REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020

28.2.2020 - (2019/2212(INI))

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Rapporteur: Klára Dobrev

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020

(2019/2212(INI))

The European Parliament,

 having regard to the Commission communication of 17 December 2019 on the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020 (COM(2019)0650),

 having regard to the proposal for a joint employment report from the Commission and the Council of 17 December 2019 accompanying the communication on the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020 (COM(2019)0653),

 having regard to the Commission recommendation of 17 December 2019 for a Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area (COM(2019)0652),

 having regard to the Commission report of 17 December 2019 entitled ‘Alert Mechanism Report 2020’ (COM(2019)0651),

 having regard to the Commission communication of 20 November 2019 on the 2020 Draft Budgetary Plans: Overall Assessment (COM(2019)0900),

 having regard to the Council Decision (EU) 2019/1181 of 8 July 2019 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States[1],

 having regard to its resolution of 10 October 2019 on employment and social policies of the euro area[2],

 having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2019 on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2019[3],

 having regard to the Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2019-2024: A Union that Strives for More, presented by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,

 

 having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in September 2015 and endorsed by the Council, which voiced its commitment to their implementation,

 having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) proclaimed by the European Council, Parliament and the Commission in November 2017,

 having regard to its resolution of 19 January 2017 on a European Pillar of Social Rights[4],

 having regard to the Commission report of 8 November 2019 entitled ‘Labour Market and Wage Developments in Europe – Annual Review 2019’,

 having regard to the Council conclusions of 24 October 2019 on the Economy of Wellbeing[5],

 having regard to its resolution of 16 November 2017 on combating inequalities as a lever to boost job creation and growth[6],

 having regard to the OECD study of 15 June 2018 entitled ‘A Broken Social Elevator? How to Promote Social Mobility’,

 having regard to its resolution of 24 October 2017 on minimum income policies as a tool for fighting poverty[7],

 having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2017 on the fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism[8],

 having regard to the Commission communication of 10 June 2016 on a new skills agenda for Europe – working together to strengthen human capital, employability and competitiveness (COM(2016)0381),

 having regard to its resolution of 11 December 2018 on education in the digital era: challenges, opportunities and lessons for EU policy design[9],

 having regard to its resolution of 14 September 2017 on a new skills agenda for Europe[10],

 having regard to its resolution of 26 May 2016 on poverty: a gender perspective[11],

 having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 19 September 2018 on the digital gender gap[12],

 having regard to its resolution of 15 November 2018 on care services in the EU for improved gender equality[13],

 having regard to the Council Recommendation of 8 November 2019 on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed[14],

 having regard to its position of 2 February 2016 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a European Platform to enhance cooperation in the prevention and deterrence of undeclared work[15],

 having regard to the Commission communication of 2 June 2016 on a European agenda for the collaborative economy (COM(2016)0356),

 having regard to the Council conclusions of 8 June 2010 on Equity and Health in All Policies: Solidarity in Health,

 having regard to the OECD and Commission initiative entitled ‘State of Health in the EU cycle’,

 having regard to its resolution of 11 September 2018 on pathways for the reintegration of workers recovering from injury and illness into quality employment[16],

 having regard to its resolution of 25 November 2015 on the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020[17],

 having regard to the Commission communication of 20 February 2013 entitled ‘Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion – including implementing the European Social Fund 2014-2020‘ (COM(2013)0083), and the Staff Working Documents accompanying the Communication entitled ‘Investing in Health’ (SWD(2013)0043) and ‘Long-term care in ageing societies - Challenges and policy options’ (SWD(2013)0041),

 having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document of 4 September 2013 entitled ‘Report on health inequalities in the European Union‘ (SWD(2013)0328),

 having regard to the Commission communication of 4 April 2014 on effective, accessible and resilient health systems (COM(2014)0215),

 having regard to the Council conclusions of 20 June 2014 on the economic crisis and healthcare[18],

 having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD),

 having regard to the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 3 September 2015 on the initial report of the European Union to the Committee of 5 June 2014 on the implementation of the CRPD,

 having regard to its resolution of 29 November 2018 on the situation of women with disabilities[19],

 having regard to the Commission communication of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal (COM(2019)0640),

 having regard to the Commission communication of 14 January 2020 on a strong social Europe for just transitions (COM(2020)0014),

 having regard to the Circular Economy Package (Directives (EU) 2018/849[20], 2018/850[21], 2018/851[22] and 2018/852[23]),

 having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal[24],

 having regard to the debate with representatives of national parliaments on the priorities of the 2020 European Semester,

 having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure,

 having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education,

 having regard to the position in the form of amendments of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality,

 having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A9-0025/2020),

A. whereas the employment rate of people aged 20-64 reached 73.9 % in the EU in the second quarter of 2019, and 72.7 % in the euro area; whereas 241.9 million people were in employment in the EU in the third quarter of 2019, the highest level ever reached; whereas high labour market participation is a prerequisite for a social Europe; whereas the employment rate may come close to the Europe 2020 target, but is unlikely to reach it; whereas the total hours worked have reached the 2008 level; whereas the employment rate of vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities (50.6 % in 2017), the homeless and the Roma (43 %), is significantly lower;

B. whereas the employment rate of older workers (55-64) increased to 58.7 % in 2018; whereas older workers continue to be the main driver of employment growth; whereas the lack of adequate care services, such as child and elderly care, is a barrier to keeping older workers, especially women, in the labour market;

C. whereas the increase in the employment rate has been accompanied by an increase in atypical and non-formal forms of employment, including zero-hour contracts; whereas precarious workers are usually unable to enforce their rights, have little or no job security and social insurance protection, face higher health and safety risks and receive incomes that are insufficient for a decent standard of living; whereas the proportion of part-time workers is still higher than the 2008 level; whereas the share of involuntary part-time workers remains substantial; whereas the share of temporary employees is still high;

D. whereas the youth employment rate has increased, but is still below the pre-crisis level; whereas there are substantial differences in youth unemployment rates between and within Member States;

E. whereas unemployment fell to 6.3 % in the third quarter of 2019 in the EU and to 7.5 % in the euro area; whereas it remains high in some Member States and regions; whereas long-term unemployment remains high in half of the Member States;

F. whereas labour shortages and the brain drain rate have reached critical levels in some Member States and pose a barrier to further economic growth; whereas the future world of work will require tailor-made solutions fitting various labour markets and traditions, while at the same time protecting mobile workers;

