PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation
Adjustment Fund (EGF) in respect of redundancies in the ICT sector
in Italy.
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 Italy to
mobilise the EGF. The main elements of the assessment are as
follows:
Italy:
EGF/2011/025 IT: on 30 December 2011,
Italy submitted application EGF/2011/025 IT/Lombardia for a
financial contribution from the EGF, following redundancies in two
enterprises operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 26
('Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products') in the
NUTS II region of Lombardia (ITC4) in Italy. The application was
supplemented by additional information up to
12 March 2013.
In order to establish the link between the
redundancies and the global financial and economic crisis, Italy
argues that the decreased ICT demand and investment by both
consumers and enterprises caused by the crisis contributed
significantly to the slow-down in the Italian ICT and electronic
components sector (Nace 26) from 2009 onwards. the Italian
ICT sector has been suffering from strong competition from low-cost
countries over the past decade, and the need to reorganise the
sector because of the rapid emergence of new technologies, such as
cloud computing, various types of e-services, social networks,
etc., has been recognised as a challenge for some years. All these
developments have led to the downsizing of ICT personnel in Italian
enterprises in the years from 2009 onwards.
The strong decline of the ICT sector in Italy as a
result of the crisis hit also the two enterprises which are the
object of this proposal: Anovo Italia S.p.A. (Varese province) and
Jabil CM S.r.l. (Milano province). Their already difficult
situation was further exacerbated, and their conversion and
re-organisation efforts undertaken in the past years failed,
leading eventually to their closure and the dismissal of the
workers.
In its assessment on the application EGF/2011/016 IT
Agile (Nace 62), the Commission has already stated the impact of
the economic and financial crisis on the enterprises operating in
the ICT sector. These arguments continue to be valid.
Italy submitted this application under the
intervention criteria of Article 2(b) of Regulation (EC) No
1927/2006, which requires at least 500 redundancies over a
nine-month period in enterprises operating in the same NACE
Revision 2 Division in one region or two contiguous regions at NUTS
II level in a Member State. The application cites 529 redundancies
in 2 enterprises operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 26 in
the NUTS II region of Lombardia (ITC4) during the nine-month
reference period from 20 March 2011 to 20 December 2011.
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 Italy, the
proposed contribution from the EGF to the coordinated package of
personalised services (including expenditure to implement EGF) is
EUR 1 164 930, representing 65 % of the
total cost.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: not applicable.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATION: 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 of EUR 1 164 930,
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.
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 2013 budget specific commitment
appropriations, as required in Point 28 of the Interinstitutional
Agreement of 17 May 2006.
Appropriations allocated to the EGF budget line in the
2013 budget will be used to cover the amount of EUR 1 164 930
needed for the present application.