7.3.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 68/103

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having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2012)0461 – C7-0222/2012),

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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (1) (IIA of 17 May 2006), and in particular point 28 thereof,

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having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2) (EGF Regulation),

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having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 28 of the IIA of 17 May 2006,

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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 report of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0333/2012),

A.

whereas the European Union has set up the appropriate 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 scope of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was broadened for applications submitted from 1 May 2009 to include support for workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis,

C.

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 for the IIA of 17 May 2006 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the EGF,

D.

whereas France has requested assistance for 2 089 redundancies, all of which are targeted for assistance, of which 649 redundancies took place in the two branches of PSA Peugeot Citroën (Peugeot Citroën Automobiles and Sevelnord) during the reference period between 1 November 2009 and 28 February 2010 and a further 1 440 workers were made redundant by the same companies before and after the reference period under the same redundancy plan based on voluntary departures,

E.

whereas the application fulfils the eligibility criteria laid down by the EGF Regulation,

1.

Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 2(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that, therefore, France is entitled to a financial contribution under that Regulation;

2.

Notes that the French authorities submitted the application for EGF financial contribution on 5 May 2010, supplemented by additional information up to 13 April 2012, and that its final assessment was made available by the Commission on 21 August 2012; notes the fact that the evaluation process was very long and protracted;

3.

Regrets the period of 27 months of assessment between the submission of the application on 5 May 2010 and the adoption of the proposal for a decision of the budgetary authority on 21 August 2012; notes that this is so far the longest period of assessment of an application for EGF mobilisation since its creation in 2007;

4.

Notes that redundancies targeted by this application affect 10 regions in France, most of which are situated in the northern half of the territory, however, the voluntary departures mostly affect Brittany (32 % of voluntary redundancies), Ile-de-France (25 %) and Franche-Comté (13 %);

5.

Notes that the coordinated package of personalised services supported by the EGF is part of the voluntary redundancy plan launched to help 5 100 workers to leave PSA and which comprises also measures required by French national law in case of mass redundancies, like early retirement schemes;

6.

Notes that Peugeot Citroën Automobiles, which is a subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroën group, is required by French law to contribute to the revitalisation of these regions, contributing to the creation of new activities and new jobs, so as to attenuate the effects of redundancies;

7.

Notes that the EGF will only support measures additional to those required by virtue of national law falling within three strands of the redundancy plan: "professional or personal project", "redeployment leave" and "setting up or taking over a business"; requests more information on the features of the measures included in the coordinated package of personalised service making them additional compared to the measures obligatory under national legislation or collective agreements;

8.

Welcomes the fact that, in order to provide workers with speedy assistance, the French authorities decided to start the implementation of the measures ahead of the final decision on granting the EGF support for the proposed coordinated package;

9.

Notes that the coordinated package includes allowances provided under the category "redeployment leave" amounting to an average of EUR 5 105,18 per worker offered to 1 080 workers; recalls that the EGF support should be primarily allocated to training and job search as well as training programs instead of contributing directly to unemployment benefits which are the responsibility of national institutions;

10.

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

11.

Requests more information on the types of training provided, especially for employees older than 55 years, who represent more than 41,55 % of targeted workers and highlights the importance of (re)training for active labour market measures in line with the future needs of the labour market so as to promote sustainable employment;

12

Highlights the fact that lessons should be learned from the preparation and implementation of this and other applications addressing mass dismissals;

13.

Notes that the measures will not replace measures within the responsibility of the company under national law or collective agreements and that the measures target individual workers and will not be used for restructuring of PSA;

14.

Requests the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to improve procedural and budgetary arrangements in order to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF; appreciates the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following Parliament's request for accelerating the release of grants, aimed at presenting to the budgetary authority the Commission's assessment on the eligibility of an EGF application together with the proposal to mobilise the EGF; hopes that further improvements in the procedure will be integrated in the new Regulation on the EGF (2014–2020) and that greater efficiency, transparency and visibility of the EGF will be achieved;

15.

Recalls that the Commission in its Communication "Responding to the crisis in the European automotive industry" (COM(2009)0104) has presented an integrated approach to address structural problems by making the sector more competitive and more in tune with the needs of the future, to which EGF measures can positively contribute, albeit on a small scale;

16.

Recalls the institutions’ commitment to ensuring a smooth and rapid procedure for the adoption of the decisions on the mobilisation of the EGF, providing one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have been made redundant as a result of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis; emphasises the role that the EGF can play in the reintegration of workers made redundant into the labour market;

17.

Stresses that, in accordance with Article 6 of the EGF Regulation, it should be ensured that the EGF supports the reintegration of individual redundant workers into long-term employment; further stresses that the EGF assistance can co-finance only active labour market measures which lead to durable, long-term employment; reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements, nor measures restructuring companies or sectors; deplores the fact that the EGF might provide an incentive for companies to replace their contractual workforce with a more precarious and short-term one;

18.

Notes that the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on the complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds; reiterates its call to the Commission to present a comparative evaluation of those data in its annual reports in order to ensure full respect of the existing regulations and that no duplication of Union-funded services can occur;

19.

Welcomes the fact that following requests from Parliament, the 2012 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 50 000 000 on the EGF budget line 04 05 01; recalls that the EGF was created as a separate specific instrument with its own objectives and deadlines and that it therefore deserves a dedicated allocation, which will avoid transfers from other budget lines, as happened in the past, which could be detrimental to the achievement of the policy objectives of the EGF;

20.

Regrets the decision of the Council to block the extension of the "crisis derogation", allowing to provide financial assistance to workers made redundant as a result of the current financial and economic crisis in addition to those losing their job because of changes in global trade patterns, and allowing the increase in the rate of Union co-financing to 65 % of the programme costs, for applications submitted after the 31 December 2011 deadline, and calls on the Council to reintroduce this measure without delay;

21.

Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

22.

Instructs its President to sign the decision with the President of the Council and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

23.

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