G. whereas social dialogue is a central component of a European social model and is essential to finding tailor-made solutions for the labour market; whereas there is a clear positive correlation between social dialogue and industrial competitiveness and efficiency; whereas social dialogue requires strong and representative social partners; whereas social dialogue has been weakened and collective bargaining coverage has shrunk across Europe, with huge disparities between Member States; whereas the share of employees in Member States covered by any form of collective wage agreement ranged from 98 % to 7.1 % in 2016; whereas inadequate civil dialogue widens the gap between citizens and institutions;

H. whereas income inequalities remain at a high level; whereas many Member States are facing wage stagnation; whereas the economic crisis has led to an increase in the number of low wage earners; whereas tax and labour cost competition is harmful for the single market and for cohesion among the Member States; whereas high taxation on low wage earners increases inequalities; whereas intergenerational social mobility is limited in most Member States; whereas the OECD estimates that even in the best-performing countries, it would take two to three generations for those born into low-income families to approach the mean income for their country;

I. whereas more than one in five EU residents are at risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas the Europe 2020 headline target to reduce the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) by 20 million remains out of reach; whereas in 2018, 9.5 % of workers lived in households that were at risk of poverty; whereas children continue to face a high risk of poverty or social exclusion and the average AROPE rate for children in 2018 was 24.3 %, with several Member States registering alarming rates of more than 30 %; whereas in-work poverty remains high; whereas 6 % of the EU population lives in severe material deprivation;

J. whereas in 2017 one in ten EU residents were living in substandard housing and spent 40 % or more of their household income on housing; whereas one EU resident in ten is overburdened by housing costs, especially low-income households and people living in cities; whereas the fight against climate change may have a further impact on housing costs; whereas affordable housing is a serious and growing problem that is leading to an ever larger number of people becoming housing insecure or homeless;

K. whereas homelessness has increased over the last decade in most Member States and poor households are increasingly overburdened by rising housing costs; whereas housing and assistance for the homeless is one of the priorities outlined in the EPSR; whereas homelessness is a crucial health issue with the life expectancy of homeless people being significantly lower than that of the general population;

L. whereas early school leaving and poor educational outcomes are obstacles to employment and economic growth and are closely related to poverty, social exclusion and segregation; whereas education systems should provide sufficient support for social mobility; whereas the rate of adult learning in the EU reached 11.1 % in 2018 – far lower than the 2020 target of 15 % – and the rates for Roma are with 70 % significantly higher than for other categories of pupils;

M. whereas technology and innovation can unlock new opportunities for growth and job creation; whereas in the digital era, digital skills are essential, and yet more than 40 % of adults in the EU do not have basic digital skills; whereas digitalisation can be an opportunity to reduce social inequalities, but must be accompanied by measures to prevent and reduce digital exclusion and precarious forms of work;

N. whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent more than 90 % of businesses in Europe and are thus important for sustainable development, inclusive growth and job creation; whereas the Commission should support enterprise development and focus on SMEs;

O. whereas the principle of gender equality is a core value of the EU and is enshrined in Articles 2 and 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union; whereas Articles 8 and 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights clearly state the EU’s commitment to gender mainstreaming in all of its policies and activities;

P. whereas promoting gender equality, improving employment opportunities for women, ensuring equal pay, facilitating the reconciliation of work, care and private life, and preventing and combating violence against women are vital to the economic growth, productivity, long-term fiscal sustainability and societal stability of the EU;

Q. whereas women are underrepresented in well-paid sectors and decision-making positions and there are persistent gender gaps in the EU labour market, such as the gender employment gap (11.5 %), the gender pay gap (16 %) and the gender pension gap (35.7 %), which can put women in vulnerable or precarious situations; whereas the gender pay and pension gaps are higher for migrant and ethnic minority women; whereas ambitious efforts are needed to close the gender pay and pension gaps;

R. whereas one reason for such gaps are disproportionate care responsibilities, limited access to care services for children and the elderly and resulting periods of absence from the labour market; whereas only 3 in 10 children under the age of three are in childcare; whereas the quality of and access to care services varies widely within and among the Member States;

S. whereas the EPSR stipulates equal treatment and equal opportunities for men and women, equal pay for work of equal value and access to affordable care services of good quality; whereas the EPSR principles should be monitored in the context of the European Semester;

T. whereas women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers; whereas the increased participation of women in STEM education is essential to reducing the gender gap in STEM professions;

U. whereas Article 168 of the TFEU provides that ‘a high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities’; whereas the 20 principles of the EPSR include healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment, and health care;

V. whereas one of the main goals of the European Green Deal is to protect people’s health and well-being from environment-related risks and impacts; whereas universal health coverage is also fundamental for achieving the SDGs;

W. whereas health is an investment in human capital and social and economic development and is a key determinant of a person’s well-being; whereas significant health inequalities still prevail across the EU, are strongly linked to income and wealth inequalities, poverty and social exclusion, affect life expectancy and limit opportunities to fully engage in society;

X. whereas in 2019, country-specific recommendations on national health systems were issued to 16 Member States;

Y. whereas the demographic old age dependency ratio is projected to increase significantly in the EU in the coming decades; whereas the challenge of ensuring inclusive growth in ageing and diversifying societies requires a comprehensive approach based on a mix of policy solutions in the fields of pensions, social security, long-term care, health systems, social inclusion and work-life balance;

Z. whereas 80 million EU residents have disabilities; whereas the implementation of accessibility measures continues to be insufficient; whereas the employment rate of people with disabilities was 50.6 % in 2017 versus a total employment rate of 74.8 %; whereas persons with disabilities are more likely to face in-work poverty;

AA. whereas cohesion policy, as the EU’s main investment policy for social, economic and territorial development, has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing inequalities and regional differences, in particular regarding the poorest regions;

AB. whereas social protection systems and labour market policies are deeply rooted in national traditions and there is great variation between the Member States, which should be maintained when working towards common social goals through the European Semester; whereas issues lacking a transnational dimension are dealt with at national level in line with the treaties and the principle of subsidiarity;

AC. whereas the green transition and the digitalisation of the economy will involve substantial economic diversification and transformation of business models and policymaking; whereas that will create new opportunities as well as significant socio-economic challenges in many regions and industrial sectors; whereas the EU needs a common strategy to accompany workers and businesses concerned in order to ensure that no one is left behind;

