What changed

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

P10_TA(2026)0332

on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisationMobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following anWorkers: application from Finland – EGF/2026/003 FI/Valmet Automotive - Finland

(COM(2026)0400 – C100199/2026 – 2026/0220(BUD))

Committee on Budgets

PE792.011

European Parliament resolution of 7 October 2026 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 Finland – EGF/2026/003 FI/Valmet Automotive (COM(2026)0400 – C10-0199/2026 – 2026/0220(BUD))

The European Parliament,

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its annex, to the Council and the Commission.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

I. Background

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was created to provide additional assistance to workers suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns.

In accordance with point 9 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020, the Commission is required, following the positive assessment of an application, to submit a proposal to mobilise the Fund to the budgetary authority and to complement it with a corresponding request for transfer to the relevant budget lines.

II. Finland’s application and the Commission's proposal

On 5 May 2026 Finland submitted an application EGF/2026/003 FI/Valmet Automotive for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 260 redundancies at Valmet Automotive Oyj and five of its suppliers. This is the third such application of 2026, and the ninth to be examined under the 2026 budget.

Following the assessment of this application, the Commission has concluded, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the conditions for awarding a financial contribution from the EGF are met.

On 24 July 2026, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Finland for tailored measures to support the reintegration in the labour market of 233 targeted beneficiaries, i.e. workers from Valmet and five of its sub-contractors and suppliers made redundant. In total, EUR 410 310 will be mobilised from the EGF, representing 60% of the total costs of the proposed actions.

The Commission deemed the Finnish application admissible under the intervention criteria of Article 4(2) (a) of the EGF Regulation, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers or self-employed persons over a reference period of four months, in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream.

EGF co-funding has been requested for the following seven types of actions, to be provided to redundant workers:

a) Job-seeking training: The participants receive information about the support services available for jobseekers, and training to chart their reintegration into labour market. They will practice applying for jobs by drawing up or updating their CVs and writing actual job applications. Personal interviews with situational assessment will be conducted by experts dedicated to the project. Special attention will be given to those participants who need to improve their digital skills to improve their job-seeking skills and/or labour market position.

b) Job and career coaching: Job coaching offers general guidance for searching employment but can include also a personal coach providing personalised assistance. In career coaching, personalised support is provided to the participants to help them plan their working career, including possible career or sector changes, with the required competence/skills mapping. If necessary, longer-term support programmes, with group-based exercises, can be provided. These may also include introductory periods in one or several workplaces.

c) Vocational training: The goal of the vocational training is the acquisition of skills that support transition to a new sector with high employment rate.

d) Occupational safety and competence cards: Occupational safety and competence cards are nationally recognised certificates of proficiency in various safety-related skills. These cards can be obtained by completing a learning course and a standardised test.

e) Language training: Labour-market oriented Finnish language training will be provided to those beneficiaries whose proficiency in Finnish is insufficient for rapid re-employment.

f) Start-up grant: A start-up grant ensures an income for an aspiring entrepreneur during the estimated time required to launch and establish a full-time business, up to a maximum of 12 months.

g) Incentives and allowances: Pay subsidies lower the recruitment threshold by reducing the new employer’s payroll costs. The aim is to help the jobseekers improve their professional competence in the open labour market. The amount of pay subsidy is generally 50% of the payroll costs; the length of the subsidised period depends on the duration of the preceding unemployment period.

III. Procedure

In order to mobilise the Fund, the Commission has submitted to the Budgetary Authority a request to transfer a global amount of EUR 410 310 from the EGF reserve (budget line 30 04 02; commitment appropriations) to the EGF (budget line 16 02 02; commitment appropriations).

According to an internal agreement within the Parliament, the Employment and Social Affairs Committee and the Committee on Regional Development should be associated to the process, in order to provide constructive support and contribute to the assessment of the applications from the Fund

LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Finland — EGF/2026/003 FI/Valmet Automotive (2026/0220(BUD))

Dear Mr Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee and decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs considered the matter, and, at its meeting of 10 September 2026, it decided to submit the opinion set out below to the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible.

