Activities of Antigoni PAPADOPOULOU related to 2013/2008(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the European Commission’s 7th and 8th progress reports on the EU Cohesion Policy and the Strategic Report 2013 on programme implementation 2007-2013
Amendments (10)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Encourages the Commission to support specific measures for the creation of more and sustainable jobs, for investment in regional and local development education, for the encouragement of local entrepreneurship and the creation of new financial instruments for all kinds of businesses and especially of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to combat increasing levels of unemployment , poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Acknowledges that a large part of ESF's (European social fund)expenditure is allocated in promoting more and better jobs, in supporting integration and participation of disadvantaged groups, and in the developing of an inclusive society accessible to all; stresses however, that at times of crisis, more emphasis should be paid that the European social fund (ESF) is efficiently targeted to combat local and regional inequalities and social exclusion; to give access to employment to the most vulnerable groups and young in particular and to assist women's re-integration into the labour market, by reducing gender-based segregation.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the high proportion of early school-leavers in some regions is significantly above the target of 10 % and that a solution must therefore be found to the problem of integrating poorly-trained young people into the labour market, taking into account the fact that the lack of qualifications leads to unemployment, which in turn results in poverty; to this end, ESF contribution is crucial, in helping more young people to stay at school and acquire the appropriate qualifications needed for a job and career and in ensuring wider access to high- quality education with special projects for children from disadvantaged groups and minorities.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member-States to adopt growth-friendly policies, including the prioritisation of spending in the areas of education, life- long learning, research and innovation, because austerity measures alone are not sufficient to combat the current economic crisis;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Stresses that the employment situation of young people is highly dependent on the overall economic situation and consequently the importance of support, guidance and monitoring of young people in their move from education to professional life is pertinent; the Commission could therefore align any future policy proposals in this area with the 'Youth on the Move' and 'Youth Opportunities' initiatives;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Reminds that the employment rates remained well below the Europe 2020 target, to have at least 75 % of the population aged 20–64 in employment by 2020; notes that while there are no specific employment rate targets at a regional level , EU Member States have set, individually, national targets which in most cases have not been met, as the financial and economic crisis had a strong asymmetric impact on regional labour markets, predominantly, of Southern Europe with a remarkable increase of youth unemployment;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Underlines the inequalities recorded between the highest regional employment rates in the EU in northern and central Europe, particularly in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and the United Kingdom and the lowest regional employment rates in the southern regions of Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Cyprus and Portugal;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Highlights that knowledge exchange with cooperation practices for development and growth between regional and local authorities of Member States, could help to overcome the gap in terms of expertise and raise awareness for employment mobility purposes; moreover, decentralisation and territorial development should be further supported as effective ways to overcome the current unemployment crisis.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Addressing the issue of promoting development of democracy at local and regional level, which requires from the EU to have a stronger political commitment on the endorsement of an enabling environment which could strengthen local and regional actors capacities to influence and monitor job creation and social inclusion of their populations; to this end, the diversity of civil society could play a key role through the involvement of social partners in the process of reaching the EU target for inclusive growth.
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase investment in the areas of entrepreneurship, business- start-ups and self-employment as a means of creating more jobs, in particular since SMEs and microenterprises provide over two thirds of the EU's private sector jobs; special emphasis should be paid to the regional and local level; in addition, investment in social business and social entrepreneurship provides a good additional option to meet social needs not satisfied by public goods and services.