AD. whereas productivity growth in the EU remains significantly below that of global competitors; whereas improved productivity is crucial for improved wellbeing; whereas reforms that can lead to enhanced productivity, including the reduction of unnecessary administrative burdens, should be welcomed as they promote the creation of fair jobs, sustainable growth and social protection;

AE. whereas sound public finances are essential; whereas countries that were hit hardest by the financial crisis also had to conduct the toughest cuts to potentially growth-enhancing public expenditure; whereas social cuts have detrimental effects on vulnerable people and hamper employment, consumption and sustainable and inclusive growth, not least by curtailing access to essential services (health, housing, education);

AF. whereas fair wages, strong collective bargaining systems, democracy at work, wage transparency, predictable working hours, adequate social protection and tax benefits can reduce in-work poverty, decrease inequalities and generate demand;

1. Welcomes the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy (ASGS) 2020 and the Commission’s aim to complement the European Semester’s current approach by including the SDGs and the objectives of the European Green Deal; underlines that the EU’s new growth strategy will have to contribute to the creation of quality sustainable jobs and the strengthening of competitiveness, innovation and productivity and maximise benefits for health, quality of life and resilience while moving towards a circular and carbon-neutral economy; reiterates the need to put sustainability, social inclusion and people’s wellbeing at the heart of the EU’s economic policy-making, ensuring that social, environmental and economic objectives have equal priority;

2. Calls on the Commission to identify EU-specific targets and headline indicators in relation to the SDGs to reflect the realities and challenges facing the EU in the area of employment and social affairs, to measure the effectiveness of policy decisions, and to ensure better targeting of funding and a proper and coherent follow-up to the Europe 2020 strategy;

3. Welcomes the inclusion of the EPSR in the ASGS 2020; calls for fairness and social rights to have equal importance in the new economic model as environmental sustainability and macro-economic stability; emphasises the central role of the Social Scoreboard in the European Semester; calls on the Commission to build upon existing indicators and reinforce the scoreboard by integrating further indicators and clear targets reflecting all 20 principles of the EPSR, such as inclusive access to education, health, nutrition, employment, housing, and the preservation of social rights, and to ensure that such indicators are analysed on a disaggregated basis (e.g. children, youth, seniors, gender, migrants and persons with disabilities); calls on the Commission to safeguard the diversity of national social systems and labour market models and to come forward with a social action plan to further implement the EPSR and the revised European Social Charter by adopting dedicated measures at the appropriate level;

4. Calls for the greater involvement of relevant ministers in charge of social, health and environmental affairs in the Semester Process at Council level; regrets that many country-specific recommendations (CSRs) have not been implemented at all or have not been fully implemented; calls on the Member States to implement all CSRs, including those on employment and social aspects;

Unemployment

5. Is concerned that rates of unemployment, youth unemployment and long-term unemployment are still high in some Member States with strong regional disparities; stresses, therefore, the need for individually tailored measures to integrate the unemployed into the labour market, in particular in social enterprises and the green economy, and to fight poverty and social exclusion; calls on the Member States to adequately invest in effective active labour market policies and make full use of existing EU funding instruments in order to prevent youth and long-term unemployment; believes that consideration should also be given to structural reforms of the labour market in order to maintain investment in society and citizens and safeguard the future and stability of the Members States and the EU as a whole; stresses the importance of a financially enhanced European Social Fund Plus and a strong Just Transition Fund in this context;

Equal opportunities

6. Is concerned about the limited intergenerational social mobility and increased income inequality compared to pre-crisis levels; points out that high levels of inequality reduce economic output and the potential for sustainable growth; calls on the Commission and the Member States to tackle inequalities and fight discrimination, including by promoting adequate wages, high collective bargaining coverage, equal opportunities in education and training, gender equality and universal access to quality services; stresses that national tax and benefit systems must be designed in a way not only to ensure financial sustainability but also to reduce inequalities, promote fairness and transparency, and provide incentives for labour market participation;

Minimum wages and collective bargaining

7. Welcomes the Commission’s consultation of social partners on an EU framework for minimum wages; calls on the Commission to take measures designed to foster increased social convergence based on the results of the consultation; calls for adequate minimum wage levels to be set above the poverty threshold through collective agreements or through national law, in line with national traditions and with due respect for the autonomy of national social partners and well-functioning collective bargaining models; calls for a coordinated approach at EU level in order to avoid unhealthy labour cost competition and increase upward social convergence for all;

8. Considers that wages in some Member States are stagnating with a detrimental effect on the EU economy and the single market; stresses that full-time wages should be sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living;

Social dialogue

9. Highlights that well-functioning social dialogue is a key tool in shaping working and employment conditions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support the capacity building of social partners, to safeguard and strengthen social dialogue, collective bargaining rights and coverage at all levels, and to take the views of social partners into account in policymaking, including for the European Semester; underlines, moreover, the importance of structured and systematic dialogue with civil society at national level with a view to increasing ownership;

Poverty and social exclusion

10. Reiterates its concern about the high number of persons at risk of poverty and social exclusion; is especially worried about the high rates of child poverty and in-work poverty; calls on the Commission to present a comprehensive EU anti-poverty strategy based on integrated active inclusion and to establish a European Child Guarantee with adequate funding and well-designed support services, in order to contribute to children’s equal access to free quality healthcare, free quality education, free quality childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition;

11. Underlines the importance of increasing funding for the most deprived under the new European Social Fund Plus as a key element of European solidarity and a way of helping to combat the worst forms of poverty in the EU, such as food deprivation and child poverty; stresses that the European Child Guarantee should not be funded at the expense of existing financial instruments;

12. Calls for a new EU framework for national Roma inclusion strategies with concrete objectives;

13. Notes that various forms of minimum income schemes exist in all Member States in order to provide a social protection floor and safety net for those in need; underlines that minimum income schemes should not be confused with the concept of a basic income for everyone; calls on the Commission to conduct a comparative study on the different minimum incomes schemes in the Member States and to highlight best practice cases with a view to presenting a framework in this regard; stresses that minimum income should be complemented by active inclusion measures;

Housing and homelessness

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to respond in a strong and integrated way by drawing up an action plan to tackle the lack of affordable housing, poor housing conditions, non-accessible housing and housing exclusion; notes the increase in the number of evictions and urges the Member States to tackle this problem;

