Opinion on 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 Belgium – EGF/2024/001 BE/Match-Smatch

3.10.2024

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on 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 Belgium – EGF/2024/001 BE/Match-Smatch (2024/0226(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 at its meeting of 3 October 2024 and decided to call on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution.

Yours sincerely,

Li Andersson

OPINION

A. Whereas, on 3 June 2024, Belgium submitted an application EGF/2024/001 BE/Match-Smatch for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF), following displacements in Match-Smatch supermarkets (Match SA. and Profi SA.) in Belgium; whereas, following its assessment of this application, the Commission has concluded, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the Regulation (EU) 2021/691 (EGF Regulation), that the conditions for awarding a financial contribution from the EGF are met; whereas Belgium submitted the application 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 over a reference period of four months (in this case 11 December 2023 – 11 April 2024) in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;

B. Whereas the application relates to 513 displaced workers (eligible beneficiaries) whose activity has ceased in Match-Smatch (444 displaced workers in Match-Smatch during the reference period and 69 displaced workers whose activity ceased before or after the reference period); whereas this enterprise operates in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 47 (Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles); whereas the redundancies are mainly located in the NUTS 2 regions of Province of Hainaut (BE32), Province of Liège (BE33), and Province of Namur (BE35);

C. Whereas on 16 September 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 365 targeted beneficiaries, i.e. workers made redundant as a result of the closure of Match-Smatch supermarkets in Belgium;

D. Whereas Match-Smatch faced a difficult economic situation for several years; whereas in 2019, a first restructuring led to the closure of 15 stores and 140 redundancies; whereas Match-Smatch again reported losses of EUR 11,9 million in 2021; whereas to prevent a further accumulation of losses, Match-Smatch accepted the Colruyt Group’s offer to acquire 57 of the 84 stores, also taking over the stores' staff (1 069 people); whereas eight additional stores went to Carrefour, Delhaize, Intermarché and Delfood; whereas the 339 employees of the 19 stores for which no buyer could be found, as well as the 174 employees of the Match-Smatch headquarters, were subject to a collective redundancy procedure;

E. Whereas the Match-Smatch redundancies concern all of Belgium; whereas, however, the territorial impact of the redundancies varies due to the differences between the Flemish and Walloon labour markets and because more than 70 % of the layoffs are concentrated in Wallonia; whereas in 2023, the unemployment rate for Belgium as a whole remained at 5,5 %, the same level as in 2022; whereas at the regional level, unemployment increased from 3,2 % to 3,4 % in Flanders and decreased from 8,4 % to 8,2 % in Wallonia, while the difference of approximately 5 percentage points (pp) in the unemployment rates persists; whereas at the end of 2023, the employment rate in Wallonia (66,7 %) was 10,3 % lower than in Flanders and about 9 % lower than the EU average;

F. Whereas Belgium applied for EGF co-financing solely to support former Match-Smatch workers living in Wallonia; whereas the Flemish regional authorities consider that there is no need to top-up the support available to former Match-Smatch workers living in Flanders with EU co-financing from the EGF, given the situation on the regional labour market;

G. Whereas Belgium has indicated that the co-ordinated package of personalised services has been drawn up in consultation with targeted beneficiaries, their representatives and the social partners, in compliance with Article 7(4) of the EGF Regulation;

H. 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 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), point (a), of the EGF Regulation are met and that Belgium is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 2 661 564 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 3 131 252 (comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 2 239 734 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 770 018);

3. Welcomes the fact that aiming to prepare a sound package of tailored measures to support the Match-Smatch workers’ efforts to return to work, the Regional Public Employment and Vocational Training Service of Wallonia (Le Forem), trade unions (FGTB and CSC), and other partners met on on several occasion in 2024, to better understand workers' retraining needs, that the social counsellors who accompanied the workers after their dismissal were also consulted, and that these meetings resulted in a coordinated package of EGF measures that complies with Article 7(4) of the EGF Regulation;

4. Notes that the Match-Smatch workforce is essentially made up of cashiers and warehouse workers with secondary or below education levels, while the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for more qualified workers in the Belgian labour market, therefore making it more difficult for the former Match-Smatch workers to reintegrate into employment; further notes that around half of the Match-Smatch redundant workers (46 %) are aged fifty or older and that the situation for older job-seekers is more difficult in Belgium particularly in the Walloon labour market, where they represent 25 % of the total job seekers as of March 2024;

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) information services, occupational guidance and outplacement assistance, (b) training, retraining and vocational training, (c) support towards business creation, (d) contribution to business creation, and (e) incentives and allowances (job-search and training allowances, bonus for improving IT skills, bonus for improving language skills, return-to-school allowance, allowance towards business creation, hiring incentives to enterprises recruiting former Match-Smatch workers aged 50+); welcomes in particular the inclusion of measures to support improving IT skills and returning to education given the age and educational profile of the targeted beneficiaries and 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; highlights, that the foreseen training also includes a module on circular economy and efficient use of resources which is not budgeted in this proposal as it was previously developed for former Swissport workers (EGF/2020/005 BE/Swissport), and is now part of Le Forem's standard training offer co-financed by ESF+; welcomes the use of synergy effects and the responsible use of EGF resources in this context;

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.