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having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2023)0069 — C9-0018/2023),

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having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/691of 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 (1) (‘EGF Regulation’),

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having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027 (2) (‘MFF Regulation’), and in particular Article 8 thereof,

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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 (3) (‘IIA of 16 December 2020 ’), and in particular point 9 thereof,

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having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 9 of the IIA of 16 December 2020,

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having regard to the letters from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and from the Committee on Regional Development,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0043/2023),

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;

B.

whereas Belgium submitted application EGF/2022/002 BE/TNT for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), following 548 redundancies (4) in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 52 (Warehousing and support activities for transportation) in the province of Liège, within a reference period for the application from 27 March 2022 to 27 July 2022;

C.

whereas the application relates to 548 workers made redundant in the company TNT Express Worldwide (Euro Hub) SRL in Belgium (TNT Belgium); whereas the activity of 11 workers ceased between the end of the reference period and the day before the adoption of the proposal by the Commission and those workers will also be eligible for support from the EGF;

D.

whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of criteria of Article 4(2), point (a), of the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 200 workers being made redundant over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant by suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;

E.

whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have reduced economic competitiveness and have a negative impact on economic growth in Belgium;

F.

whereas TNT Belgium had to downsize its workforce in reaction the decision to use Liège airport as a secondary hub, with links to only some European airports, while Paris-Charles de Gaulle became the primary hub of its parent company FedEx, which has resulted in a decreased workload and a reduced number of flights at Liège airport; whereas the changes aimed to strengthen FedEx’s position within its highly competitive sector at European and national level.;

G.

whereas TNT Belgium announced on 19 January 2021 its intention to dismiss 671 workers and to modify the contracts of another 861 workers; whereas the company, in compliance with the Belgian law on collective redundancies, informed and consulted workers’ representatives with a view to exploring any possibility of avoiding or reducing the number of redundancies and mitigating the consequences of job loss; whereas that mandatory procedure has led to a reduction in the number of redundancies and allowed workers to apply for voluntary dismissal;

H.

whereas the Union plays an important role in providing the necessary solidarity with workers who lose their jobs in large-scale restructuring events through financial contributions from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and aims to rapidly reintegrate beneficiaries, irrespective of their nationality, into decent and sustainable employment within or outside their initial sector of activity, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;

I.

whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of the MFF Regulation;