15. Calls on the Commission to propose an EU framework for national homelessness strategies, and calls on the Member States to prepare their homelessness strategies by adopting the Housing First principle, prioritising the provision of permanent housing to homeless people, and ending the criminalisation of homelessness; stresses, moreover, the need to collect better and more harmonised data on homeless people in the EU;

16. Calls on the Commission to propose an EU framework for social and affordable housing in line with Principle 19 of the EPSR to ensure the efficient coordination of national housing policies;

17. Calls for investments in public housing to be made eligible for cohesion funding in order to improve existing public housing or build new accommodation; calls for the revision of State aid rules in this regard;

18. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to come up with specific proposals to ensure a just transition in relation to improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock, without placing an excessive burden on vulnerable groups, and to adequately address the problem of energy poverty in the context of the Green Deal;

Education and training

19. Is concerned about the stagnating share of early school leavers, especially amongst marginalised groups, and the increasing share of underperforming pupils; calls on the Member States to improve the quality, accessibility and inclusiveness of their education systems in a life-long learning perspective, taking into account not only employment needs but also the promotion of values such as human dignity, mutual respect and freedom of choice; underlines the need for adequate funding for education systems; stresses that gaps in basic numeracy, literacy and digital skills are severe impediments to meaningful participation in society and the labour market and calls on the Member States to ensure high-quality basic skills training with tailored support and active outreach, especially for the most marginalised groups in society; stresses that educational outcomes are negatively affected by social exclusion, discrimination, stereotyping, poverty and segregation, which must also be addressed; calls on the Commission to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the driving factors behind early school leaving, including social aspects, and present a proposal to tackle the problem;

20. Reiterates the importance of focussing on young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) by removing barriers that prevent them from fulfilling their potential and successfully entering the labour market; stresses the need for a validation system for competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning, including non-cognitive or ‘soft’ skills, in order to facilitate the participation in the labour market of workers with low education levels;

21. Welcomes the Commission’s announcement that it will update the Skills Agenda for Europe to address the challenges of adapting skills to the ecological and digital transition, overcoming mismatches and meeting the needs of the labour market across the EU; calls on the Commission and the Member States to maximise their efforts to invest in affordable, accessible, inclusive and high-quality vocational education and training, to reinforce upskilling and reskilling measures, including digital and transferable skills, and to promote lifelong learning to prepare workers for the needs of the labour market affected by the green and digital transformations; takes the view that the mutual recognition of qualifications will be beneficial for overcoming skills shortages and skills mismatches;

22. Stresses the importance of closer cooperation between education systems and businesses, for example in the context of dual education, apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning; calls on the Member States to boost entrepreneurship among young people and to support associations and initiatives that help young entrepreneurs to develop innovative projects;

23.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up measures to promote quality apprenticeships in the EU and to explore ways of enacting an EU statute for apprenticeships;

Labour mobility

24. Underlines the importance of labour mobility for a well-functioning single market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to facilitate labour mobility and the mobility of services to create new job opportunities for workers and to provide labour for companies; calls on the Member States to promote and use relevant EU tools, such as the job network EURES, and to establish cross-border partnerships to help mobile workers in cross-border regions;

25. Calls on the Commission to analyse mobility trends, including brain drains in certain regions and sectors, and to support mobile workers by ensuring fair mobility and strengthening the portability of rights and entitlements; underlines that the digitalisation of public services can help to facilitate fair labour mobility, particularly with regard to the coordination of social security systems;

Small and medium-sized enterprises

26. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure a growth-friendly investment climate and to support SMEs and their employees in the transition to a more digital and greener economy, and to give adequate consideration to the interests of SMEs in the policymaking process by analysing the possible effects of policies on SMEs; highlights the importance of improving access for SMEs to public and private funding, including microcredits and crowdfunding, and reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens; underlines the adaptability and effectiveness of the social economy and calls on the Member States to create an appropriate legislative framework to promote social enterprises;

Gender equality

27. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure gender equality and equal pay for equal work at the same place; calls on the Commission to deliver a directive on pay transparency; calls for more efforts to close the gender employment, pay and pensions gaps, and to tackle disincentives for women to work; calls for policies that support entrepreneurship among women and provide them with access to financing and business opportunities; is concerned about the lack of women in decision-making processes, particularly economic ones; calls on the Member States to unblock the Women on Boards Directive and the horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive; calls on the Commission to strengthen the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation, policy and practice in order to effectively counter discrimination on all grounds;

28. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve the collection of gender-disaggregated data, especially on the participation of women in the labour market and the underlying causes of gender inequalities;

29. Calls on the Member States to swiftly and fully implement the Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers and to move towards fully paid maternity and paternity leave; calls on the Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in order to facilitate the labour market participation and economic independence of women and in order to act decisively to tackle sexual and gender-based harassment;

30. Regrets the lack of an even broader gender perspective and further indicators in the framework of the European Semester and calls on the Commission to include the Gender Equality Index as one of the European Semester’s tools for monitoring progress towards employment and social targets and to acknowledge the gender effects of macroeconomic policies;

31. Calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to gender when formulating its country-specific recommendations so as to address persisting gender gaps;

Care services

32. Calls for accessible and affordable quality childcare and early education services, as well as short-term and long-term care services, including for the elderly and people with disabilities, to facilitate women’s participation in the labour market; calls for the development of an EU framework for care services to set minimum standards and quality guidelines; calls on the Member States to adopt appropriate legislation and to ensure sufficient funding for care services, making efficient use of relevant EU programmes, to set specific quantitative targets in their National Reform Programmes in order to achieve the Barcelona targets, and to exchange best practices; urges the Commission to support the Member States in this regard;

Working conditions

33. Calls on the Member States to implement measures, as set out in the 2018 Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed in order to ensure access to social protection for all; stresses that people with atypical working arrangements, in particular voluntary part-time workers and those on temporary contracts, are especially vulnerable; notes with concern their lack of adequate access to social protection systems;

34. Acknowledges that the number of workers engaged in new forms of employment, such as platform work, is continuously rising; calls on the Commission to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the working conditions of such workers and to propose measures to strengthen their rights and social protection; calls on the Member States to ensure fair working conditions and proper collective bargaining coverage for platform workers;

35. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take action to eliminate the hidden costs of work; stresses that employers bear full responsibility for covering expenses for equipment needed to fulfil responsibilities in the workplace;

