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having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2022)0248 — C9-0190/2022),

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having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of 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), and in particular point 9 thereof,

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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 (A9-0185/2022),

A.

whereas the Union has set up legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of globalisation and of technological and environmental changes, such as changes in world trade patterns, trade disputes, significant changes in the trade relations of the Union or the composition of the internal market and financial or economic crises, as well as the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, or as a consequence of digitisation or automation;

B.

whereas the Union has extended the scope of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) to provide financial support in case of any major restructuring event, and thus covering economic effects of the coronavirus crisis;

C.

whereas Greece submitted application EGF/2021/008 EL/Attica electrical equipment manufacturing for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 206 displacements in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 27 (Manufacture of electrical equipment) in the Greek NUTS level 2 region Attica (EL30), within a reference period for the application from 1 April 2021 to 1 October 2021;

D.

whereas the application relates to 206 displaced workers whose activity ceased in six companies (4) during the reference period, and who will all be considered to be eligible beneficiaries; whereas 180 of the displaced workers are men (87,4 %) and 26 are women (12,6 %); whereas 26 of the displaced workers are under the age of 30 (12,6 %), 137 are between 30 and 54 years old (66,5 %) and 43 are over the age of 54 (20,9 %); whereas 167 of the displaced workers have lower secondary education or less (81,1 %), 6 have upper secondary or post-secondary education (2,9 %) and 33 have third-level education (16,0 %);

E.

whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of Article 4(2), point (b), of the EGF Regulation, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers over a reference period of six months in enterprises operating in the same economic sector defined at NACE Revision 2 division and located in one region or two contiguous regions defined at NUTS 2 level in a Member State;

F.

whereas expenditure for new household appliances in Greece was strongly impacted first by the economic crisis in the years from 2008 to 2016 (35 % decrease) and second by the COVID-19 pandemic (50 % decrease between 2019 and 2020), having recovered by 9,5 % between 2017 and 2019;

G.

whereas the basic digital skills of the Greek population remain underdeveloped and behind the Union average, which implies a high risk of technological lag and digital illiteracy; whereas, according to the Commission’s 2021 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) (5), Greece ranked 22nd among the 27 Member States with regard to the integration of digital technologies into business activities and only 23 % of individuals possess above-basic digital skills, compared to a Union average of 31 %;

H.

whereas in that context, the loss of competitiveness of the Pitsos production plant due to a combination of factors, such as a lack of automation and advanced manufacturing, the high production costs of electrical household appliances, a shortage in the domestic supply of electrical components, the BSH-Pitsos management decision not to support the capital investments required to optimise the production facility of the plant and the decision to move production to Turkey for lower production costs (while the brand, sales and service department was retained in Greece) led to the announcement of the closure of the Pitsos production plant in September 2017; whereas production was extended until the beginning of 2021, and 166 workers were dismissed in 2021;

I.

whereas 40 workers were dismissed in five other enterprises, which faced the challenges of adapting to the rapidly transforming digital economy;

J.

whereas, although the unemployment rate in Greece has been gradually declining since 2013, when it reached its highest peak of 27,5 %, Greece continues to have very high unemployment rates; whereas, in 2021, the unemployment rate in Greece was the second highest in the Union at 14,7 %, compared to a Union average of 7,0 % (6);

K.

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;

L.

whereas the financial contributions from the EGF should be primarily directed at active labour market policy measures and personalised services that aim to reintegrate beneficiaries rapidly into decent and sustainable employment within or outside their initial sector of activity, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;

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