wdash themean value of these calculations for all monitoring points in
the groundwater body or group of bodies shall demonstrate com-pliance with those standards in the manner prescribed in the rele-
vant Directive .wdashthese calculations shall be the basis for establishing
that, for the bodies of water concerned, the environ-mental quality standards are considered to be com-
plied with when 70 % of these mean values are in
accordance with the values laid down in the Direc-tives (91/676/EEC, 97/57/EC and 98/83/EC) .
(Amendment 75)
Annex VII, 7a (new)
7a. a summary of the measures taken under Article 11(5)
for bodies of water which are unlikely to achieve theobjectives set out under Article 4
(Amendment 76)
Annex VIII, 9a (new)
9a. Man-made radioactive substances.
(Amendment 77)
Annex VIII, 10
10. Materials in suspension. 10. Materials in suspension in so far as they have harmful
effects on water.
7. Modernising social protection
A5-0033/2000
European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission on a concerted strat-
egy for modernising social protection ((COM(1999) 347 Pdash C5-0253/1999 Pdash 1999/2182(COS))
The European Parliament,
wdash having regard to the Commission’s communication on a concerted strategy for modernising social
protection (COM(1999) 347 wdash C5-0253/1999),
wdash having regard to the Commission’s report on social protection in Europe 1997 (COM(1998) 243 wdash
C4-0375/1998),
wdash having regard to its resolution of19 February 1997 on the Commission communication wdash The f uture
of social protection: a framework for a European debate and the report from the Commission onsocial protection in Europe 1995 (
1),
wdash having regard to its resolution of6 November 1997 on the Commission communication on moder-
nising and improving social protection in the European Union (2),
wdash having regard to its resolution of18 November 1998 on the Commission communication on a social
action programme 1998-2000 (3),
(1) OJ C 85, 17.3.1997, p. 63.
(2) OJ C 358, 24.11.1997, p. 51.
(3) OJ C 379, 7.12.1998, p. 87.C 339/154 EN 29.11.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000
COMMON POSITION
OF THE COUNCILAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
wdash having regard to its resolution of12 March 1999 on the Commission report to the Council, the
European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee on ‘Social protection in Europe 1997wdash Executive summary’ (
1),
wdash having regard to Articles 2, 3, 13, 125-130 and 136-152 ofthe EC Treaty,wdash having regard to the Community Charter ofthe Fundamental Social Rights ofWorkers,
wdash having regard to Council Recommendation 92/441/EEC of24 June 1992 on common criteria con-
cerning sufficient resources and social assistance in social protection systems (
2), and Council Recom-
mendation 92/442/EEC of27 July 1992 on the convergence ofsocial protection objectives and poli-
cies (3) and the Commission’s report on the implementation ofthat recommendation (COM(1998) 774),
wdash having regard to the relevant parts ofthe conclusions ofthe European Council summits held in Car-
diff, Luxembourg, Vienna and Cologne,
wdash having regard to the conclusions of the Council for Labour and Social Affairs of 29 November 1999
on the co-operation for modernising social protection,
wdash having regard to Rule 47(1) ofits Rules ofProcedures,wdash having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the opinion of
the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities (A5-0033/2000),
A. whereas, ifEuropean social convergence is to be achieved, the separate areas ofeconomic policy,
employment policy and social protection must be treated as interdependent parts ofthe same policytriangle in order to establish a successful social convergence in Europe and in the Member States;whereas social convergence should be a process by which common broad policy objectives formguidelines for social policies of Member States;
B. whereas no strategy has yet been drawn up in Europe in the field of social protection and social
security, but social protection is primarily based on the principle ofmutual solidarity and is one ofthe means (alongside a dynamic and a job-creating economic policy) ofcombating the ever-greaterdissociation between economic growth and social development,
C. whereas modernising and improving social protection can be handled by making better use ofavail-
able resources and not by lowering the level ofsocial protection,
D. whereas employment policy, social integration and social improvement have to be implemented in
practice within the Member States and the subsidiarity principle therefore must be respected withregard to the way in which Member States organise their social security systems as well as the main-taining ofsocial rights; whilst the Union may provide added value by adoption ofproper binding andeffective convergence criteria, including common, quantifiable objectives applicable to all the MemberStates,
E. whereas every person has the right to social protection and a guaranteed social minimum income,F. whereas the implementation ofa European social convergence strategy may comprise a strategy on
methods and instruments in order to promote the proposed objectives for social convergence, anddetails ofhow local and regional networks may be used to promote the exchange ofinf ormationand experience between Member States,
(1) OJ C 175, 21.6.1999, p. 435.
