Progress: Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | BUDG | RZOŃCA Bogdan ( ECR) | ASIMAKOPOULOU Anna-Michelle ( EPP), GUALMINI Elisabetta ( S&D), GHEORGHE Vlad ( Renew), VANA Monika ( Verts/ALE), PAPADIMOULIS Dimitrios ( GUE/NGL) |
Committee Opinion | EMPL | PÎSLARU Dragoş ( Renew) | |
Committee Opinion | REGI | OMARJEE Younous ( GUE/NGL) |
Lead committee dossier:
Subjects
Events
The European Parliament adopted by 564 votes 26, with 6 abstentions, a resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Greece – EGF/2021/008 EL/Attica electrical equipment manufacturing.
Parliament approved the proposal for a decision to mobilise the EGF to provide a financial contribution of EUR 1 495 830 in commitment and payment appropriations in response to the application submitted by Greece in the electrical equipment manufacturing sector.
This contribution represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 1 759 800, comprising EUR 1 689 800 of expenditure for personalised services and EUR 70 000 of expenditure for implementing the EGF.
Background
On 21 December 2021, Greece submitted an application to mobilise the EGF, in respect of displacement of workers in the economic sector classified under the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community ('NACE') Revision 2 division 27 (Manufacture of electrical equipment) in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics ('NUTS') level 2 region of Attica (EL30) in Greece.
The application relates to 206 displaced workers whose activity ceased in six companies during the reference period, and who will all be considered to be eligible beneficiaries.
The social impact of the redundancies is expected to be significant for the Attica region in Greece, which had the highest number of unemployed people in Greece in December 2021 (342 744, representing 31 % of registered Greek unemployed people), and where 24.1 % of the population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
Events leading to the redundancies
The primary event giving rise to these redundancies is the closure of Pitsos' production plant in Attica, while retaining the brand, sales and service department in Greece. A combination of factors, including the lack of automation and advanced manufacturing, high production costs of electrical household appliances and domestic supply shortages of electrical components resulted in a loss of competitiveness of Pitsos' factory. To reduce manufacturing costs and to optimise production facility the plant required substantial capital investments. However, such investments were not supported by BSH-Pitsos management, and eventually it was decided to move production to Turkey, where the production costs are lower.
Moreover, expenditure for new household appliances in Greece was strongly impacted first by the economic crisis in the years from 2008 to 2016 (35 % decrease) and second by the COVID-19 pandemic (50 % decrease between 2019 and 2020), having recovered by 9.5 % between 2017 and 2019.
The basic digital skills of the Greek population also remain underdeveloped and behind the Union average, which implies a high risk of technological lag and digital illiteracy.
Beneficiaries and proposed measures
The application relates in total to 206 displaced workers whose activity has ceased. Greece expects that all of the eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries). 81.1 % of the dismissed workers have lower secondary education or less and will face difficulties in finding re-employment opportunities.
Greece will start providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries as soon as the mobilisation decision is adopted by the budgetary authorities.
The personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following actions: (i) professional counselling, (ii) training in digital skills, (iii) vocational training and education, (iv) higher education, (v) contribution to business start-up, (vi) and a variety of allowances.
Parliament welcomed that training in digital skills was included as a horizontal element in designing the proposed actions, which will contribute to the dissemination of horizontal skills required in the digital industrial age as well as in a resource-efficient economy. It also called on the Commission to reduce the time taken to assess EGF assistance requests and to mobilise the EGF in a more rapid way, so as to reduce the pressure on national social security systems of the affected regions.
Lastly, the resolution reiterated that, to ensure full additionality of the allocation, assistance from the EGF must not replace actions or any allowances or rights of the displaced workers which are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements.
PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to assist displaced workers in the electrical equipment manufacturing sector in Greece.
PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.
CONTENT: on 21 December 2021, Greece submitted an application EGF/2021/008 EL/Attica electrical equipment manufacturing for a financial contribution from the EGF, following displacements in the manufacture of electrical equipment sector.
Following the assessment of this application, the Commission concluded, in accordance with all the relevant provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the conditions for a financial contribution from the EGF are met.
Grounds for the application
Greece submitted its application under the intervention criteria set out in Article 4(2)(a) of the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 200 workers to be made redundant over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State.
The application relates to 206 displaced workers whose activity has ceased in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 27 (Manufacture of electrical equipment). The redundancies are located in the NUTS 2 region of Attica (EL30). The collective redundancies concern 6 enterprises in total.
The reference period of six months for the application runs from 1 April 2021 to 1 October 2021.
Events leading to the displacements and cessation of operations
The primary event giving rise to these redundancies is the closure of Pitsos' production plant in Attica, while retaining the brand, sales and service department in Greece. A combination of factors, including the lack of automation and advanced manufacturing, high production costs of electrical household appliances and domestic supply shortages of electrical components resulted in a loss of competitiveness of Pitsos' factory. To reduce manufacturing costs and to optimise production facility, the plant required substantial capital investments. However, such investments were not supported by BSH-Pitsos management, and eventually it was decided to move production to Turkey, where the production costs are lower.
Moreover, a long-lasting socioeconomic crisis (2008-2016) in Greece had a significant impact in consumers’ expenditure, which in turn decreased domestic demand for new household appliances. Between 2008 and 2016 spending on household appliances in Greece has decreased by 35 %, from approximately EUR 824 million in 2008 to around EUR 536 million in 2016. Even if expenditure on household appliances recovered by 9.5 % from 2017 to 2019, it was hit again by the Covid-19 pandemic and was down by 50% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Attica region is the largest in Greece in terms of population and also has the highest number of unemployed with 342 744 people in December 2021, representing 31 % of registered unemployed people in the country. The redundancies in the manufacturing of electrical equipment sector in Attica region will further aggravate the unemployment situation, as well as the expansion of poverty in the region.
