7.3.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 68/87

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having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2012)0423 – C7-0204/2012),

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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (1) (IIA of 17 May 2006), and in particular point 28 thereof,

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having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2) (EGF Regulation),

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having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 28 of the IIA of 17 May 2006,

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

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0322/2012),

A.

whereas the European Union has set up the appropriate legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market,

B.

whereas the scope of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was broadened for applications submitted from 1 May 2009 to include support for workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis,

C.

whereas the Union’s financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible, in accordance with the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission adopted during the conciliation meeting on 17 July 2008, and having due regard for the IIA of 17 May 2006 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the EGF,

D.

whereas Ireland has requested assistance for 592 redundancies, 432 of which are targeted for assistance, in Talk Talk Broadband Services (Ireland) Limited ("Talk Talk") and three of its suppliers in Ireland,

E.

whereas the application fulfils the eligibility criteria laid down by the EGF Regulation,

1.

Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 2(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that, therefore, Ireland is entitled to a financial contribution under that Regulation;

2.

Notes that the Irish authorities submitted the application for EGF financial contribution on 29 February 2012, supplemented by additional information up to 15 May 2012, and that its assessment was made available by the Commission on 27 July 2012; welcomes the fact that the evaluation process and submission of additional information by Ireland were speedy and accurate;

3.

Notes that Talk Talk facility was located on the outskirts of Waterford City in the NUTS III South East Region of Ireland, and that this region has had persistently higher than average levels of unemployment compared to the rest of the country; furthermore, it has fared disproportionately badly as a result of the financial and economic crisis, for example, since 2007, the region’s unemployment rate has jumped from 4,9 % to 18,2 % in 2011 compared to a national average of 14,3 %;

4.

Notes that the dismissals took place in the South East region which has seen its employment rates decreased from 62,7 to 58,1 % over the period 2007-2011 and suffers from the unemployment rate higher then the state average;

5.

Regrets Talk Talk's decision to form alliances with three key non-EU providers where a significant bulk of work is being transferred, reflecting a strategy that is detrimental to EU industrial jobs and to the Europe 2020 strategy;

6.

Notes that there were two previous rounds of redundancy (April 2010 and April 2011) in Talk Talk with an estimated 50 persons per instance; however, these were viewed as representing management restructuring which would allow for the Waterford operation to be managed directly from UK headquarters; in addition, there was an estimated 40 % decrease in the volume of calls to the Talk Talk centre in Waterford;

7.

Recalls the importance of improving the employability of all workers by means of tailored training and the recognition of skills and competences gained throughout the professional career; expects the training on offer in the coordinated package to be tailored to the level and needs of the dismissed workers, especially since the majority of the dismissed workers were employed in customer services and technical support;

8.

Regrets that TalkTalk's decision to close the Waterford site was abrupt and left the workers only 30 day notice, not allowing for proper discussion on the redundancy plan nor the involvement of the social partners; regrets that no social partners were involved in the planning and design of the EGF application as no trade unions existed at Talk Talk level; notes however that the concerned workers were consulted directly;

9.

Welcomes the fact that the Irish authorities decided to start the implementation of the coordinated package already on 7 September 2011 well in advance of the decision of the budgetary authority on granting the support;

10.

Notes that the Irish authorities complain about time constraints for EGF implementation which prevents from providing training courses exceeding the 24-month implementation period; welcomes the fact that an accelerated bachelor course has been designed for the targeted workers that addresses identified skills shortages and which can be concluded within the EGF implementation period;

11.

Highlights the fact that lessons should be learned from the preparation and implementation of this and other applications addressing mass dismissals;

12.

Regrets that the EGF regulation allows EGF support to substitute social welfare payments required under national law; emphasises that the EGF should be primarily allocated to training and job search as well as occupational orientation programs and promotion of entrepreneurship, acting complementarily to national institutions and not substituting employment benefit or any other social welfare payments which are the responsibility of national institutions under national laws;

13.

Requests the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to improve procedural and budgetary arrangements to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF; appreciates the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following Parliament's request for accelerating the release of grants, aimed at presenting to the budgetary authority the Commission's assessment on the eligibility of an EGF application together with the proposal to mobilise the EGF; hopes that further improvements in the procedure will be integrated in the new Regulation on the EGF (2014–2020) and that greater efficiency, transparency and visibility of the EGF will be achieved;

14.

Recalls the institutions’ commitment to ensuring a smooth and rapid procedure for the adoption of the decisions on the mobilisation of the EGF, providing one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have been made redundant as a result of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis; emphasises the role that the EGF can play in the reintegration of workers made redundant into the labour market;

15.

Stresses that, in accordance with Article 6 of the EGF Regulation, it should be ensured that the EGF supports the reintegration of individual redundant workers into long-term employment; further stresses that the EGF assistance can co-finance only active labour market measures which lead to durable, long-term employment; reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements, nor measures restructuring companies or sectors; deplores the fact that the EGF might provide an incentive for companies to replace their contractual workforce with a more flexible and short-term one;

16.

Notes that the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds; reiterates its call to the Commission to present a comparative evaluation of those data in its annual reports in order to ensure full respect of the existing regulations and that no duplication of Union-funded services can occur;

17.

Welcomes the fact that following repeated requests from Parliament, the 2012 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 50 000 000 on the EGF budget line 04 05 01; recalls that the EGF was created as a separate specific instrument with its own objectives and deadlines and that it therefore deserves a dedicated allocation, which will avoid transfers from other budget lines, as happened in the past, which could be detrimental to the achievement of the policy objectives of the EGF;

18.

Regrets the decision of the Council to block the extension of the "crisis derogation", allowing to provide financial assistance to workers made redundant as a result of the current financial and economic crisis in addition to those losing their job because of changes in global trade patterns, and allowing the increase in the rate of Union co-financing to 65 % of the programme costs, for applications submitted after the 31 December 2011 deadline, and calls on the Council to reintroduce this measure without delay;

19.

Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

20.

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

21.

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