BETA


2011/2794(RSP) Resolution on the future of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 132-p2

Events

2012/02/01
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2011/09/29
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2011/09/29
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on the future of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which was established by Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 and set up with the aim of demonstrating the EU's solidarity with workers affected by mass redundancies resulting from globalisation, extended in 2009 to cover dismissals caused by the financial and economic crisis as well. Members are pleased that the EGF was able to support about 10% of all dismissed workers in the EU during the 2009-2010 period, and note that 40% of workers targeted by the EGF in 2009 were successfully reintegrated into the labour market despite the negative effects of the financial and economic crisis on labour markets.

Parliament notes that the Commission is proposing to extend this temporary derogation until the end of 2013 , and it supports the Commission's proposal to continue the EGF, and asks for urgent clarification as to the situation with regard to farmers and those on fixed-term contracts. Members take the view that the greatest added value a renewed EGF could provide would be effective support for the training and retraining of workers with a view to reintegrating them into employment in difficult labour market situations resulting from unforeseen restructuring of companies or sectors which creates or aggravates skills mismatches. Such an instrument would provide a valuable complement to those measures financed by the ESF which are aimed predominantly at adapting to global challenges with a view to sustainable economic growth. They also stress that on the one hand this instrument would ensure EU solidarity with workers adversely affected by restructuring, and that on the other hand all Member States could benefit from its timely, targeted and tailored intervention in order to prevent long-term unemployment.

Noting that the lengthy procedure for mobilising the EGF has been identified as a major shortcoming of the relevant regulation, Parliament is of the opinion that introducing faster intervention procedures so as to enable the EGF to be mobilised more efficiently and quickly is the main challenge for the future. It takes into account the Commission's efforts to present viable solutions with a view to reducing the length of the application and mobilisation procedure to a maximum of six months but notes the lack of progress made in the four years in which the EGF has been operational, and urges Member States to speed up its operation by front-loading the measures within its scope without disadvantaging those Member States facing budgetary difficulties.

Parliament goes on to call on the Commission to:

ensure that the future EGF have a strong focus on innovation, in line with the Europe 2020 strategy objectives, and put forward proposals whereby a local, regional or national crisis leading to substantial job losses could also be considered under the EGF; ensure that the measures adopted are coherent and compatible with the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, and to use part of its technical assistance budget to promote and disseminate best practices and mutual learning between the Member States; ensure coherence between EGF interventions and action targeting companies and sectors in the area of EU competition rules and industrial policy; propose improvements in the future EGF Regulation to ensure that the Fund does not generate moral hazard effects for multinational companies; investigate ways of ensuring that EGF funding is not used indirectly by multinational companies showing a net profit to reduce the cost to them of handling restructuring in a socially responsible way and to evade their responsibilities; establish an EU framework for anticipation and management of change and restructuring in which these companies are held financially responsible for re-employment measures; identify the reasons that some Member States have not yet made use of the EGF even though mass redundancies have occurred, and to propose solutions accordingly in order to ensure that EGF funding is distributed in line with the Union's objective of promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States (Article 3 TEU); ensure that the EGF continues to fund only those active labour market measures which are additional to the measures provided for under national law in the event of mass redundancies. Furthermore, in future the allowances supported by the EGF should always be coupled with training or retraining measures also financed by the EGF, and they should not replace allowances provided for under national or Community law or collective agreements; investigate the possibility of aligning the co-financing rate of the EGF with the one applicable to the Structural Funds in the Member State concerned; monitor the implementation process more closely in order to ensure that the outcomes of the measures are equally beneficial for all workers, and to compile a data base of best practices and models.

Lastly, Parliament stresses that the social partners and local authorities should be heavily involved in the application procedure and, above all, the design of the coordinated package of measures. The social partners should participate in monitoring implementation and evaluating the outcomes for workers.

Documents
2011/09/29
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2011/09/20
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents

