9. Community incentive measures in the field of employment ***II
A5-0319/2001
European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a Euro-
pean Parliament and Council decision on Community incentive measures in the field of employ-
ment (8432/1/2001 /dash C5-0294/2001 /dash 2000/0195(COD))
(Codecision procedure: second reading)
The European Parliament,
;dash having regard to the Council common position (8432/1/2001 ;dash C5-0294/2001),;dash having regard to its position at first reading(
1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the
Council (COM(2000)459)(2),
;dash having regard to the Commission’s amended proposal (COM(2001)124)(3),
;dash having regard to Article251(2) of the EC Treaty,
;dash having regard to Rule 80 of its Rules of Procedure,;dash having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Employment and
Social Affairs (A5-0319/2001),
1. Amends the common position as follows;
2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
Amendment 1
Article3, paragraph1, point g
(g) to implement an active and transparent information
policy.(g) to implement an active and transparent information policy ,
with due regard for the need of European citizens fortransparency.
Amendment 2
Article4, paragraph1, point b
(b) providing support for Member States’ efforts in evaluating
in a consistent and coordinated manner their NationalAction Plans for Employment, including the way in whichthe social partners and relevant regional and local auth-orities have been involved in their implementation. A spe-cial evaluation exercise shall be completed at the end ofthe first period of application of the annual employmentpolicy guidelines agreed in accordance with the Lux-embourg process;(b) providing support for Member States’ efforts in evaluating
in a consistent and coordinated manner their NationalAction Plans for Employment, including the way in whichthe social partners and relevant regional and local auth-orities have been and may be involved in their implemen-
tation. A special evaluation exercise shall be completed atthe end of the first period of application of the annualemployment policy guidelines agreed in accordance withthe Luxembourg process;
(1) OJ C 276, 1.10.2001, p. 145.
(2) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 242.
(3) OJ C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 182.C112E/114 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
Amendment 3
Article4, paragraph1, point c
(c) a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the effects of
the European Employment Strategy in general, andanalysis
of the consistency between the European EmploymentStrategy and general economic policy, as well as otherpolicy areas;(c) a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the effects of
the European Employment Strategy in general, ananalysis
of the consistency between the European EmploymentStrategy and general economic policy as well as otherpolicy areas, and an evaluation of the European Employ-
ment Strategy as a method;
Amendment 4
Article4, paragraph2
2. Under the activities referred to in paragraph1, efforts
shall be made to mainstream the principle of gender equality,in particular with regard to equal opportunities for men andwomen in employment and labour markets and to reconcilingworking life and family life.2. Under the activities referred to in paragraph1, efforts
shall be made to mainstream the principle of gender equality,in particular with regard to equal opportunities for men andwomen in employment and labour markets and to reconcilingworking life and family life, and studies shall be carried out
concerning the supply of child care facilities and home care/help services .Special attention shall also be given to the
problems of target groups which are subject to multiple dis-crimination intheir accessto the labour market. This exercise
must be supported by evaluation of the National Action
Plans for Employment and by a more strategic approach toemployment policy in the European Union, the aim being tounderstand, monitor and analyse developments by establish-ing indicators.
Amendment 5
Article4, paragraph3a (new)
3a. Part of the appropriations provided for is intended for
projects to promote cooperation, improve knowledge, developan exchange of information, promote best practices and inno-vative approaches and evaluate experience in implementingthe National Action Plans for Employment at local andregional levels in the context of the European EmploymentStrategy. The purpose of these measures is to make localand regional authorities and other key local partners, includ-ing representatives of the mutual and non-profit sector,aware of the potential of measures conducive to implement-ing the employment guidelines at local and regional levelsand the interlinking thereof at local and regional levels.
They shall include in particular:
(a) developing publicity work for the European Employment
Strategy and its implementation at local and regionallevels;
(b) studies on how institutions of the mutual and non-profit
sector can be supported at local and regional levels;9.5.2002 EN C112E/115 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
(c) studies on how to improve transnational cooperation,
and the dissemination of best practice in implementinglocal employment initiatives;
(d) studies of what incentive measures can be taken to
encourage local and regional partners to contributetowards implementing the European Employment Stra-tegy.
Particular focus shall be given to the gender aspects of
employment policy.
Amendment 6
Article5, point 1a (new)
(1a) specific information measures to make the general
public aware of the European Employment Strategy andof gender equality issues as regards access to the labourmarket;
Amendment 7
Aticle 5, paragraph1a (new)
The Commission shall ensure that the nature and scope of
the outputs satisfy the public’s need for transparency. In par-ticular, it shall ensure that the evaluation of the NationalAction Plans for Employment and the annual employment
report are made accessible to the general public, enabling
citizens to evaluate what the Member States have achieved.
