Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium - EGF/2025/001 BE/BelGaN

P10_TA(2025)0220

Committee on Budgets

PE776.825

European Parliament resolution of 8 October 2025 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 Belgium – EGF/2025/001 BE/BelGaN (COM(2025)0157 – C10-0188/2025 – 2025/0198(BUD))

– having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2025)0157 – C100188/2025),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 (“EGF Regulation”),

– having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/765, and in particular Article 8 thereof,

– 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 12 thereof,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A10-0163/2025),

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 provided through financial support given to workers and the companies for which they worked;

B. whereas Belgium submitted application EGF/2025/001 BE/BelGaN for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), following 417 displacements in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 26 (Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products) in the region of Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen (BE23) within a reference period of 4 months for the application from 31 July 2024 to 30 November 2024;

C. whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of Article 4(2), point (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 4 months, in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream producers;

D. whereas the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and rising inflation have had an impact on the cost of energy, materials and labour, increasing pressure on the BelGaN’s margins;

E. whereas BelGaN was specialised in the manufacture of semiconductors for the automotive sector; whereas the European automotive and supplier industry is facing unprecedented pressure from both external and internal challenges, such as distortion of competition and high energy costs;

F. whereas the company experienced a significant decline in profitability due to cash flow constraints resulting from the transition from silicon-based chips to gallium nitride (GaN) technology, which was hindered by high productions costs and insufficient investments during the transition period;

G. whereas BelGaN filed for bankruptcy on 30 July 2024;

H. whereas the Flemish employment services (VDAB) are providing the national pre-financing and co-funding of the measures;

I. whereas the company, in compliance with Belgian law, followed the mandatory procedure for informing and consulting workers' representatives; whereas the requirement for setting up an employment unit, whose purpose is to provide workers laid off in the context of collective redundancies with outplacement services, does not apply in the event of bankruptcy and therefore outplacement services were provided by VDAB;

J. 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 within or outside their initial sector of activity, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;

K. whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 30 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/765;

1. 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 931 690 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 1 096 107, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 1 052 607 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 43 500;

2. Notes that the Belgian authorities submitted the application on 21 February 2025, and that, following the provision of additional information by Belgium, the Commission finalised its assessment on 7 July 2025, almost five months later, and notified it to Parliament on 26 August 2025; stresses the importance of reducing the time between the submission of an application for EGF assistance and the financing decision; underlines the need to simplify and accelerate internal procedures without undermining the institutional balance, in particular the rights of the European Parliament as budgetary authority;

3. Notes that the application relates to 417 targeted beneficiaries, made redundant in the company BelGaN;

4. Points out that the BelGaN redundancies pushed the annual unemployment rate to + 9 % in the Oudenaarde territory, particularly among the high- and medium-skilled unemployed workers; notes that, at the same time, job openings in the area fell by 22 %, due to a considerable increase in the number of enterprises that filed for bankruptcy over the past three years;

5. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following actions: information sessions, outplacement, training and retraining, training at the workplace, job-fair, job-search assistance, job-scouting and job-matching with the objective of enabling workers to re-enter the labour market as quickly as possible, equipping them with high-quality skills and training relevant to prospective employers in the sector, while at the same time fostering their capacity to develop entrepreneurial initiatives and new projects; stresses in this context that a well-trained workforce is key to a future-proof European economy;

6. Calls for comprehensive final evaluations of the implemented measures, including data on the number of workers successfully reintegrated into employment and feedback from beneficiaries on the quality and relevance of the support provided;

7. Notes that Belgium started providing personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 8 August 2024 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 decision annexed to this resolution;

8. Notes that Belgium started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 31 July 2024 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 decision annexed to this resolution;

9. Stresses that the Belgian authorities provided assurance 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;

10. Emphasises the need to ensure clear recognition and visibility of Union funding to highlight its added value; calls for consistent and well-targeted communication to beneficiaries, regional and local authorities, social partners, the media, and the wider public;

11. Reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions that are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements;

12. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

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

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/2025/001 BE/BelGaN

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision (EU) 2025/2133.)