Documents

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-7-2011-0521_EN.html
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-7-2011-0521_EN.html
events/1
date
2011-09-29T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0431_EN.html title: T7-0431/2011
summary
events/1
date
2011-09-29T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0431_EN.html title: T7-0431/2011
summary
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 132-p2
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 123-p2
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B7-2011-521&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-7-2011-0521_EN.html
docs/1/body
EC
events/1/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-431
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0431_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2011-09-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20623&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-431 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0431/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion commissioner: ANDOR László
committees
    docs
    • date: 2011-09-20T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B7-2011-521&language=EN title: B7-0521/2011 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2012-02-01T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=20623&j=0&l=en title: SP(2011)8719 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
    events
    • date: 2011-09-29T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20623&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2011-09-29T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-431 title: T7-0431/2011 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on the future of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which was established by Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 and set up with the aim of demonstrating the EU's solidarity with workers affected by mass redundancies resulting from globalisation, extended in 2009 to cover dismissals caused by the financial and economic crisis as well. Members are pleased that the EGF was able to support about 10% of all dismissed workers in the EU during the 2009-2010 period, and note that 40% of workers targeted by the EGF in 2009 were successfully reintegrated into the labour market despite the negative effects of the financial and economic crisis on labour markets. Parliament notes that the Commission is proposing to extend this temporary derogation until the end of 2013 , and it supports the Commission's proposal to continue the EGF, and asks for urgent clarification as to the situation with regard to farmers and those on fixed-term contracts. Members take the view that the greatest added value a renewed EGF could provide would be effective support for the training and retraining of workers with a view to reintegrating them into employment in difficult labour market situations resulting from unforeseen restructuring of companies or sectors which creates or aggravates skills mismatches. Such an instrument would provide a valuable complement to those measures financed by the ESF which are aimed predominantly at adapting to global challenges with a view to sustainable economic growth. They also stress that on the one hand this instrument would ensure EU solidarity with workers adversely affected by restructuring, and that on the other hand all Member States could benefit from its timely, targeted and tailored intervention in order to prevent long-term unemployment. Noting that the lengthy procedure for mobilising the EGF has been identified as a major shortcoming of the relevant regulation, Parliament is of the opinion that introducing faster intervention procedures so as to enable the EGF to be mobilised more efficiently and quickly is the main challenge for the future. It takes into account the Commission's efforts to present viable solutions with a view to reducing the length of the application and mobilisation procedure to a maximum of six months but notes the lack of progress made in the four years in which the EGF has been operational, and urges Member States to speed up its operation by front-loading the measures within its scope without disadvantaging those Member States facing budgetary difficulties. Parliament goes on to call on the Commission to: ensure that the future EGF have a strong focus on innovation, in line with the Europe 2020 strategy objectives, and put forward proposals whereby a local, regional or national crisis leading to substantial job losses could also be considered under the EGF; ensure that the measures adopted are coherent and compatible with the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, and to use part of its technical assistance budget to promote and disseminate best practices and mutual learning between the Member States; ensure coherence between EGF interventions and action targeting companies and sectors in the area of EU competition rules and industrial policy; propose improvements in the future EGF Regulation to ensure that the Fund does not generate moral hazard effects for multinational companies; investigate ways of ensuring that EGF funding is not used indirectly by multinational companies showing a net profit to reduce the cost to them of handling restructuring in a socially responsible way and to evade their responsibilities; establish an EU framework for anticipation and management of change and restructuring in which these companies are held financially responsible for re-employment measures; identify the reasons that some Member States have not yet made use of the EGF even though mass redundancies have occurred, and to propose solutions accordingly in order to ensure that EGF funding is distributed in line with the Union's objective of promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States (Article 3 TEU); ensure that the EGF continues to fund only those active labour market measures which are additional to the measures provided for under national law in the event of mass redundancies. Furthermore, in future the allowances supported by the EGF should always be coupled with training or retraining measures also financed by the EGF, and they should not replace allowances provided for under national or Community law or collective agreements; investigate the possibility of aligning the co-financing rate of the EGF with the one applicable to the Structural Funds in the Member State concerned; monitor the implementation process more closely in order to ensure that the outcomes of the measures are equally beneficial for all workers, and to compile a data base of best practices and models. Lastly, Parliament stresses that the social partners and local authorities should be heavily involved in the application procedure and, above all, the design of the coordinated package of measures. The social partners should participate in monitoring implementation and evaluating the outcomes for workers.
    • date: 2011-09-29T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
    links
    other
    • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/social/ title: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion commissioner: ANDOR László
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure EP 123-p2
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 123-p2
    procedure/subject
    Old
    • 4.15.05 Industrial restructuring, job losses, redundancies, relocations, Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
    • 5.03 World economy and globalisation
    • 8.70 Budget of the Union
    New
    4.15.05
    Industrial restructuring, job losses, redundancies, relocations, Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
    5.03
    Global economy and globalisation
    8.70
    Budget of the Union
    procedure/subtype
    Old
    Resolution on statements
    New
    Resolution on statement
    procedure/subject/0
    Old
    4.15.05 Industrial restructuring, job losses, redundancies, relocations
    New
    4.15.05 Industrial restructuring, job losses, redundancies, relocations, Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
    activities
    • date: 2011-09-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=20623&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-431 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0431/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
    committees
      links
      other
      • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/social/ title: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion commissioner: ANDOR László
      procedure
      reference
      2011/2794(RSP)
      title
      Resolution on the future of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
      legal_basis
      Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 123-p2
      stage_reached
      Procedure completed
      subtype
      Resolution on statements
      type
      RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects
      subject