Healthcare

36. Calls on the Member States to ensure access to high-quality healthcare that is affordable for all and to refocus health systems on preventive care, notably by implementing relevant CSRs; stresses the importance of prevention and health promotion campaigns; welcomes the shift from cost saving to performance orientation and health outcomes with regard to healthcare in the European Semester; calls for the development of common indicators and methodologies to assess health inequalities and the performance of healthcare systems;

Occupational safety and health

37. Calls on the Commission to present a new EU strategy on occupational safety and health, including a vision for reducing fatal accidents at work and work-related cancer rates to zero, with further binding occupational exposure limit values and a stronger Asbestos Directive, as well as directives on work-related psychosocial health risks and work-related diseases;

Demographic change and pensions

38. Considers that demographic changes pose a serious challenge to economic growth and will have a long-term impact on numerous aspects, including pension systems and healthcare; calls on the Commission and the Member States to introduce measures designed to address these challenges, including in the CSRs and through common guidelines;

39. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to pursue policies on active ageing, the social inclusion of elderly people and solidarity between generations; calls on the Commission to follow-up on its evaluation of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations;

40. Stresses that access to public, solidarity-based and adequate retirement and old age pension systems must be granted to all; underlines that public pension systems should provide an adequate retirement income well above the poverty threshold, either in isolation or in combination with occupational pension systems; believes that the best way to ensure sustainable, safe and adequate pensions is to increase the overall employment, pay and participation rate and to improve working and employment conditions;

Persons with disabilities

41. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up efforts towards the further inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market in line with Principle 17 of the EPSR by prohibiting discrimination, removing barriers, ensuring reasonable accommodation in the workplace[25], creating incentives for employers and safeguarding access to education and training; recalls that the guiding principles of the CRPD, such as full and effective participation and inclusion in society, equality of opportunity and accessibility, must be fully implemented at both the EU and national levels with the active involvement of stakeholders;

Cohesion funding

42. Calls for the strengthening of cohesion policy funding and ensuring that all EU regions, including rural areas and outermost regions, can participate; opposes the proposal by the Council to reduce funding for the European Social Fund Plus, despite its enlarged scope; calls on the Member States to make full use of the funding available; stresses the need for greater alignment of cohesion policy with the European Semester and the EU’s policy objectives as well as the increased involvement of regional and local authorities in programming; calls on the Commission to closely monitor and evaluate the use of EU funds in the Member States and to strengthen efforts to tackle fraud, misuse and corruption;

Unemployment benefit reinsurance scheme

43. Welcomes the Commission President’s announcement that an EU unemployment benefit reinsurance scheme will be presented in order to better protect workers and reduce pressure from external shocks on public finances; calls on the Commission to analyse the need for minimum standards for unemployment insurance systems in the Member States;

Just transition

44. Stresses that decisive support is needed to help society, workers and businesses to face the challenges of digitalisation and the transition to carbon neutrality; calls for strategies and support for those worst affected by the transition, especially vulnerable people, in order to ensure that no one is left behind; welcomes the creation of a Just Transition Fund and calls on the Commission to ensure its implementation is consistent with other cohesion funds; calls on the Member States to increase investment in social protection systems in order to enhance their resilience;

45.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure adequate and equitable social and environmental investment in a true ‘just transition’ as well as in the implementation of the EPSR and the achievement of the SDGs; welcomes the Commission’s public consultation to examine the possible directions that the development of EU fiscal rules could take;

Taxation

46. Calls on the Member States to shift taxation away from labour towards other sources where it will have a less detrimental effect on sustainable growth; calls on the Commission and the Member States to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance and effectively counter harmful tax practices; calls for new own resources for the EU budget in order to give the EU the tools to better tackle current and future challenges;

Structural reforms

47. Notes that the EU continues to suffer from social problems caused by the financial and economic crisis and some subsequent policy decisions; underlines the need to boost domestic demand through future-oriented investment, and to promote balanced structural reforms, taking short-term fiscal implications and their long-term environmental, economic and social effects into account; highlights that responsible reforms must be based on solidarity, integration and social justice in order to improve living standards for all and ensure public support for transitions;

Rule of law

48. Reiterates the importance of the rule of law – including independent and efficient justice systems, quality public administrations and public procurement, and robust anti-corruption frameworks – as the basis for a sound business environment, functioning labour markets and the proper use of EU funds; stresses that the assessment of the rule of law and the effectiveness of the justice system should thus continue to be included in the European Semester; calls on the Member States to ratify the revised European Social Charter;

°

° °

49. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.


 

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON CULTURE AND EDUCATION (19.2.2020)

for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey 2020

(2019/2212(INI))

Rapporteur for opinion: Sabine Verheyen

 

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1.  Calls for a continuous improvement of the EU’s and the Member States’ education, training and skills policies in order to deliver quality education and lifelong learning that is accessible to all, addressing, in particular, the growing skills gap, including in digital skills and skills for the digital future, and the need to understand and shape the realities of a digitalised economy and society, and to prepare for the future impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market and public spheres; stresses that these policies should promote personal and societal development as well as new future job opportunities while, among other things, respecting the goals of the energy transition towards a low-carbon and sustainable economy and the European Green Deal; calls on the Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Country Specific Recommendations;

2.  Points out that socio-economic disadvantage is frequently a predictor of poor educational outcomes and vice versa; insists that an adequately funded, quality and inclusive education and lifelong learning system can help to break this vicious circle and promote social inclusion and equal opportunities; supports the plans to make the European Education Area a reality in the foreseeable future, with a particular focus on the mutual recognition of educational qualifications, the aim being to allow everyone access to a quality future-proof education; calls on the Commission to assist the Member States in reforming and modernising their education systems, including digital learning and high-quality teaching, and to foster the exchange of best practices within the Erasmus+ programme;

3.  Asserts that high-quality, accessible and inclusive early childhood education and care (ECEC) has a positive impact on all children, and even more so on children from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds and those with special needs, thereby contributing to reducing social inequalities and fostering social integration; stresses that ECEC plays a crucial role in children’s development, learning and well-being in the short-term, and creates the building blocks for improving long-term life outcomes, social inclusion and employability; supports, therefore, the efforts to establish a European Child Guarantee, taking into account the results of the feasibility study and respecting the principle of subsidiarity;

4.  Calls on the Member States to increase investment in education and training, as structural investment in human capital, with a particular focus on young people and people with fewer opportunities, is key to boosting knowledge-intensive, sustainable, qualitative and inclusive growth, in a context of increasing skills shortages, especially in STE(A)M fields, and mismatches in a changing world of work, particularly in this era of digitalisation; underlines the importance of providing environmental and entrepreneurship education from an early age in order to motivate young people to set up businesses and believes that more needs to be done to attract more girls to STE(A)M fields; and stresses that digital and media literacy skills should be an essential part of education policies and include, inter alia, cyber safety, cyber hygiene, cyber responsibility and data protection;

5.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up measures to promote quality apprenticeships in the EU and to explore ways of enacting an EU statute for apprenticeships;

6.  Is of the opinion that the European Structural and Investment Funds play a crucial role in improving access to education materials and information and in the active inclusion of young people, especially those living in rural and remote areas or in areas with a shrinking population, and those with a migrant background; notes in this regard that innovative teaching and learning techniques combined with access to digital information sources can play a big role;

7.  Points out that in 2018, in the EU, 16.5 % of 20-34 year-olds – one in six young people – were not in employment, education or training (NEETs), and that the share of early school leavers was 10.6 %; recognises that these figures are as low as they were in the first quarter of 2008, and the lowest since this data began to be compiled in the first quarter of 2006; calls, nevertheless, on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to reduce early school leaving and the percentage of young people who are NEET, especially among those from a socially disadvantaged background, to improve educational outcomes, taking into account regional and demographic disparities, to implement comprehensive preventive strategies and to engage early school leavers in education and training;

8.  Urges the Member States to promote further cooperation between educational establishments and businesses with a view to fostering low-carbon local and regional economies as well as addressing current and upcoming skills mismatches, including by fostering technical, entrepreneurial and digital skills, as well as vocational training and dual training and study programmes, and to put in place effective and comprehensive methodologies for the mutual recognition and validation of skills, diplomas and qualifications as well as non-formal and informal learning; stresses that European universities could become centres for excellence and innovation if the European Universities Initiative is implemented effectively; recalls that substantial funding is required to effectively implement the initiative and recalls, in that regard, its demand for the Erasmus+ budget for the 2021-2027 period to be tripled;

9.  Calls for an improvement in the quality of, access to and efficiency of education and training systems, the strengthening of comprehensive lifelong learning and the upgrading of skills and reskilling, notably of people with lower levels of education, in particular adults and young adults and other disadvantaged groups, including Roma, and people with a migrant background; stresses the need for educational systems to promote healthy habits, particularly sports practice, which significantly contributes to social inclusion and integration, and reiterates its support for citizenship education in schools as a key pillar of European democracy; underlines that adult education training and lifelong learning have a positive effect on the individual, the economy and society,

10.  Considers that effective governance and adequate funding for all educational settings, modern quality educational resources and teaching, motivated and competent teachers with attractive salaries and a higher level of social recognition, and lifelong learning are crucial for achieving equity, diversity and excellence in education; stresses, in this context, the need to strive for gender balance in teaching and the need to attract greater numbers of motivated candidates with sound academic or professional backgrounds and pedagogical skills into the teaching profession; calls for continuous quality training and support systems to be put in place for teachers and trainers;

11.  Maintains that in today’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, proficiency in other languages is a vital skill that gives individuals the opportunity to engage with the world in a more immediate and meaningful way, while better preparing them to compete and succeed in the global society and economy; therefore calls on the Member States to implement their goal for all citizens to learn at least two foreign languages and to begin learning foreign languages at an early age, as set out in the December 2017 Council Conclusions.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

19.2.2020

 

 

 

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

23

1

2

Members present for the final vote

Asim Ademov, Christine Anderson, Andrea Bocskor, Vlad-Marius Botoş, Ilana Cicurel, Gianantonio Da Re, Tomasz Frankowski, Romeo Franz, Irena Joveva, Petra Kammerevert, Niklas Nienaß, Peter Pollák, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Andrey Slabakov, Michaela Šojdrová, Sabine Verheyen, Salima Yenbou, Milan Zver

Substitutes present for the final vote

Loucas Fourlas, Heléne Fritzon, Ibán García Del Blanco, Łukasz Kohut, Elżbieta Kruk, Martina Michels, Monica Semedo

Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote

Angel Dzhambazki

 


 

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

23

+

ECR

Angel Dzhambazki, Elżbieta Kruk, Andrey Slabakov

GUE/NGL

Martina Michels

PPE

Asim Ademov, Andrea Bocskor, Loucas Fourlas, Tomasz Frankowski, Peter Pollák, Michaela Šojdrová, Sabine Verheyen, Milan Zver

RENEW

Vlad-Marius Botoş, Ilana Cicurel, Irena Joveva, Monica Semedo

S&D

Heléne Fritzon, Ibán García Del Blanco, Petra Kammerevert, Łukasz Kohut, Domènec Ruiz Devesa

VERTS/ALE

Romeo Franz, Salima Yenbou

 

1

-

ID

Christine Anderson

 

2

0

ID

Gianantonio Da Re

VERTS/ALE

Niklas Nienaß

 

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

 

 


POSITION IN THE FORM OF AMENDMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY (6.2.2020)

for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2020

(2019/2212(INI))

On behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: Lina Gálvez Muñoz (rapporteur)

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality presents the following amendments to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, as the committee responsible:

Amendment  1

Motion for a resolution

Recital A a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Aa. whereas the principle of gender equality is a core value of the EU and is enshrined in Articles 2 and 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union, and whereas Articles 8 and 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights clearly state the EU’s commitment to gender mainstreaming as a tool to eliminate inequalities, promote gender equality and combat discrimination in all of its policies and activities;

 

Amendment  2

Motion for a resolution

Recital B a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Ba. whereas persistent gender gaps in the EU, such as the 11.5 % gender employment gap, the 16 % gender pay gap and the 35.7 % gender pension gap, and the underrepresentation of women in well-paid sectors – which is partly a result of many women having to provide informal care and carry out unpaid domestic work – are not only unfair, but also put women in vulnerable or precarious situations, such as poverty or social exclusion; whereas the gender pay and pension gaps are higher for migrant and ethnic minority women, who face additional barriers to employment and higher levels of employment and workplace discrimination; whereas urgent efforts are needed to eliminate these gaps as they remain some of the main barriers to achieving gender equality and are an unacceptable form of gender discrimination;

 

