarming levels: 22 % in the EU-28 and 23.1 % in the eurozone; highlights the worrying differences between Member States (7.8 % in Germany and 53.5 % in SpainGreece (56.3% in April 2014)); considers it regrettable that even when young people do find a job, many of them – 43 % on average, compared with 13 % of adult workers – find themselves working under precarious conditions or on part-time contracts, making it difficult for them to live independently from their families and resulting in a loss of innovation and expert resources which affects production and growth;
Amendment 182 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to propose a binding European framework for the implementation of the Youth Guarantees so as to prevent the funds being misused in such a way as to aggravate national internal wage devaluation processes; takes the view that this legal framework should introduce binding minimum standards for the implementation of the Youth Guarantees, including the quality of apprenticeships, decent wages for young people and access to employment services, and should cover young people aged between 25 and 30Recommends Member States to implement Youth Guarantees schemes in order to promote youth employment; calls on the Commission and the Member States to make the Youth Guarantees a priority and to increase the available budget, at the latest in the promised mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework, up to at least; Notes the sum of EUR 21 billion estimated by the International Labour Organisation to be necessary to resolve the problem in the eurozone;
Amendment 188 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Stresses the importance of emphasizing practical skills and the dual system of vocational training which makes young people more employable;
Amendment 189 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Calls on the Member States to improve cooperation between businesses and the education sector at all levels;
Amendment 193 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges the Member States to go above and beyondWelcomes the March 2014 Council recommendation for a Quality Framework for Traineeships in order to prevent discrimination and exploitation of young workers; calls for the adoption of a directive on decent conditions and minimum standards for internships and traineeships, giving interns and trainees clearly defined rights that include access to social protection, binding written contracts and fair remuneration and introducing limits on the use of trainees and interns in companies so as to prevent abuses;
Amendment 203 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Calls for affordable and quality public services in the field of child and dependent people care which will permit, especially for women, the return to employment and to facilitate the conciliation of work and private life;
Amendment 205 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23 b. Calls on the Member States to pay particular attention to high unemployment rates among disadvantaged groups, giving priority to accession and integration into the labour market and the mainstreaming of accession and integration policies, as employment is the key to successful integration;
Amendment 208 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Is deeply concerned that long-term unemployed people and senior workers are experiencing higher unemployment rates and additional difficulties in re-entering the labour market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to make full use of the European Social Fund to help these workers; urges the adoption of a directive on decent working conditions, defining core labour rights for all workers and introducing common minimum standards so as to prevent this kind of labour discrimination;
Amendment 217 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Welcomes those CSRs aimed at increasing the adequacy and coverage of minimum income schemesafety nets and social protection, and the number of CSRs relating to labour market inclusion policies; takes the view, however, that the uneven and fragile growth expected by the Commission in 2014 and 2015 will not by itself be able to tackle the severe impact that austerity measures and the crisis have had on the fight against poverty and social exclusion and on the achievement of the Europe 2020 goals; demands that the Member States propose specific, targeted measures within their NRPs with a view to tackling poverty, especially child poverty;
Amendment 229 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Regrets the fact that the Commission recommendations on pensions were made without taking into account Parliament’s position on the Green and White Papers on pensions; icalls concerned that reforms to guarantee the sustainability of pensions have focused solely on population ageing, without taking into account the importance of the employment rate, Member States to carry out the reforms needed to guarantee the sustainability of pensions systems; taking into account the population ageing; notes the importance of linking retirement age to life esxpecially in pay-as-you-go systemstancy; recalls that guaranteeing decent pensions above a minimum level is an effective way to fight poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 237 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Ask the European Commission to develop a strategy that would support Member States to tackle homelessness through integrated policies and appropriate social investment;
Amendment 240 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to support the effective use of EU funds to reduce poverty through partnership approaches involving civil society; calls on the Member States, especially those with the highest rates of unemployment and poverty, to use 25 % of their cohesion funding for programmes related to the European Social Fund; also requests, in view of the high poverty rates, an evaluation as to whether the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived is sufficiently well-funded, and if it is not, considering the possibility for an increment during the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework;