What changed

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources, and in particular point 9 thereof,

– having regard to the opinionprinciples of the CommitteeEuropean onPillar Employmentof Social Rights, and the targets set up in the European Pillar of Social Affairs,Rights Action Plan,

– having regard to the reportletter offrom the Committee on BudgetsEmployment (A10-0000/2024),and Social Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A10-0019/2024),

A. whereas the Union has set up legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns or of the global financial and economic crisis, and to assist their reintegration into the labour market; whereas this assistance is made through a financial support given to workers and the companies for which they worked;

5. Points out that the profiles of the displaced workers, one third of which are aged 55 years or more and 30 % are with low education, translate into severe barriers on the labour market; stresses that taking into account the downward trend in vacancies and its geographical distribution, the workers will need additional tailored support to help them succeed the transition to employment;

6. Considers it as a social responsibility of the Union to provide the affected workers with the necessary qualifications for future employment, considering the digital and ecological transition having a significant impact on their sectors whilst leading to a reduction of demand; welcomes the fact that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up by Belgium in consultation with targeted beneficiaries, their representatives and social partners;

6. Recalls that the Belgian authorities shall acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding and highlight the Union added value of the intervention, by providing coherent, effective and targeted information to multiple audiences, including targeted information to beneficiaries, local and regional authorities, the social partners, the media and the public;

7. Stresses that the support provided by the EGF needs to be embedded in a larger strategy for the affected workers and the region, on all political levels, including by support of relevant funding instruments of the Union, with the aim to ensure that nobody gets left behind in the digital and climate transitions;

7. Considers it as a social responsibility of the Union and Member States to provide the affected workers a possibility to obtain the necessary qualifications for future employment, considering the digital and ecological transition having a significant impact on their sectors whilst leading to a reduction of demand; welcomes the fact that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up by Belgium in consultation with targeted beneficiaries, their representatives and social partners;

8. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following actions: social intervention advisor, guidance, counselling, and vocational orientation, active job-search support, training, retraining and vocational training, as well as training at the workplace;

8. Stresses that the support provided by the EGF needs to be embedded in a larger strategy for the affected workers and the region, on all political levels, including by support of relevant funding instruments of the Union, with the aim to ensure that nobody gets left behind in the digital and climate transitions;

9. Notes that Belgium started providing personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 26 December 2023 and that the period of eligibility for a financial contribution from the EGF will therefore be from that date until 24 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;

9. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following actions: social intervention advisor, guidance, counselling, and vocational orientation, active job-search support, training, retraining and vocational training, including training in digital skills, as well as training at the workplace;

10. Notes that Belgium started incurringproviding administrativepersonalised expenditureservices to implement the EGFtargeted beneficiaries on 2026 NovemberDecember 2023 and that such expenditure shallthe thereforeperiod beof eligibleeligibility for a financial contribution from the EGF will therefore be from that date until 3124 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;

11. Stresses that the Belgian authorities have confirmed that the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected in the access to the proposed actions and their implementation, and that any double financing will be prevented;

11. Notes that Belgium started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 20 November 2023 and that such expenditure shall therefore be eligible for a financial contribution from the EGF from that date until 31 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;

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;

12. Stresses that the Belgian authorities have confirmed that the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected in the access to the proposed actions and their implementation, and that any double financing will be prevented;

13. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

13. 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; recalls that the Member States applying for funding support from the EGF must ensure that the requirements laid down in national and Union law concerning collective redundancies have been complied with and that the company concerned has provided for its workers accordingly;

14. Instructs its President to sign the decision with the President of the Council and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

14. Calls on the Belgian authorities and other Member States to undertake the preventive measures in a proactive manner in order to adapt industries to the globalisation and of technological and environmental changes and protect workers from losing their jobs and other negative impact of the globalisation;

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

15. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

16. Instructs its President to sign the decision with the President of the Council and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its Annex, to the Council and the Commission;

ANNEX: 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 Belgium – EGF/2024/002 BE-LimburgBE/Limburg machinery and paper

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

21.11.2024

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 Belgium — EGF/2024/002 BE/Limburg machinery and paper (2024/0286(BUD))

Dear 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 at its meeting of 21 November 2024. At that meeting, 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 19 July 2024, Belgium submitted an application for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691 (EGF Regulation), in respect of worker’s displacements in the economic sectors classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 17 (Manufacture of paper and paper products) and division 28 (Manufacture of machinery and equipment) in the NUTS 2 region of Provincie Limburg (BE22) in Belgium;