Amendment  3

Motion for a resolution

Recital C a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Ca. whereas the gender pay and pension gaps – which are the result of the accumulation of inequalities experienced by women throughout their lives – and periods of absence from the labour market are particularly important; whereas most of those inequalities are consequences of the fact that 7 million women compared to 0.5 million men in the EU do not work due to caring responsibilities; whereas the European Semester should contribute to the realisation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and monitor the delivery of all 20 key principles, with special attention to ensuring equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men, the right to equal pay for work of equal value, and the right to affordable care services of good quality;

 

Amendment  4

Motion for a resolution

Recital D a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Da. whereas access to services, including childcare and long-term care provision, has the greatest impact on women as they often have to fill the gaps in caregiving and family support, perpetuating their disproportionate responsibility for providing care;

 

Amendment  5

Motion for a resolution

Recital E a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Ea. whereas the OECD has emphasised that investing in improving gender equality contributes to economic growth; whereas, inter alia, promoting gender equality, improving employment opportunities for women, ensuring the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, facilitating the reconciliation of work, care and private life for women and men, and preventing and combating violence against women are vital to the EU’s economic growth, productivity, long-term fiscal sustainability and societal stability;

 

Amendment  6

Motion for a resolution

Recital F a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Fa. whereas the quality of and access to care services varies widely within and among the Member States; whereas despite the commitments made by the Member States to meet the Barcelona targets, one sixth of EU households have unmet needs for childcare services; whereas one third of EU households do not have access to adequate professional home care services;

 

Amendment  7

Motion for a resolution

Recital G a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

Ga. whereas the presence of more women in decision-making positions would enhance gender equality, and whereas binding quotas are the best tool to achieve this goal, as EIGE data shows1a;

 

1a. The percentage of women on company boards is 35.3 % in Member States with binding quotas, 27 % in Member States with soft measures and 15.4 % in Member States with no measures adopted. Source: https://eige.europa.eu/news/ageing-societies-migration-and-climate-change-bring-new-challenges-gender-equality

 

Amendment  8

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 1 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

1a. Calls on the Member States to set specific quantitative targets in their national reform programmes (NRPs), to achieve the Barcelona targets and to implement specific measures targeting groups of women with very low employment rates, such as young women, older women, migrant women, disabled women, single mothers and Roma women; stresses that the employment gap is especially high for mothers and women with caring responsibilities;

 

Amendment  9

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 2 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

2a. Calls on the Member States to pay attention to the gender dimension throughout their National Reform Programmes under the European Semester, in particular as regards systematic measures for advancing equality between women and men in the areas of employment, social inclusion, the fight against poverty, education, and research and innovation; calls on the Member States to make a regular analysis of the structural reforms from a gender perspective;

 

Amendment  10

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 3 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

3a. Calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to gender perspective when formulating its country-specific recommendations so as to address persisting gender gaps;

 

Amendment  11

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 4 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

4a. Calls for the introduction of a gender pillar and an overarching gender equality objective in the successor to the Europe 2020 strategy and for the incorporation of gender-specific targets and indicators in the country-specific challenges identified in the Social Scoreboard;

 

Amendment  12

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 5 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

5a. Highlights and welcomes the call included in the December 2019 ‘Council Conclusions on Gender-Equal Economies in the EU: The Way Forward’ to put a stronger focus on gender equality in the different phases of the European Semester process, including by working on existing gender equality indicators, developing new ones and by continuing to develop sex-disaggregated data collection, statistical methods and analysis for monitoring progress on gender equality;

 

Amendment  13

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 6 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

6a. Regrets the lack of an even broader gender perspective and further indicators in the framework of the European Semester and calls on the Commission to include the Gender Equality Index as one of the European Semester’s tools for monitoring progress towards employment and social targets and to acknowledge the gender effects of macroeconomic policies;

 

Amendment  14

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 7 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

7a. Calls on the Commission to further integrate the Social Scoreboard for the European Pillar of Social Rights in the monitoring process of the European Semester;

 

Amendment  15

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 8 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

8a. Welcomes the commitment of the new Commission to propose the EU Gender Equality Strategy, including binding pay transparency measures, within the first 100 days of its mandate; calls on the Commission to complete this initiative with tools providing objective criteria that allow for gender-neutral assessment and comparisons of the value of work in different sectors in order to achieve equal pay for equal work and work of equal value between women and men in all sectors and professions;

 

Amendment  16

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 9 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

9a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to remove all barriers to women participating in the labour market and to integrate the gender perspective in taxation polices – including gender audits of fiscal policies in order to eliminate tax-related gender biases – and to ensure that no new taxes, spending laws, programmes or practices that increase market or net income gender gaps or that reinforce the male breadwinner model are established;

 

Amendment  17

 

 

 

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 10 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

10a. Reiterates its call to enrich the scoreboard of macroeconomic imbalances with social indicators, including for gender inequalities, which have to be on an equal footing with economic indicators;

 

Amendment  18

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

11a. Is concerned that vertical and horizontal labour market segregation and persistent gender pay and pension gaps between women and men remain wide throughout the European Union, and that there is a lack of women involved in decision-making processes, particularly economic ones, including social dialogue; emphasises that these and other inequalities are felt most strongly by disadvantaged groups of women, and therefore calls for an intersectional approach to be integrated into employment policies and social protection to support vulnerable groups of women, including women with disabilities; believes that in order to successfully implement such an intersectional approach, it is necessary to obtain gender-segregated data and information, especially when dealing with platform work and undeclared work, active labour policies, mobility, individual action plans or unemployment benefits, among others;

 

Amendment  19

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 12 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

12a. Calls on the Member States to adopt legislation ensuring the equal representation of women in decision-making bodies of companies, equal pay for women and men and the same opportunities for career growth, including through a public index on companies’ equality performance and by imposing penalties on companies that fail to meet equality targets;

 

Amendment  20

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

13a. Emphasises the importance of ensuring universal, good-quality, accessible and affordable childcare facilities in order to increase the employment of women; is concerned that the Barcelona targets of ensuring that 33 % of children under the age of three are in childcare (target 1) and that 90 % of children between the age of 3 and the mandatory school age (target 2) are in education have only been met by 12 of the Member States since 2002; calls on the Member States to promptly and effectively transpose into their national law the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers; calls for the development of an EU framework for the care economy that would regulate minimum levels of care for older and dependent people in a similar way to the Barcelona Targets and for quality guidelines for the professionalisation of domestic and care work to be established;

 

Amendment  21

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 14 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

