(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) established the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for the multiannual financial framework 2007-2013. The EGF was established to enable the Union to show solidarity towards workers who had lost their jobs as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation.

(2)

The scope of the EGF was broadened in 2009 as part of the European Economic Recovery Plan, set out in the Commission communication of 26 November 2008, to include support for workers made redundant as a direct consequence of the global financial and economic crisis.

(3)

Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) established the EGF for the period of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. It also extended the scope of the EGF to cover redundancies resulting from any new global financial and economic crisis. That Regulation was amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) to allow the EGF to exceptionally cover collective applications involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in one region and operating in different economic sectors defined at NACE Revision 2 division level, established by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7), where the applicant Member State demonstrates that SMEs are the main or the only type of business in that region.

(4)

Regulation (EU) 2021/691 established the EGF for the period of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027. In order to make the EGF more responsive to the rapidly changing economic challenges in a globalised economy, the scope of the EGF was broadened again to cover any type of large-scale restructuring event, regardless of its cause. A lower threshold for support than that provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 was introduced to better reflect the realities in lesser populated regions. In the light of the twin digital and green transition, measures that prepare beneficiaries for that transition were considered mandatory elements of every coordinated package of personalised services (the ‘coordinated package’) offered to beneficiaries. Furthermore, the co-financing rates were aligned with the highest co-financing rate of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) in the Member State concerned. Additionally, a mandatory beneficiary survey was introduced.

(5)

The main Union instrument to assist workers who have been affected by economic adjustment and restructuring is the ESF+, which is designed to offer assistance in an anticipatory way. The EGF is designed to offer assistance in response to unexpected major restructuring events in a reactive manner. However, the design of assistance for workers who have been affected by restructuring does not properly reflect the fact that large-scale restructuring events generally take place over a long period. Member States can use the ESF+ to upskill and reskill workers, but the ESF+ does not provide support for the upskilling and reskilling of workers in emergency situations such as those in which the workers affected by imminent job displacement find themselves. The enterprises in which the workers concerned are employed are often in economic difficulty and therefore unable to offer such assistance on their own.

(6)

The Union faces increasingly unequal competition from third countries which do not have the same level of labour rights or which do not comply with the same level of safety and environmental protection. It is necessary to support Union enterprises in the fight against unfair competition and to protect workers from its negative consequences.

(7)

The EGF’s role continues to be important as a flexible instrument to support workers who lose their jobs in large-scale restructuring events and to help them to find other jobs as quickly as possible. It is important that the Union continue to provide specific, one-off support to facilitate the reintegration into decent and sustainable employment of displaced workers in areas, sectors, territories or labour markets suffering from a shock caused by serious economic disruption. It is vital that the Union ensure its sustainable prosperity, strategic autonomy and competitiveness while, at the same time, preserving its unique social market economy, supporting workers and enterprises to ensure a just twin digital and green transition, preserving jobs in the Union, and safeguarding its democracy, economic security and geopolitical standing. To safeguard the Union’s future as an economic powerhouse, and the progress made on its twin digital and green transition, it is vital to support workers affected by imminent job displacement in enterprises undergoing restructuring so that they can acquire the skills that would help them transfer either into a different role within their current enterprise or to a different enterprise.

(8)

When an enterprise undergoes a major restructuring event, it often causes restructuring events in its direct suppliers, in downstream producers, or in both. In such cases, it should also be possible for the workers affected by imminent job displacement in such direct suppliers or downstream producers to be eligible for EGF support, provided that the requesting enterprise agrees to include them in the request for EGF support submitted to the Member State. Any projected collective redundancies in the direct suppliers or downstream producers of the requesting enterprise included in the request for EGF support should take place within the same Member State as the projected collective redundancies in the requesting enterprise, and a clear causal link between them should be established. The requesting enterprise should meet the intervention criteria in its own right, without reference to the direct suppliers or downstream producers included in its request. The requesting enterprise should take full and sole responsibility for the submission of the request, the provision of all the necessary information to the Member States, the provision of the national co-financing, and the implementation of the coordinated package.

(9)

The EGF should support workers by developing transferable skills to avoid redundancies and to allow a smooth transition into new employment. Therefore, it is necessary to amend Regulation (EU) 2021/691 so that the EGF can also offer assistance to workers affected by imminent job displacement in enterprises undergoing restructuring, including, where applicable, in their direct suppliers and downstream producers. As those workers are still in active employment, their employer should be able to request assistance through the relevant Member States’ authorities. As the EGF is under shared management, it is the Member States’ authorities that should be able to apply for EGF co-funding upon receipt of a request for support by an enterprise, provided that the enterprise agrees to provide national co-funding. Should the financial contribution from the EGF be granted, the Member State concerned should make the funds requested available to the enterprise within ten working days of their receipt. The enterprise should make all information needed to prepare the final report on the implementation of the relevant financial contribution available to the Member State not later than six months after the end of the implementation of the assistance. The Commission should prepare a beneficiary survey and the requesting enterprise should share access to it with all the workers who participated in the EGF co-funded measures and, where applicable, with their representatives.