Beneficiaries
The estimated number of displaced workers expected to participate in the measures is 206 (87.4% men and 12.6% women).
The personalised services to be provided to displaced workers consist of the following measures: (i) professional counselling; (ii) training in digital skills; (iii) vocational training /education; (iv) higher education; (v) contribution to business start-up.
The proposed actions constitute active labour market measures and do not substitute passive social protection measures.
Greece has provided the required information on measures that are mandatory for the enterprises concerned by virtue of national law or pursuant to collective agreements. It has also confirmed that a financial contribution from the EGF will not replace such measures.
Budgetary implication
The EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027.
Having examined the application, the Commission proposes to mobilise the EGF for the amount of EUR 1 495 830, representing 85 % of the total costs of the proposed measures, in order to provide a financial contribution for the application.
At the same time as it presents this proposal for a decision to mobilise the EGF, the Commission will present to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal for a transfer to the relevant budgetary line the amount of EUR 1 495 830.
Documents
- Final act published in Official Journal: Decision 2022/1163
- Final act published in Official Journal: OJ L 179 06.07.2022, p. 0043
- Decision by Parliament: T9-0256/2022
- Budgetary report tabled for plenary, 1st reading: A9-0185/2022
- Budgetary report tabled for plenary: A9-0185/2022
- Specific opinion: PE732.749
- Specific opinion: PE734.073
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE732.740
- Committee draft report: PE732.656
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2022)0248
- Non-legislative basic document published: EUR-Lex
- Committee draft report: PE732.656
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE732.740
- Specific opinion: PE732.749
- Specific opinion: PE734.073
- Budgetary report tabled for plenary, 1st reading: A9-0185/2022
Amendments | Dossier |
16 |
2022/0170(BUD)
2022/06/09
BUDG
16 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas the Union has set up legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of globalisation and of technological and environmental changes, such as changes in world trade patterns, trade disputes, significant changes in the trade relations of the Union or the composition of the internal market and financial or economic crises, as well as the transition to a
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Points out that two third of the targeted beneficiaries are between 30-54 years old (66,5 %) and more than one fifth are over 54 years old (20,9 %);
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Condemns the decision to transfer production to Turkey; recalls that it is necessary to create more favourable conditions for production within the Union and to prevent the relocation of companies outside the Union, in order to ensure the independence of our production;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Calls on the Commission to reduce the time taken to assess EGF assistance requests and to mobilise the EGF in a more rapid way, so as to reduce the pressure on the national social security systems of the affected regions;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements, or any allowances or rights of the displaced workers, to ensure full additionality of the allocation;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. Stresses that assistance from the EGF must not replace required actions by Members States to enhance the competitiveness of companies, particularly SMEs, and their capacity to adapt to the rapidly transforming digital economy, actions to enhance the digital skills of workers in order to address the risk of technological lag and digital illiteracy, measures to enhance the purchasing power of the population, as well as further targeted active employment policies to combat unemployment and facilitate the reintegration of displaced workers in the labour market;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 a (new) 13 a. Calls for the swift release of the EGF financial contribution of EUR 1 495 830 to Greece;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Recital D D. whereas the application relates to 206 displaced workers whose activity ceased in six companies4 during the reference period, and who will all be considered to be eligible beneficiaries; whereas 180 of the displaced workers are men (87,4 %) and 26 are women (12,6 %); whereas 26 of the displaced workers are under the age of 30 (12,6 %), 137 are between 30 and 54 years old (66,5 %) and 43 are over the age of 54 (20,9 %); whereas 167 of the displaced workers have lower secondary education or less (81,1 %), 6 have upper secondary or post- secondary education (2,9 %) and 33 have third-level education (16,0 %); _________________ 4 Bsh Oikiakes Syskeves Anon. Viom.
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F F. whereas expenditure for new household appliances in Greece was strongly impacted first by the economic crisis in the years from 2008 to 2016 (35 % decrease) and second by the COVID-19 pandemic (50 % decrease between 2019 and 2020), having recovered by 9,5 % between 2017 and 2019;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F a (new) Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G G. whereas in that context, the l
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H a (new) H a. whereas, although the unemployment rate in Greece has been gradually declining since 2013, when it reached its highest peak of 27,5 %, Greece continues to have very high unemployment rates; whereas, in 2021, the unemployment rate in Greece was the second highest in the Union at 14,7 %, compared to a Union average of 7,0 %4b; _________________ 4b https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/ view/tps00203/default/table?lang=en
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Recital I a (new) I a. whereas the financial contributions from the EGF should be primarily directed at active labour market policy measures and personalised services that aim to reintegrate beneficiaries rapidly into decent and sustainable employment within or outside their initial sector of activity, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Notes that the Greek authorities submitted the application on 21 December 2021, and that the Commission finalised its assessment on 30 May 2022 and notified it to Parliament on the same day; considers that the assessment period should be reduced so that the targeted beneficiaries get the necessary help with less delay;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Notes that the application relates in total to 206 displaced workers whose activity has ceased, of which 12,6 % are women and 87,4 % are men; welcomes the fact that Greece expects that all of the eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries);
source: 732.740
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