14a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the European Semester process contributes to the fulfilment of the European Pillar of Social Rights, giving the Member States enough leeway to fund and sustain their funding for care services;

 

Amendment  22

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 15 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

15a. Stresses that while responsibility for the organisation and content of early childhood education and care systems and provision for long-term care rests with the individual Member States, cooperation at the EU level together with the efficient use of EU funds can contribute to the development of quality care services by supporting and complementing measures taken at regional and national level and can help the Member States to address common challenges;

 

Amendment  23

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 16 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

16a. Is concerned about the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers, and calls on the Member States to fight gender stereotypes and improve the participation, achievement and continued involvement of girls and women in STEM education and careers in order to reduce the gender gap in STEM professions; highlights the importance of life-long learning for women, as it gives them an opportunity to reskill in the ever-changing labour market;

 

Amendment  24

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 17 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

17a. Points out the importance of monitoring the percentage of 15-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) alongside auxiliary indicators, and stresses that special attention has to be paid to young women and girls as there is a considerable difference between the genders in terms of the proportion of young people who are NEET;

 

Amendment  25

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 18 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

18a. Calls on the Member States to ensure upward convergence on equal, non-transferable and fully paid maternity and paternity leave as a measure to improve gender equality in care work, facilitating an egalitarian participation of women and men in the labour market and a fairer share of unpaid care and domestic work, thus closing the temporary and part-time employment gaps;

 

Amendment  26

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 19 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

19a. Calls on the Member States to unblock the Women on Boards Directive;

 

Amendment  27

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 20 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

20a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to improve the collection of gender-disaggregated data, especially on the underlying causes of gender inequalities in the labour market such as the take-up of different types of care-related leave or comparable data on the different causes of the gender pay gap across the Member States; is convinced that a time use survey should be conducted with enough periodicity and a sufficient sample size in order to provide information on unpaid care and the domestic work gender gap; strongly stresses, therefore, the need to monitor gender progress and the impact of reforms over time; also calls on the Commission to monitor the participation of women in the labour market in terms of the number of hours worked per week, contract types and financial independence;

 

Amendment  28

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 21 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

21a. Emphasises the relevance of orienting policies towards green and digital transitions in order to pursue gender equality goals; calls for the inclusion of a systematic gender impact assessment and the allocation of specific funds for gender equality in order to achieve a fair and just green and digital transition that leaves no one behind and serves to combat all forms of discrimination; encourages the Member States to identify effective funding models, tailored to national and local circumstances;

 

Amendment  29

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 22 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

22a. Calls on the European Commission and the Member States to strengthen gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting and the effective implementation thereof in all policy areas and in particular in the European Semester;

 

Amendment  30

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 23 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

23a. Recalls the importance of the European Semester and particularly the country reports in monitoring the Member States progress in implementing the SDGs, in particular SDG 5 and its targets 5.4 and 5.5;

 

Amendment  31

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 24 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

24a. Calls on the Council to unblock negotiations on the horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive to ensure that women and other vulnerable groups are protected in all areas of society;

 

Amendment  32

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 25 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

25a. Calls on the Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, as gender-based violence is an additional barrier to women’s participation in the labour market and their economic independence;

 

Amendment  33

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 26 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

26a. Calls on the Member States to take concrete steps to tackle sexual and gender-based harassment in hiring practices and workplaces, including requirements for independent reporting mechanisms; calls on the Member States to address the rising backlash against women in politics and the media industry, including online and workplace harassment and abuse, which is driving women out of public-facing positions and contributing towards a harmful and exclusionary environment for women working in these sectors;

 

Amendment  34

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 27 a (new)

 

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

 

27a. Calls for policies supporting women’s entrepreneurship, facilitating their access to finance and business opportunities, offering tailor-made training and creating measures for reconciliation of professional and private life;

 

 


 

 

 

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

22.1.2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Date adopted

20.2.2020

 

 

 

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

32

9

11

Members present for the final vote

Marc Angel, Gabriele Bischoff, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Andrea Bocskor, Milan Brglez, David Casa, Leila Chaibi, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Özlem Demirel, Klára Dobrev, Jarosław Duda, Estrella Durá Ferrandis, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Loucas Fourlas, Cindy Franssen, Heléne Fritzon, Helmut Geuking, Elisabetta Gualmini, Alicia Homs Ginel, France Jamet, Agnes Jongerius, Radan Kanev, Ádám Kósa, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Katrin Langensiepen, Miriam Lexmann, Elena Lizzi, Radka Maxová, Sandra Pereira, Dragoş Pîslaru, Manuel Pizarro, Dennis Radtke, Elżbieta Rafalska, Guido Reil, Daniela Rondinelli, Mounir Satouri, Monica Semedo, Beata Szydło, Eugen Tomac, Romana Tomc, Marianne Vind, Stefania Zambelli, Tatjana Ždanoka

Substitutes present for the final vote

Atidzhe Alieva-Veli, Stéphane Bijoux, José Gusmão, Joanna Kopcińska, Jeroen Lenaers, Lukas Mandl, Kim Van Sparrentak, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne

Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote

Thierry Mariani

 


 

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

32

+

PPE

David Casa, Jarosław Duda, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Loucas Fourlas, Cindy Franssen, Radan Kanev, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Miriam Lexmann, Dennis Radtke, Eugen Tomac, Romana Tomc

RENEW

Stéphane Bijoux, Radka Maxová, Dragoş Pîslaru, Monica Semedo, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne

S&D

Marc Angel, Gabriele Bischoff, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Milan Brglez, Klára Dobrev, Estrella Durá Ferrandis, Heléne Fritzon, Elisabetta Gualmini, Alicia Homs Ginel, Agnes Jongerius, Manuel Pizarro, Marianne Vind

VERTS/ALE

Katrin Langensiepen, Mounir Satouri, Kim Van Sparrentak, Tatjana Ždanoka

 

9

-

GUE/NGL

Leila Chaibi, Özlem Demirel, Sandra Pereira

ID

France Jamet, Elena Lizzi, Thierry Mariani, Guido Reil, Stefania Zambelli

NI

Daniela Rondinelli

 

11

0

ECR

Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Helmut Geuking, Joanna Kopcińska, Elżbieta Rafalska, Beata Szydło

GUE/NGL

José Gusmão

PPE

Andrea Bocskor, Ádám Kósa, Jeroen Lenaers, Lukas Mandl

RENEW

Atidzhe Alieva-Veli

 

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

 

 

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