17.10.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 349/91

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having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2015)0342 — C8-0249/2015),

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having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2014-2020) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 (1) (EGF Regulation),

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having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (2), and in particular Article 12 thereof,

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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (3) (IIA of 2 December 2013), and in particular point 13 thereof,

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having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 13 of the IIA of 2 December 2013,

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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 letter of the Committee on Regional Development,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0273/2015),

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;

B.

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 to the IIA of 2 December 2013 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF);

C.

whereas the adoption of the EGF Regulation reflects the agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council to reintroduce the crisis mobilisation criterion, to increase the Union financial contribution to 60 % of the total estimated cost of proposed measures, to increase efficiency for the treatment of EGF applications in the Commission and by the Parliament and the Council by shortening the time for assessment and approval, to widen eligible actions and beneficiaries by introducing self-employed persons and young people and to finance incentives for setting up own businesses;

D.

whereas Germany submitted application EGF/2015/002 DE/Adam Opel for a financial contribution from the EGF following 2 881 redundancies in Adam Opel AG, operating in the NACE Rev. 2 division 29 (‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’) (4) and 1 supplier;

E.

whereas the application fulfils the eligibility criteria set down by the EGF Regulation;

1.

Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(1)(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that, therefore, Germany is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 6 958 623 under that Regulation;

2.

Notes that the German authorities submitted the application for a financial contribution from the EGF on 26 February 2015, and that its assessment was finalised by the Commission on 14 July 2015 and notified to the Parliament on 1 September 2015; welcomes the speedy evaluation period of less than five months;

3.

Notes that in Western Europe car sales have dropped dramatically and have reached a 20-year record low (5) and highlights that the number of cars sold in Europe is the lowest since 1997; concludes that those events are directly linked to the global financial and economic crisis addressed in Regulation (EC) No 546/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6); further underlines that manufacturers of small and medium-sized vehicles of the medium-price segment have been hit particularly hard and that Adam Opel AG, being one of the major players in the medium-price segment of small and medium-sized vehicles, has thus been hit particularly hard by the crisis, while sales of economy as well as of premium or luxury vehicles were not so affected by the crisis;

4.

Notes that the number of newly registered cars in the EU and EFTA Member States saw a drop of 25 % between 2007 and 2013 (from more than 16 million newly registered cars down to 12 million, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association); highlights in this respect that sales of Opel/Vauxhall-branded cars in Europe dropped dramatically and fell by 39 % between 2007 and 2013;

5.

Notes furthermore that Adam Opel AG was disadvantaged by the owning enterprise General Motors, which allowed Opel to sell only within Europe, thus excluding Opel from emerging markets on other continents; is of the opinion that austerity policies imposed in European countries contributed to the dramatic drop in sales by Opel/Vauxhall;

6.

Notes that these redundancies will have a significant adverse impact on the local economy in Bochum; recalls that Bochum is a city in the Ruhr area, a highly urbanised industrial area in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, which, like other traditional coal-mining and steel producing regions, has been facing tremendous structural challenges since the 1960s; highlights that the unemployment rate in the Ruhr area is already far above the German average;

7.

Recalls that Bochum has already been supported by the EGF after Nokia stopped the production of cell phones, with a loss of more than 1 300 jobs; notes that Outukumpu intends to stop the production of stainless steel in Bochum at the end of 2015, which will lead to a further deindustrialisation of the city and a worsening of the local and regional labour situation;

8.

Notes that, to-date, the NACE Revision 2 Division 29 sector (Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers) has been the subject of 21 EGF applications, 11 of which were based on trade related globalisation and 10 on the global financial and economic crisis; recalls in this context EGF application EGF/2010/031/General Motors Belgium, which was a consequence of Opel's closure of its production facility in Antwerp, Belgium;

9.

Welcomes the fact that, in order to provide workers with speedy assistance, the German authorities decided to initiate the implementation of the personalised services to the affected workers on 1 January 2015, well ahead of the decision and even the application on the granting of EGF support for the proposed coordinated package;

10.

Notes that dismissed workers can benefit from a range of measures aimed at re-integrating them into the labour market; considers that the estimated number of participants in business start-up advisory service is low, at only 25 estimated beneficiaries;

11.

Welcomes that the management and control of this application will be administered by the same bodies which administer the European Social Fund within the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs and which also administered the previous EGF contributions;

12.

Notes that Germany is planning the following measures for the redundant workers covered by this application: vocational training measures (Qualifizierungen), career guidance (Berufsorientierung), peer groups/workshops, business start-up advisory service (Existenzgründerberatung), job search (Stellenakquise)/job fairs (Jobmessen), follow-up mentoring and advisory services (Nachbetreuung und — beratung) and training allowances (Transferkurzarbeitergeld);

13.

Notes that the coordinated package of personalised services has been drawn up in consultation with the social partners through the creation of transfer companies;

14.

Notes that the authorities plan to utilise the maximum allowed 35 % of total costs for the coordinated package of personalised services on allowances and incentives in the form of a training allowance (Transferkurzarbeitergeld) constituting 60 % or 67 % of the worker's previous net income, depending on the household situation of the beneficiary;

15.

Emphasises that funding provided for training allowances (in the present case Transferkurzarbeitergeld) must not replace the legal obligation of the Member State or the former employer; calls on both the Commission and the Member State to provide clear and coherent information to specify to what extent Transferkurzarbeitergeld constitutes a legal obligation once the Transfergesellschaft has been set up; requests coherence in both funding practice and information to the Parliament; expects, therefore, the Commission to provide a thorough and coherent analysis and details of the elements that go beyond the legal obligations of the Member States; reiterates its position that EGF funding should be used for ‘Transferkurzarbeitergeld’ in order to enable the transfer company to go beyond what it could normally do for the workers, by providing more personalised and in-depth measures than would be possible without EGF support; emphasises that Parliament will continue to monitor that the EGF is not used to replace the obligations of a Member State or a company;

16.

Calls on the Commission to establish a consistent approach in case of applications including the ‘Transferkurzarbeitergeld’ measure, by consistently defining it in each application and thoroughly checking and citing evidence that the specific measure is indeed eligible for EGF funding as laid down in Article 7 of the EGF Regulation and does not in any way substitute passive social protection measures and that the risk of double financing is excluded;

17.

Notes that the social partners agreed on the creation of three transfer companies in order to carry out the measures for the dismisses workers, which is in line with the practice in Germany; welcomes that the workers dismissed in the supplier company (Johnson Controls Objekt Bochum GmbHCo. KG) will also be able to participate in the measures carried out by the transfer companies;

18.

Recalls the importance of improving the employability of all workers by means of adapted training and the recognition of skills and competences gained throughout a worker's professional career; expects the training on offer in the coordinated package to be adapted not only to the needs of the dismissed workers but also to the actual business environment;

19.

Reminds that in line with Article 7 of the EGF Regulation, the design of the coordinated package of personalised services should anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills and should be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy;

20.

Notes that the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds; stresses that the German authorities confirm that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union financial instruments; reiterates its call to the Commission to present a comparative evaluation of those data in its annual reports in order to ensure full respect for the existing regulations and that no duplication of Union-funded services can occur;

21.

Appreciates the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following the Parliament's request for the accelerated release of grants; notes the time pressure that the new timetable implies and the potential impact on the effectiveness of case instruction;

22.

Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

23.

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;

24.

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