(10)

In order to mitigate the financial risks and liabilities related to the implementation of the coordinated package, Member States could decide to carry out financial and administrative checks which are effective and proportionate before submitting the application to the Commission (‘ex ante checks’).

(11)

The Commission and the Member States should carry out their responsibilities in a manner which takes into account the administrative costs incurred by the enterprises in preparing the application and by the national authorities in dealing with it, and is proportionate to the estimated financial risks connected to the application.

(12)

Restructuring processes should support, inter alia, an enterprise’s economic sustainability and long-term employment stability, thereby strengthening the Union’s competitiveness. Therefore, restructuring plans should anticipate and manage change as early as possible to prevent insolvency and job losses, involving, at an early stage, workers’ representatives and, where applicable, trade unions. The decision by the enterprise to submit a request for EGF support should be taken, and the coordinated package of personalised measures should be designed, in consultation with the targeted beneficiaries, their representatives and the social partners, as applicable, in order to ensure that workers’ rights to information and consultation are respected in line with Union and national legislation and to ensure the quality and relevance of the measures.

(13)

It should be possible to treat applications for financial support involving enterprises that are undergoing restructuring and are located in small labour markets, or involving SMEs only, as admissible even if the eligibility criteria are not entirely met. In such cases, the reasons for not meeting all criteria should be duly substantiated in the application.

(14)

The support provided to workers affected by imminent job displacement in enterprises undergoing restructuring should complement existing forms of support available under national measures or collective agreements. The reskilling and upskilling of workers should contribute, inter alia, to the creation of quality jobs, decent working conditions and the twin digital and green transition. Short-time work schemes should not be eligible for EGF support, as they do not relate to the displacement of jobs, but to their temporary suspension. If the national measures allow it, the requesting enterprise should be able to subcontract the delivery of the coordinated package of personalised measures, or parts thereof.

(15)

The co-financing rate for measures that target workers affected by imminent job displacement in enterprises undergoing restructuring should be equal to the co-financing rate for EGF assistance for displaced workers. Enterprises that request EGF support should provide the national co-financing. Where the requesting enterprise agrees to include workers from its direct suppliers or downstream producers in the request for EGF support, it should be able to make that agreement conditional upon contributions from those direct suppliers or downstream producers in proportion to the support received by their workers.

(16)

The co-financing rate for expenditure incurred by the Member State in relation to applications for EGF support and the processing of those applications, including administrative and staff costs linked to ex ante checks, and preparatory, management, information and publicity, and control and reporting activities, should be 100 %.

(17)

As the workers affected by imminent job displacement are still in active employment, only those active labour market policy measures that help them reskill or upskill, or that provide guidance or mentoring, including measures aimed at workers who might start their own business one day, should be eligible. Therefore, neither allowances nor start-up grants should be eligible.

(18)

Workers affected by imminent job displacement receiving EGF assistance should remain eligible as part of the workers affected by imminent job displacement even if their employment contract or relationship ends. They should also remain eligible for possible new applications by the respective Member States in support of displaced workers from the same enterprise.

(19)

Given the Commission’s increasing tasks in implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/691, the Commission should be able to request technical assistance of up to 1,5 % of the total annual maximum amount of the EGF. That raised maximum rate is also justified because the EGF’s annual maximum amount was lowered in the context of mid-term revision of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027.

(20)

Given the uneven uptake of EGF support by Member States, the Commission should promote its use by raising awareness of the funding opportunities available. Moreover, the Commission should assist Member States through technical guidance and dissemination of good practices.

(21)

Given the scale and frequency of restructuring in recent years, there are concerns that the existing EGF budget could be insufficient to meet all applications related to displaced workers and workers affected by imminent displacement. Therefore, in order to ensure a balanced use of the EGF, a minimum of 40 % of the annual maximum amount of the EGF should be reserved for applications concerning the cessation of activity of displaced workers or self-employed persons. In addition, any financial contribution to workers affected by imminent job displacement should be capped per enterprise, for a given Member State and for any financial year.

(22)

In order to provide swift support to the workers affected by imminent job displacement, in view of the fact that Regulation (EU) 2021/691 will cease to apply at the end of 2027, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

in Article 1, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(2)

Article 2 is replaced by the following:

(3)

Article 3 is amended as follows:

(4)

Article 4 is amended as follows:

(5)

in Article 5, first paragraph, the introductory part is replaced by the following:

‘The applicant Member State shall specify the method used for calculating the number of displaced workers and self-employed persons whose activity has ceased for the purposes of Article 4 as at one or more of the following dates:’

(6)

the following article is inserted:

(7)

Article 6 is amended as follows:

(8)

Article 7 is amended as follows:

(9)

Article 8 is amended as follows:

(10)

the following article is inserted:

(11)

Article 11 is amended as follows:

(12)

Article 13 is amended as follows:

(13)

in Article 14, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:

(14)

in Article 15, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

(15)

Article 16 is replaced by the following:

(16)

in Article 17, the following paragraph is added:

(17)

in Article 20, the following paragraph is added:

(18)

in Article 22, paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following:

(19)

in Annex II, point (2), the following paragraph is inserted after the first paragraph:

‘For cases under Article 6, first paragraph, point (c), the indicator under the first paragraph, point (a), of this point is to be broken down by the following employment: