Brussels, 20/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Belgian Socialist Anne Van Lancker on the Union's new Social Agenda, the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the European Commission to include the notion of gender equality in all sectors under the Social agenda and to closely monitor implementation of this notion through the publication of regular reports. It shares the Commission's opinion on the need to step-up the social dialogue in the face of industrial changes, as well as over the important role NGOs have to play in the Union's future social policy.
But, according to the report, it is especially necessary for the Commission to take a series of measures to strengthen the Social Agenda. It should, notably: 1) complement its e-Europe action plan and e-working, e-inclusion and e-learning initiatives with an action plan on the development of local employment and of the services sector, including remunerated housework, which contribute not only to the creation of many more jobs but also the quality of life for all; 2) ensure the quality of new jobs through legislative initiatives on working from home, telework, self-employed work, multi-wage, and submit a directive on social protection for new forms of work; 3) implement a right to collective action at European level, especially the right to strike; 4) strengthen the collective and individual rights of workers through the assessment and review of different directives (collective redundancies, company transfers, bankruptcy) and introduce a new directive on individual protection against abusive dismissal; 5) strengthen the action programme against poverty and social exclusion by establishing a right to an income, a pension, a minimum wage; 6) change and reduce working times through consultations between the social partners; 7) propose an action plan for the participation of the elderly and disabled in the information society. Finally, the Parliamentary Committee calls for an annual evaluation of the implementation of the Social Agenda to be made at the springtime European Summits and that the latter take account of those aspects relating to gender equality. It also urges the Commission to draw up a scoreboard for the Social Agenda, setting out the players responsible, the instruments and deadlines for each action.
This report will be on the EP's plenary session agenda in Strasbourg on Monday 23 October.