B. Whereas Belgium submitted the application under the intervention criteria of Article 4(2)(c), of the EGF Regulation, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers over a reference period of four months (in this case 31 December 2023 to 30 April 2024) in enterprises operating in the same or different economic sectors defined at NACE Revision 2 level and located in the same region defined at NUTS 2 level in a Member State; 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 application relates to 681 displaced workers (eligible beneficiaries) whose activity has ceased in the economic sectors indicated above;

D. Whereas on 5 November 2024, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Belgium to support the reintegration in the labour market of 632 targeted beneficiaries;

E. Whereas the events giving rise to the displacements in the paper sector is a decision by Sappi Group (Sappi) to stop production in Lanaken and close the plant; whereas the main cause for this is the declining demand for graphics products resulting from increased digitalisation and the resulting growing overcapacity of the European woodfree coated paper (WCP) industry (in 15 years, the capacity of the European WCP Industry has declined by 50 %, to 4,6 million tons in 2023); whereas this resulted in 567 dismissals;

F. Whereas the number of industrial jobs available in Limburg decreased by 15 % in 2023, compared to the previous year; whereas the events giving rise to the displacements in the machinery sector is a decision by Purmo Group Belgium NV (Purmo) to stop production of 50 mm panel radiators in its Zonhoven plant and close the relevant production line; whereas the reason to discontinue production is the sharp decline in demand for panel radiators in the EU, related to the increasing demand for alternative heating systems, such as heat pumps and low-temperature systems, as a result of rising gas prices resulting from the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and knock-on effects for consumer spending as well as the decarbonisation of buildings and industry in order to reduce energy consumption; whereas this resulted in 114 dismissals;

G. Whereas redundant workers are concentrated in Lanaken (83 %) and Zonhoven (27 %), so the province of Limburg in Flanders is the territory most affected by the redundancies; whereas Lanaken’s and Zonhoven’s labour markets are at disadvantage when compared to Limburg as a whole or to Flanders; whereas the ratio of the working population to available jobs is 49 % in Lanaken and 55 % in Zonhoven, that is between 19 and 13 pp lower than in Limburg (68 %) and between 24 and 18 pp lower than in Flanders (73 %); whereas, the ratio of job seekers to vacancies in Lanaken and its surrounding area (Maasland) is 4,5 (about twice the ratio in Flanders); whereas Maasland’s labour market was also negatively affected by a restructuring event in the Netherlands, where the Dutch car manufacturer VDL reported a loss of about 2 000 jobs as from 1 March 2024 in its production plant in Born, of which 700 were cross-border workers living in Maasland;

H. Whereas Belgium 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; whereas trade unions and employer organisations are involved in activities of Public Employment Services in Flanders (VDAB) at all levels;

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)(c), of the EGF Regulation are met and that Belgium is entitled to the requested financial contribution of EUR 704 135 under that Regulation, which represents 60 % of the total cost of EUR 1 173 559 (comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 1 126 559 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 47 000); recalls that, in line with the EGF Regulation, Belgium is entitled to a maximum co-financing rate of 85 % of total cost;

3. Notes the fact that the dismissing enterprises complied with Belgian law on collective redundancies, which establishes a mandatory procedure for informing and consulting workers' representatives. Welcomes the fact that Belgium has reported that the first information sessions to the workers started on 26 December 2023 and the employment units followed immediately after the redundancies and that already on 13 March 2024, VDAB organised a job fair in Lanaken for former Sappi and Purmo workers, with around 20 enterprises taking part;

4. Notes the profile of the redundant workers, one third of which are aged 55 years or more and 30 % are with low education, and considers that, along with the downward trend in vacancies and its geographical distribution, the workers will need additional tailored support to help them succeed the transition to employment;

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

6. Notes that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following measures: (a) social Intervention Advisor (SIA), (b) guidance, counselling, and vocational orientation, (c) active job-search support, (d) training, retraining and vocational training, and (e) training at the workplace; given the age and educational profile of the targeted beneficiaries stresses the specific needs of these groups should be taken into account when providing personalised services;

7. 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 that VDAB's standard support to redundant workers includes digital tools and training in digital skills as well as skills required in a resource efficient economy;

8. 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.

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