What changed

G. whereas 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,employment offering them skills training to facilitate their access to the labour market, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;

4. Takes note that the increment in bankruptcies over the past two years has considerably increased the unemployment rate in some regions in Belgium, particularly in Brussels and Hainaut (Wallonia); emphasizes that unemployment risk correlates with education level and one in two individuals with low education and one in three with medium education face higher unemployment risk, with these groups comprising 83 % of displaced workers; regrets that these displacements will further aggravate the situation; calls on Belgian authorities to take measures to reduce bankruptcies to prevent structural and addressregional decline, while addressing social disparities leading to exclusion of work force, such as gender inequalities and low level of education;

5. DeploresNotes that the global market for the production and sale of cars, particularly electric cars, is characterised by increasingly aggressive global competition; highlights the growing challenges faced by European car manufacturers in bringing innovative and affordable models to the market in future-oriented segments like battery-electric vehicles; regrets that Audi ceased activities in Belgium while stilldespite gainingremaining profits,profitable, and that production will be moved to China and Mexico toMexico, maximizeresulting company’sin profitsthe whileredundancy makingof 3 414 peopleworkers; redundant;notes regretswith concern that reluctancechallenging towardsproduction timelyconditions, andincluding sufficientinsufficient access to and deployment of cheaper clean energy sources contributed to Audi’s facilities relocation outside the Union;

6. Stresses the importance of finding a solution for repurposing the closed factory to create jobs in the region; urges Belgian authorities to undertake necessary steps to facilitate opening of a new manufacturing site at the former Audi factory;

6. Emphasises that the closure of the plant after more than 70 years of operation, notwithstanding its production of electric vehicles, demonstrates that the challenges facing European industry are of a structural nature, rather than being solely technological;

7. Stresses the importance of finding a sustainable solution for repurposing the closed factory to create high-quality jobs in the region; urges Belgian authorities to undertake necessary steps to facilitate opening of a new manufacturing site at the former Audi factory;

8. Emphasizes that the qualifications and skills of the laid-off workers remain key to a future-proof European economy that accomplishes the green transition while maintaining a strong industrial base; considers therefore that the mobilisation of the EGF needs to be embedded in a larger policy response on all political levels to ensure that the workers affected find adequate opportunities in line with their qualifications and skills;

9.11. Calls for thorough final evaluations of the measures implemented, including clear information on how the funds have been used and whether they werehave spentactually inachieved linethe withobjectives for which the approvedEGF plans;was created, including data and timelines on the number of workers successfully reintegrated into employment and the jobs they have accessed, as well as on those who have completed training and upskilling measures as well as the relevant timelines;

16. Recalls that the EGF is an instrument of solidarity and just transition and while it provides support after jobs are lost, it cannot replace a proactive coherent and coordinated Union industrial policy in order to safeguard Europe’s industrial employment base and social security and long term economic and social resilience and to prevent regional structural decline; stresses that the Union’s primary task must be to prevent such closures in the first place by creating the conditions for affordable, clean and reliable energy to keep industrial production competitive, while at the same time investing in skills for both highly qualified workers and industrial workers; moreover, stresses the urgent need for coherent and coordinated Union competitiveness efforts, developed in close partnership with the Member States, in order to safeguard Europe’s industrial employment base and social security and underlines that only a robust and resilient European economy can effectively prevent large-scale redundancies, thereby reducing the need for EGF intervention;