Amendment 8
Article6
The Commission shall ensure that the measures implemented
under this Decision and the other relevant Community pro-grammes and initiatives ( such asthe social inclusion pro-
grammeandthe framework programme for research, tech-
nological development and demonstration activities) areconsistent with each other and complementary. The outcomes
of other Community initiatives could be used as inputs into the
actions covered by this Decision, and results from the activitiesmentioned in this Decision could be used as inputs into otherCommunity initiatives.The Commission shall ensure that the measures implemented
under this Decision and the other relevant Community pro-grammes and initiatives ( in particular the social inclusion pro-
gramme, the programme to combat discrimination, the frame-
work programme on equal opportunities, the framework
programme for research, technological development and
demonstration activities , actions by the European Social
Fund, the Community programmes in the field of vocationaltraining and the activities of the relevant decentralisedagencies) are consistent with each other and complementary.
The outcomes of other Community initiatives could be usedas inputs into the actions covered by this Decision, and resultsfrom the activities mentioned in this Decision could be used asinputs into other Community initiatives.
To this end the Commission shall create internal links with
relevant Community programmes and initiatives and thedecentralised agencies.C112E/116 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
Amendment 9
Article8
1.The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision relating to the matters referred to below shall beadopted in accordance with the management procedure refer-red to in Article9(2):1.The Commission shall implement the activities in
accordance with this Decision.
1a. The Commission shall be assisted by an advisory com-
mittee composed of the representatives of the Member Statesand chaired by the representative of the Commission (herein-after referred to as ‘the Committee’).
1b. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the advi-
sory procedure laid down in Article3 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to Article7(3) and Article8thereof.
1c. The representative of the Commission shall in particu-
lar consult the Committee on:
(a) the general guidelines for the implementation of the activ-
ities;(a) the general guidelines for the implementation of the activ-
ities;
(b) the annual budgets and the distribution of funding
between measures;(b) the annual budgets and the distribution of funding
between measures;
(c) the annual plan of work for the implementation of actions
under the activities, and the Commission proposals forselection criteria for financial support, including the crite-ria for monitoring and assessing activities receiving suchsupport, and the procedure for disseminating and transfer-ring the results.(c) the annual plan of work for the implementation of actions
under the activities, and the Commission proposals forselection criteria for financial support, including the crite-ria for monitoring and assessing activities receiving suchsupport, and the procedure for disseminating and transfer-ring the results.
2. The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision relating to all other matters shall be adopted inaccordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Arti-cle9(3).
Amendment 10
Article9
Article9 DeletedCommittee1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles4
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regardto the provisions of Article8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article4(3) of Decision 1999/468/
EC shall be set at two months.9.5.2002 EN C112E/117 Official Journal of the European Communities
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3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles3
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regardto the provisions of Article8 thereof.
4. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Amendment 11
Article10
To ensure the consistency and complementarity of these activ-
ities with other measures referred to in Article6, the Commis-
sion shall keep the Committee referred to in Article9regularly
informed about other relevant Community action. Whereappropriate, the Commission shall establish regular and struc-tured cooperation between this Committee and the committeesestablished for other relevant policies, instruments and actions.To ensure the consistency and complementarity of these activ-
ities with other measures referred to in Article6, the Commis-
sionshall set out in the annual plans of activities the nature
and scope of the cooperation with the Community pro-grammes and initiatives referred to in Article6 and with thedecentralised agencies and shall keep the Committee referred
to inArticle8regularly informed about other relevant Com-
munity action. Where appropriate, the Commission shall estab-lish regular and structured cooperation between this Commit-tee and the committees established for other relevant policies,instruments and actions.
Amendment 12
Article11, paragraph2
Furthermore the Commission shall, within the framework of
the activities referred to in this Decision, establish the necessarylinks with the social partners and regularly exchange viewswith them. To that end, the Commission shall make the rel-evant information available to the social partners. The Commis-sion shall inform the Employment Committee and the Commit-tee referred to in Article9of the views of the social partners.Furthermore the Commission shall, within the framework of
the activities referred to in this Decision, establish the necessarylinks with the social partners and the competent committee of
the European Parliament and regularly exchange views with
them. To that end, the Commission shall make the relevantinformation available to the social partners and the competent
committee of the European Parliament . The Commission shall
inform the Employment Committee and the Committee refer-red to inArticle8of the views of the social partners and the
competent committee of the European Parliament .
Amendment 13
Article12, paragraph1
1. The financial framework for the implementation of the
Community activities referred to in this Decision for the period1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005 shall be €50 million .1. The financial framework for implementing the Community
activities referred to in this Decision for the period 1 January2001 to 31 December 2005 shall be €65 million .
Amendment 14
Article12, paragraph2a (new)
2a. The Commission may haverecourse totechnical and/or
administrative assistance, to the mutual benefit of the Com-mission and of the beneficiaries, as well as to support expen-diture.C112E/118 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT