PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) in respect of redundancies in footwear industry in Portugal.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2011/726/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, in accordance with point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (application EGF/2010/026 PT/Rohde from Portugal).

CONTENT: with this Decision, the European Parliament and the Council have decided to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to provide the sum of EUR 1 449 500 in commitment and payment appropriations in the framework of the general budget 2011.

This amount will assist Portugal in respect of redundancies in the enterprise Rohde.

Given that this application complies with the requirements for determining the financial contributions as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 ( EGF ), the abovementioned amount has been granted to Denmark to meet its request.

To recall, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aims to provide additional support to redundant workers who suffer from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist them with their reintegration into the labour market. The Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline allows for the mobilisation of the Fund through a flexibility mechanism, within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million.

It should be noted that t he scope of the EGF was broadened for applications submitted from 1 May 2009 to include support for workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis.

Decision 2011/726
OJ L 289 08.11.2011, p. 0032

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted by 555 votes to 64, with 25 abstentions, a resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for an amount of EUR 1 449 500 in commitment and payment appropriations in respect of redundancies in footwear industry in Portugal.

Parliament recalls that the European Union has set up the appropriate legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market.

Given that Portugal has requested assistance in respect of a case concerning 974 redundancies, of which 680 have been targeted for assistance, which affected one enterprise located mainly in the municipality of Santa Maria Da Feira and which also affected the contiguous municipality of Ovar, both located respectively within two NUTS II region Norte and Centro in Portugal, and that this application fulfils the eligibility criteria set up by the EGF Regulation, Parliament requests the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF for the requested amount.

Parliament recalls the institutions’ commitment to ensuring a smooth and rapid procedure for the adoption of the decisions on the mobilisation of the EGF, providing one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have suffered redundancies as a result of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis.

At the same time, Parliament also recalls that:

assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements, nor measures restructuring companies or sectors; the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds.

It welcomes the fact that, following repeated requests from the Parliament, for the first time the 2011 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 47 608 950 on the EGF budget line 04 05 01. This dedicated allocation will avoid transfers from other budget lines, as happened in the past, which could be detrimental to the achievement of the various policies objectives.

Lastly, Parliament welcomes the reinforcement of the EGF budget line 04.05.01 by EUR 50 million through Amending budget No 3/2011, which will be used to cover the amount needed for this application.

T7-0417/2011

A7-0310/2011

The Committee on Budgets adopted the report drafted by Barbara MATERA (EPP, IT) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for an amount of EUR 1 449 500 in commitment and payment appropriations in respect of redundancies in footwear industry in Portugal.

Members recall that the European Union has set up the appropriate legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market.

Given that Portugal has requested assistance in respect of a case concerning 974 redundancies, of which 680 have been targeted for assistance, which affected one enterprise located mainly in the municipality of Santa Maria Da Feira and which also affected the contiguous municipality of Ovar, both located respectively within two NUTS II region Norte and Centro in Portugal, and that this application fulfils the eligibility criteria set up by the EGF Regulation, Members request the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF for the requested amount.

Members recall the institutions’ commitment to ensuring a smooth and rapid procedure for the adoption of the decisions on the mobilisation of the EGF, providing one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have suffered redundancies as a result of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis.

They also recall that:

assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements, nor measures restructuring companies or sectors; the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds.

Members welcome the fact that, following repeated requests from the Parliament, for the first time the 2011 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 47 608 950 on the EGF budget line 04 05 01. This dedicated allocation will avoid transfers from other budget lines, as happened in the past, which could be detrimental to the achievement of the various policies objectives.

Lastly, they welcome the reinforcement of the EGF budget line 04.05.01 by EUR 50 million through Amending budget No 3/2011, which will be used to cover the amount needed for this application.

A7-0310/2011

PE472.007

PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) in respect of redundancies in footwear industry in Portugal.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was established by Council Regulation No 1927/2006 to provide additional support to redundant workers who suffer from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist them with their reintegration into the labour market.

The Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline allows for the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) through a flexibility mechanism, within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million over and above the relevant headings of the financial framework.

The Commission services have carried out a thorough examination of the application submitted by Portugal to mobilise the EGF. The main elements of the assessment are as follows:

Portugal : application EGF/2010/026 PT/Rohde : on 26 November 2010, Portugal submitted application EGF/2010/026 PT/Rohde for a financial contribution from the EGF, following redundancies in Rohde Sociedade Industrial de Calçado Luso-Alemã, Lda ('Rohde') in Portugal.

In order to establish the link between the redundancies and the global financial and economic crisis, Portugal argues that the clothing and footwear industries were strongly hit by the crisis. Both clothing and footwear industries recorded a decrease in exports (EUR 24 million in clothing, EUR 6 million in footwear). Portuguese footwear exports declined in 2009 to EUR 1 207 million, representing 6.4% less than those of the previous year.

The Rohde company kept a stable position on the market despite the increasing difficulties due to intensified competition, China becoming a global leader in the sector and growing importance of Vietnam, India and Indonesia. However, the situation of Rohde was affected by the decrease in sales, and the position of Rohde on the European market deteriorated. As a result of the crisis and the reduced capacity to invest, the parent enterprise based in Schwalmstadt, Germany, finally went bankrupt. The Rohde Group was then the subject of a recovery plan and finally the group substantially downsized.

These circumstances led to the eventual closure of the factory and the dismissal of the workers.

Portugal submitted this application under the intervention criteria of Article 2(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, which requires at least 500 redundancies over a four-month period in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant in its suppliers and downstream producers. The application cites 974 redundancies in Rohde during the four-month reference period from 19 May 2010 to 19 September 2010.

After a thorough examination of this application, the Commission has concluded in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 that the conditions for a financial contribution under this Regulation are met.

On the basis of the application from Portugal, the proposed contribution from the EGF to the coordinated package of personalised services (including expenditure to implement EGF) is EUR 1 449 500 , representing 65 % of the total cost.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: considering the maximum possible amount of a financial contribution from the EGF under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, as well as the scope for reallocating appropriations, the Commission proposes to mobilise the EGF for the total amount referred to above, to be allocated under heading 1a of the financial framework.

The proposed amount of financial contribution will leave more than 25 % of the maximum annual amount earmarked for the EGF available for allocations during the last four months of the year, as required by Article 12(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006.

By presenting this proposal to mobilise the EGF, the Commission initiates the simplified trialogue procedure, as required by Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006, with a view to securing the agreement of the two arms of the budgetary authority on the need to use the EGF and the amount required. The Commission invites the first of the two arms of the budgetary authority that reaches agreement on the draft mobilisation proposal, at appropriate political level, to inform the other arm and the Commission of its intentions. In case of disagreement by either of the two arms of the budgetary authority, a formal trialogue meeting will be convened.

The Commission presents separately a transfer request in order to enter in the 2011 budget specific commitment appropriations, as required in Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006.

Amending budget 2/2011 increased EGF budget line 04.0501 by EUR 50 000 000 in payment appropriations. Appropriations from this budget line will be used to cover the amount of EUR 1 449 500 needed for the present application.

COM(2011)0491
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) in respect of redundancies in footwear industry in Portugal.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was established by Council Regulation No 1927/2006 to provide additional support to redundant workers who suffer from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist them with their reintegration into the labour market.

The Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline allows for the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) through a flexibility mechanism, within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million over and above the relevant headings of the financial framework.

The Commission services have carried out a thorough examination of the application submitted by Portugal to mobilise the EGF. The main elements of the assessment are as follows:

Portugal : application EGF/2010/026 PT/Rohde : on 26 November 2010, Portugal submitted application EGF/2010/026 PT/Rohde for a financial contribution from the EGF, following redundancies in Rohde Sociedade Industrial de Calçado Luso-Alemã, Lda ('Rohde') in Portugal.

In order to establish the link between the redundancies and the global financial and economic crisis, Portugal argues that the clothing and footwear industries were strongly hit by the crisis. Both clothing and footwear industries recorded a decrease in exports (EUR 24 million in clothing, EUR 6 million in footwear). Portuguese footwear exports declined in 2009 to EUR 1 207 million, representing 6.4% less than those of the previous year.

The Rohde company kept a stable position on the market despite the increasing difficulties due to intensified competition, China becoming a global leader in the sector and growing importance of Vietnam, India and Indonesia. However, the situation of Rohde was affected by the decrease in sales, and the position of Rohde on the European market deteriorated. As a result of the crisis and the reduced capacity to invest, the parent enterprise based in Schwalmstadt, Germany, finally went bankrupt. The Rohde Group was then the subject of a recovery plan and finally the group substantially downsized.

These circumstances led to the eventual closure of the factory and the dismissal of the workers.

Portugal submitted this application under the intervention criteria of Article 2(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, which requires at least 500 redundancies over a four-month period in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant in its suppliers and downstream producers. The application cites 974 redundancies in Rohde during the four-month reference period from 19 May 2010 to 19 September 2010.

After a thorough examination of this application, the Commission has concluded in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 that the conditions for a financial contribution under this Regulation are met.

On the basis of the application from Portugal, the proposed contribution from the EGF to the coordinated package of personalised services (including expenditure to implement EGF) is EUR 1 449 500 , representing 65 % of the total cost.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: considering the maximum possible amount of a financial contribution from the EGF under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, as well as the scope for reallocating appropriations, the Commission proposes to mobilise the EGF for the total amount referred to above, to be allocated under heading 1a of the financial framework.

The proposed amount of financial contribution will leave more than 25 % of the maximum annual amount earmarked for the EGF available for allocations during the last four months of the year, as required by Article 12(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006.

By presenting this proposal to mobilise the EGF, the Commission initiates the simplified trialogue procedure, as required by Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006, with a view to securing the agreement of the two arms of the budgetary authority on the need to use the EGF and the amount required. The Commission invites the first of the two arms of the budgetary authority that reaches agreement on the draft mobilisation proposal, at appropriate political level, to inform the other arm and the Commission of its intentions. In case of disagreement by either of the two arms of the budgetary authority, a formal trialogue meeting will be convened.

The Commission presents separately a transfer request in order to enter in the 2011 budget specific commitment appropriations, as required in Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006.

Amending budget 2/2011 increased EGF budget line 04.0501 by EUR 50 000 000 in payment appropriations. Appropriations from this budget line will be used to cover the amount of EUR 1 449 500 needed for the present application.

COM(2011)0491
EUR-Lex