12.8.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 294/46

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having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2014)0672 — C8-0231/2014),

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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 (A8-0064/2014),

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 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 the Italian authorities submitted application EGF/2014/010 IT/Whirlpool on 18 June 2014 following the dismissal of 608 workers in Whirlpool Europe S.r.l., an enterprise which operated in the economic sector classified under NACE Rev. 2 division 27 (‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’), and five providers and downstream producers,

E.

whereas the application fulfils the eligibility criteria set up by the EGF Regulation,

1.

Notes that the Italian authorities submitted the application under the intervention criterion of Article 4(1)(a) of the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 500 workers being made redundant or self-employed persons' activity ceasing, over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant or self-employed persons' activity ceasing in its suppliers and downstream producers; agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in that Regulation are met and that, therefore, Italy is entitled to a financial contribution under that Regulation;

2.

Notes that the Italian authorities submitted the application for EGF financial contribution on 18 June 2014, and that its assessment was made available by the Commission on 28 October 2014; welcomes the Commission's compliance with the tight deadline of 12 weeks set out in the EGF Regulation;

3.

Notes that the Italian authorities argue that the global financial and economic crisis has had a profound effect on the consumption choices of Italian households which have reconsidered their buying decisions, in particular those related to buying durable goods, including domestic appliances;

4.

Highlights that, due to the financial and economic crisis resulting in a significant decline in household consumption, the Italian market for big household appliances has dropped from EUR 3 174 billion in 2010 to EUR 2 649 billion in 2013, representing a decline of 16,5 %;

5.

Agrees that the sharp decline in the production of electrical equipment over the period 2008-2012 is linked to the global financial and economic crisis addressed in Regulation (EC) No 546/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) and that Italy is therefore entitled to EGF financial contribution;

6.

Notes that, to date, the ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’ sector has been the subject of two other EGF applications (5), also based on the global financial and economic crisis;

7.

Notes that these redundancies will further aggravate the unemployment situation in the province of Trento, where the unemployment rate has doubled since the beginning of the crisis, rising from 2,9 % in 2007 to 6,1 % in 2013; underlines that the decline in employment has affected both the construction (-10,3 %) and the industry (-2,4 %) sectors and that in Trentino the number of unemployed, surveyed by ISTAT in the first quarter of 2014, is approximately 18 700, while the number of those registered in the employment offices of the Province is about 41 800;

8.

Notes that, in addition to the 502 redundancies in Whirlpool, considered as the primary enterprise, within the reference period, 106 workers made redundant in five suppliers and downstream producers are also included in the number of eligible beneficiaries, which amounts to 608 persons in total, all of them being counted as targeted beneficiaries of the EGF measures;

9.

Notes that the estimated total costs are EUR 3 150 000, out of which EUR 126 000 is dedicated to implementation, and that the financial contribution from the EGF amounts to EUR 1 890 000, which represents 60 % of the total costs;

10.

Welcomes the fact that, in order to provide workers with speedy assistance, the Italian authorities decided to initiate the implementation of the personalised services to the affected workers on 4 February 2014, ahead of the final decision on the granting of EGF support for the proposed coordinated package and even of the application for a financial contribution from the EGF;

11.

Welcomes the fact that social partners were involved in negotiating the measures to be supported; appreciates furthermore that trade unions are involved in the monitoring of the implementation and possible redesign of the measures, as well as being associated with the evaluation of the results; welcomes also the fact that the planned measures, their content and relevant aspects of their implementation (including the timeline) were presented and discussed with the former workers of the Whirpool plant of Spini di Gargarolo during several meetings (15 in total) held between February and March 2014 and that, of the total number of workers participating in these meetings, 393 have registered as participants in these measures;

12.

Notes that the personalised services which are to be provided consist of: information sessions, intake and registration, counselling and guidance, skills assessment, general training and re-training, vocational training, coaching, accompaniment after reintegration into work and accompaniment towards entrepreneurship, job search allowances, participation allowances and contributions to commuting expenses and hiring benefits;

13.

Notes that 16,78 % of the targeted beneficiaries are non-EU citizens; considers that certain elements of the coaching activity could be particularly useful in helping those beneficiaries to re-integrate into the labour market;

14.

Advocates for assessing the concrete results of training, re-training and vocational activities provided to the participants in order to have a better view on the efficiency of the measures provided;

15.

Welcomes the measures of accompaniment after reintegration into work and accompaniment towards entrepreneurship;