(2) OJ L 245, 26.8.1992, p. 46.
(3) OJ L 245, 26.8.1992, p. 49.29.11.2000 EN C 339/155 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000
G. whereas future work on a European social convergence strategy, as proposed in the Commission’s
communication, must pay particular attention to the need for a gender perspective in order to over-come the segregation ofmen and women at work and promotion ofequal opportunities by means of :
wdash effective mainstreaming of all four stated objectives, which comprises specific targets, impact ana-
lyses of all proposals in terms of their effects on equality, and gender-specific compilation ofstatistics,
wdash promotion ofa complete switch to individualised social security schemes in the long-term, includ-
ing transition periods, while individual needs and family aspects have to be taken into considera-tion,
wdash promotion of social security systems which allow scope for career breaks without adversely affect-
ing entitlement and eligibility for benefits or access to training as part of life-long learning and, in
this context, the importance ofarrangements f or parental leave and the level ofrelated benef its,
wdash promotion ofmeasures to remedy shortcomings in national benef it and tax systems in order to
prevent marginal effects which create unemployment and poverty traps for single parents withchildren, for example,
wdash measures to develop affordable, high-quality service sector jobs in line with eligibility and gender
mainstreaming and against a labour market segregated by wage and gender,
wdash measures to ensure that modernising the organisation ofwork also takes account ofthe situation
of women in making demands for more flexibility and the need for balance between work andfamily, highlighting in particular the importance of organising working-time and the need forshorter working hours,
wdash measures to establish a basic old age pension in order to ensure a decent living for those who
were not able to contribute financially to social security systems, which concern mainly a largenumber ofelderly women,
H. whereas the employment and economic guidelines both contain recommendations to reduce taxes in
order to boost employment, which puts the emphasis on the need for social investment to promoteactive measures on the labour market, for example,
I. whereas, ifMember States encourage their citizens to make arrangements to take out additional cover
oftheir own against social risks, such arrangements should be voluntary and must not result in dif -ferent levels of social protection or detract from the principle of solidarity,
J. whereas the trend towards employment-friendly social protection systems cannot hide the fact that
not all sections ofthe population can be integrated by means oflabour market measures, so thatsocial safety nets must be in place at a high level,
K. whereas efforts to promote social integration and combat poverty must include a comprehensive,
integrated strategy, incorporating all relevant policy areas and players, and special measures for vul-nerable groups, particularly for those persons unable to work,
L. whereas, a satisfactory quality of care and acceptable waiting lists in public-sector health systems are
ofhigh importance in order to avoid creating divisions and theref ore in its communication, the Com-mission highlights the need to investigate the extent to which social security systems cover the needfor care and the personnel who provide that care, which entails emphasising the fundamental right tohigh-quality care for all; in this case, comprise studies should analyse not only the various models’economic impact, but also their impact on people’s free and equal access to care and their freedomto choose between different options,C 339/156 EN 29.11.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000
M. whereas the achievement ofeconomic and monetary union, which has brought about ever-increasing
interdependence amongst the economies ofthe Member States, has made social protection a matter ofcommon interest to those States,
1. Endorses once more the approach and validity ofthe 1992 Council Recommendations on common
criteria concerning sufficient resources and social assistance in social protection systems, on the one hand,and the convergence ofobjectives and policy in the f ield ofsocial protection, on the other;
2. Points out that effective social protection schemes are an integral part of the European social model
which is based on the beliefthat economic progress and social progress are linked; considers, theref ore,that social protection must be regarded as a production factor and that modernising it should enable itspotential to be fully exploited in the fields of vocational and in-service training;
3. Welcomes the Commission’s communication in that it provides the necessary framework for social
convergence, i.e. sets out an analysis ofthe challenges common to all the Member States, identif ies com-mon objectives for modernising the Member States’ social security systems and stepping up the process bysetting up a high-level group and submitting the report on social protection on an annual basis;
4. Notes that the Council meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers on 29 November 1999
decided to set up a high-level group to be responsible for establishing a scheme for greater cooperation inthe field of social protection which is to draw up an interim report for the Feira European Council(June 2000); calls therefore on the Council and the Commission to define the group’s remit more precisely,including a composition where women should be adequately represented and to take the following aspectsinto consideration in order to further the process of establishing European social convergence:
wdash maintaining and developing social protection based on solidarity and independent ofcommercial
interests and financial performance objectives which guarantees universal access to entitlements,including access to services,
wdash developing a methodological model, along the lines ofthe Luxembourg process on employment, based
on the objectives which the Commission urges the Council to adopt in its communication, to includeidentifying bench-marking criteria, evaluation systems and guidelines to form a basis for nationalaction plans, whereby such a model should be seen as supplementing employment and macro-eco-nomic policies,
wdash developing the convergence process by means ofjoint talks between the Ecof in Council and the social
affairs and employment Councils,
wdash effective co-operation within the European social convergence process, wherein wdash apart from regular
reporting to the Parliament and opportunities for Parliament to follow matters up wdash Parliament estab-lishes a contact group with close cooperation from the outset with the high-level group created by theCouncil on the basis ofthe Commission’s communication on modernising social protection, andwherein in this process the social partners are regularly involved in an appropriate way in line withthe established social dialogue; furthermore a regular process of information and consultation ofrepresentatives ofthe applicant countries, ofNGOs, ofsocial security institutions, as well as oftheEconomic and Social Committee and the Committee ofthe Regions, should be guaranteed in line withthe proposal ofthe Commission,
wdash urgently developing a working framework, including time-table, definition of reference points,
arrangements for the exchange of comparable data relating to the four general objectives defined bythe Commission in order to implement the agreed co-operation for modernising and improving socialprotection in Europe;
5. Calls at the same time for developing and simplifying the Luxembourg process, which should be
better integrated with the establishment ofthe economic guidelines and involve the modernisation ofsocial protection, so that a number ofclear general employment and social policy objectives can be setto serve as a basis for a fruitful exchange of experience in this area, thus making it possible to create aframework for achieving such objectives;29.11.2000 EN C 339/157 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000
6. Calls on the Commission to submit a social action programme which sets out a practical plan,
including a timetable for implementation, including measures for social protection on the basis ofArticle 140 ofthe TEC as well as legislative proposals f or statutory minimum standards ofsocial protec-tion on the basis of both Article 42 and Article 137 of the TEC, and a plan for initiatives for frameworkagreements in the context ofindustrial relations;
7. Stresses that the social convergence process must be accompanied by an effective and ambitious
fiscal coordination; calls therefore on the Commission in the event of legislative proposals being blockedor draft guidelines being rejected, to take steps to establish a code of conduct to combat unfair competi-tion arising from social security and taxation;
8. Calls on the Council to take decisions on the specific Commission proposals put forward as part of
the ‘Monti’ fiscal package with a view to establishing the framework needed to help relieve the burdenplaced by social security costs on employment whilst providing stable funding for social welfare schemesin order to combat unfair competition in the field of taxation;
9. Calls on the Commission and the Council, in devising a social convergence strategy:
wdash to take account ofthe gender-specif ic aspects ofindustrial diseases and injuries and on the basis of
Article 137(1) ofthe TEC, to submit a proposal f or a directive on measures to prevent and combatstress,
wdash to consider making recommendations on qualitative and quantitative access to childcare and care for
disabled and older people or any other person in need ofcare,
wdash to draw up, in order to supplement the agreements concluded between the two sides ofEuropean
industry, a proposal for a directive establishing minimum standards for all forms of atypical employ-ment,
wdash to adapt and supplement the existing legal framework on equal treatment of men and women in
regard to social security, on the basis ofan overview ofthe directives in f orce in this f ield;
10. Calls on the Commission and the Council:
wdash to draw up a separate report on poverty in Europe in line with Parliament’s previous request,
wdash to use Article 13 ofthe Treaty to draw up binding legal acts to combat discrimination in the areas set
out in the article; the Commission should also use this article as an instrument to convert existingrecommendations concerning the disabled into binding legal acts,
wdash to use Article 137(2) ofthe Treaty to support the objective ofsocial integration and to present con-
crete initiatives to combat social exclusion in Europe,
wdash to submit guidelines for the establishment of an acceptable minimum subsistence level in the Member
States on the basis of a uniform method of defining and establishing poverty thresholds,
wdash to draw up a coordination procedure relating to the fight against social exclusion and poverty, includ-
ing adequate social standards such as common poverty standards, based on income and statisticalindicators for social exclusion and poverty, as well as information on vulnerable groups, so that theprocedure can be introduced at the beginning of2001;
11. Takes the view that the European employment guidelines should take into account the need for
quality in the jobs created in order to prevent the emergence ofunderclasses and encourage the creationofpermanent jobs, to prevent the emergence of’working poor’ and in order to take account ofthe need tocreate financially sustainable social security systems under which the rights which have already beenacquired in the various Member States are still maintained;
12. Points out that social protection schemes must take into account the emergence ofnew f orms of
working and better protection for the self-employed;C 339/158 EN 29.11.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000
13. Stresses the need for taxation and social security schemes to be devised in such a way as to enable
more effective action to be taken against employment traps, since the healthiness of social securityschemes is dependent on the perf ormance ofthe economy and a high level ofemployment;
14. Reminds the Commission and the Council of Parliament’s previous call for a switch from tax on
labour to tax on other resources such as the environment, energy and consumption and calls on the
Commission to submit an assessment to establish whether a tax on energy or emissions would be an
appropriate means in the long term ofsecuring the f unding ofthe social security systems;
15. Welcomes the fact that the 1999 report on social protection in Europe will contain information on
social security in the countries ofCentral and Eastern Europe; expects the Commission also to include anaccount ofthe situation ofmarginalised groups such as poorly educated women, the disabled, orphans andethnic minorities, and to pay particular attention to the need for measures to create conditions in whichemployers and employees in the applicant countries are able to take part in the modernisation oftheirsocial security systems;
16. Points out that, with the prospect ofenlargement ofthe European Union, social convergence is
needed as a way ofstrengthening the European social model and ofeliminating the threat ofsocial dump-ing;
17. Calls on the Commission to consider drawing up a separate social action programme for social
policy in the context ofenlargement;
18. Calls on the Commission to help establish arrangements, through initiatives in the context ofindus-
trial relations, to facilitate the introduction of flexible pensions for a gradual transition to retirement interalia to protect unexpected retirement and to bring forward voluntary retirement for social reasons;
19. Welcomes the Commission’s opposition in its communication to the trend towards older workers
being forced to leave the labour market prematurely; calls, however, on the Commission also to examinethe working-environment aspects ofthis matter in terms ofthe measures than can be taken throughlegislation, by stepping up information campaigns, primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, voca-tional training and retraining programmes and arrangements for rehabilitation in cooperation betweenindustry and the health service;
20. Calls on the Commission to put forward proposals to improve Directive 79/7/EEC (
1) on the pro-
gressive implementation ofthe principle ofequal treatment f or men and women in matters ofsocialsecurity, particularly with regard to pensionable age and the rights ofsurviving dependants, with a viewto bringing it into line with the more advanced Directive 96/97/EC (
2) on equal treatment for men and
women in occupational social security schemes;
21. Advocates further encouragement of preventive measures and draws attention in particular to the
effectiveness of incentives for healthier living and more individual responsibility;
22. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and
Social Committee, the Committee ofthe Regions and to employers and employees on the European labourmarket.
(1) OJ L 6, 10.1.1979, p. 24.
(2) OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, p. 20.29.11.2000 EN C 339/159 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 16 February 2000