Yours sincerely,

Li Andersson

OPINION

A. Whereas, on 5 May 2026, Finland submitted an application EGF/2026/003 FI/Valmet Automotive for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF), following displacements in Valmet Automotive and five subcontractors and suppliers in Finland; whereas the primary enterprise operates in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 29 (Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers),where the redundancies are located in the NUTS 2 region of Länsi-Suomi (FI19);

B. Whereas Finland submitted the application under the intervention criteria of Article 4(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers over a reference period of four months (in this case, from 2 December 2025 to 2 April 2026) in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream producers; whereas, following its assessment of this application, the Commission has concluded, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the conditions for awarding a financial contribution from the EGF are met;

C. Whereas the total number of eligible beneficiaries is 260, whose activity has ceased in the economic sectors indicated above; whereas the application relates to 239 displaced workers whose activity has ceased in Valmet Automotive and one of its suppliers;

D. Whereas on 24 July 2026 the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Finland to support the reintegration in the labour market of 239 targeted beneficiaries;

E. Whereas the financial situation and employment in Valmet Automotive, a contract manufacturer of the automobile industry, has always been dependent on fixed-term contracts with large car manufacturers, and therefore, subject to fluctuations; whereas, due to the global downturn in the automobile industry that has continued for several years, the company has run into difficulties and has had to gradually reduce its personnel, from just under 3 200 in the early 2020’s to approximately 1 300 before the latest redundancies; whereas, after the end of the two-model contract with Mercedes-Benz in 2025, the factory no longer had any orders, forcing it to new staff reductions; whereas, in the co-operation negotiations in November 2025, the company announced that it would dismiss a maximum of 235 people and temporarily lay-off 860 people; whereas the company's difficult situation has naturally also affected the entire subcontracting chain;

F. Whereas the new large-scale lay-offs and redundancies at the Valmet Automotive Uusikaupunki car factory, by far the region’s largest employer, have hit hard the entire region; whereas strong dependence on the car plant in the Vakka-Suomi sub-region poses significant challenges to the already difficult situation in the region; whereas the unemployment rate in Vakka-Suomi rose to 12,2 % in December 2025, 1,7 percentage points higher than year before; whereas among young jobseekers (under 25 years of age), the unemployment rate reached 17,3 %, an increase of 4,2 percentage points year-on-year;

G. Whereas Valmet Automotive has sought to expand its operations into new fields, whereas it has signed a letter of intent with Patria, Finland’s leading defence technology company, and received a small order for the assembly of armoured vehicles; whereas, if Valmet Automotive is successful in its transition to defence and security technology, the company may be able to re-hire a considerable portion of its displaced employees; whereas it is therefore essential for both the company and the Uusikaupunki region to maintain the working capacity of these persons and to keep them and their families in the region; whereas this is especially important for the immigrant workers on work-related residency permit;

H. Whereas Finland has indicated that the co-ordinated package of personalised services has been drawn up in consultation with the social partners, in compliance with Article 7(4) of the EGF Regulation;

I. Whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 30 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027;

Therefore, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to integrate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Recalls that the objective of the EGF is to demonstrate solidarity with, and provide support to beneficiaries; considers that 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; stresses the importance of preparing and supporting workers for the urgently needed green and digital transitions of the European economy and society; reiterates in this context the important role the Union plays, including through the EGF, in contributing to the financing of necessary qualifications for the just transition in line with the European Green Deal;

2. Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(2)(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Finland is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 410 310 under that Regulation, which represents 60 % of the total cost of EUR 683 850, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 663 850 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 20 000;

3. Notes the fact that Finland has provided all necessary assurances that the requirements laid down in national and EU legislation concerning collective redundancies have been complied with and that the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected in access to the proposed measures and their implementation;

4. Stresses that Finland has confirmed that the measures supported by the EGF will not receive any financial contributions from other Union financial instruments;

5. Notes that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following measures: (a) job-seeking training, (b) job and career coaching, (c) vocational training, (d) occupational safety and competence cards, (e) language training, (f) start-up grant, and (i) incentives and allowances;

6. Stresses in particular the importance of Article 7(2) of the EGF Regulation, which requires the coordinated package to anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills, which are compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy and with a particular focus on the dissemination of skills required in the digital industrial age; welcomes the fact the ICT training and additional support are foreseen within vocational guidance services and some of the trainings on offer and related allowances cater for the dissemination of the skills required in the digital industrial age and in a resource-efficient economy;

7. Recalls the possibility for special time-limited measures within the coordinated package including, inter alia, to pay childcare allowances, as provided in Article 7(2)(b) of the EGF regulation to facilitate job seekers’ participation in the activities proposed.