PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in respect of redundancies in the manufacture of machinery and equipment in the region of Nordjylland (Denmark).

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2010/662/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the 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/2010/001 DK/Nordjylland, presented by Denmark).

CONTENT: by this Decision, the European Parliament and the Council have decided to mobilise EUR 7 521 359 in commitment and payment appropriations from the European Globalisation and Adjustment Fund in the framework of the 2010 budget.

The Fund will be mobilised to assist Denmark in respect of redundancies in the manufacture of machinery and equipment in the region of Nordjylland.

Given that this application complies with the requirements for determining the financial contributions as laid down in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, the Parliament and the Council have decided to respond by providing the aforementioned amount.

To recall, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund ( EGF ) was set up 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 allows the mobilisation of the Fund within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million. It should also be noted that the 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 2010/662
OJ L 286 04.11.2010, p. 0018

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted by 567 votes to 59, with 8 abstentions a resolution approving 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 7 521 359 in commitment and payment appropriations in respect of redundancies in the machinery and equipment for the shipbuilding sector in Denmark .

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 Denmark has requested assistance in respect of cases concerning 951 redundancies in 45 enterprises operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 28 (manufacture of machinery and equipment) sector in the NUTS II region of Nordjylland, 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.

It 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 by the Commission on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes detailed information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds (Parliament reiterates its call to present a comparative evaluation of these data in the Commission annual reports as well); the functioning and the added value of the EGF should be evaluated in the context of the general assessment of the programmes and various other instruments created by the IIA of 17 May 2006 within the process of the 2007-2013 Multiannual Financial Framework mid-term review.

In parallel, Parliament welcomes the fact that, in the context of mobilising the EGF, an alternative source of payment appropriations to unused European Social Fund has been proposed by the Commission, following the frequent reminders by the European Parliament that the EGF was created as a separate specific instrument with its own objectives and deadlines and that appropriate budget lines for transfers must therefore be identified.

It also notes that, in order to mobilise the EGF for this case, payment appropriations will be transferred from a budget line dedicated to the support of SMEs and innovation (even if they regret the severe shortcomings of the European Commission when implementing the framework programmes on competitiveness and innovation, particularly during an economic crisis which should significantly increase the need for such support).

Lastly, Parliament welcomes the new format of the Commission’s proposal, which presents in its explanatory memorandum clear and detailed information on the application, analyses the eligibility criteria and explains the reasons which led to its approval, which is in line with Parliament’s requests.

T7-0359/2010

A7-0270/2010

A7-0270/2010

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 7 521 359 in commitment and payment appropriations in respect of redundancies in the machinery and equipment for the shipbuilding sector in Denmark.

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 Denmark has requested assistance in respect of cases concerning 951 redundancies in 45 enterprises operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 28 (manufacture of machinery and equipment) sector in the NUTS II region of Nordjylland, 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 by the Commission on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes detailed information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds (the committee reiterates its call to present a comparative evaluation of these data in the Commission annual reports as well); the functioning and the added value of the EGF should be evaluated in the context of the general assessment of the programmes and various other instruments created by the IIA of 17 May 2006 within the process of the 2007-2013 Multiannual Financial Framework mid-term review.

In parallel, Members welcome the fact that, in the context of mobilising the EGF, an alternative source of payment appropriations to unused European Social Fund has been proposed by the Commission , following the frequent reminders by the European Parliament that the EGF was created as a separate specific instrument with its own objectives and deadlines and that appropriate budget lines for transfers must therefore be identified.

They also note that, in order to mobilise the EGF for this case, payment appropriations will be transferred from a budget line dedicated to the support of SMEs and innovation (even if they regret the severe shortcomings of the European Commission when implementing the framework programmes on competitiveness and innovation, particularly during an economic crisis which should significantly increase the need for such support).

Lastly, Members welcome the new format of the Commission’s proposal, which presents in its explanatory memorandum clear and detailed information on the application, analyses the eligibility criteria and explains the reasons which led to its approval, which is in line with Parliament’s requests.

PE448.993

PE448.849

PURPOSE: to mobilise the European Globalisation Fund in respect of redundancies in the machinery and equipment for the shipbuilding sector in Denmark.

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 applications submitted by Denmark. These are as follows:

Denmark: EGF/2010/001 DK/Nordjylland : on 22 January 2010, Denmark submitted application EGF/2010/001 DK/Nordjylland for a financial contribution from the EGF, following redundancies in 45 firms operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 28 (manufacture of machinery and equipment) sector in the NUTS II region of Nordjylland (DK05) in Denmark. The application was supplemented by additional information up to 28 April 2010.

In order to establish the link between the redundancies and the global financial and economic crisis, Denmark explains that the companies concerned were for the most part involved in producing machinery and equipment for the shipbuilding sector. CESA (the Community of European Shipyards Association) has prepared a Guestimate on World Shipbuilding Requirements until 2014, which states that the global financial crisis had changed several of the conditions and expectations for the future development of the market. A combination of factors brought about reduced shipbuilding requirements and by the end of 2008/beginning of 2009, the placement of new orders came to an almost complete halt. In addition, about 10 % of new ship orders are expected to be cancelled. Several of the ships on order will have their delivery dates postponed. CESA estimates that some 30 % of the fleet in 2011 will be surplus.

Denmark 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 a NACE Revision 2 Division in one region or two contiguous regions at NUTS II level. The application cites 1 122 redundancies in 45 enterprises in the NACE Revision 2 Division 28 (manufacture of machinery and equipment) in the NUTS II region of Nordjylland (DK05) during the reference period from 15 February 2009 to 14 November 2009.

On the basis of the application from Denmark, the proposed contribution from the EGF to the coordinated package of personalised services is EUR 7 521 359 , representing 65% of the total cost.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.

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 7 521 359 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 2010 budget specific commitment and payment appropriations, as required in Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006.

COM(2010)0451
EUR-Lex