P9_TA(2022)0256

Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: application EGF/2021/008 EL/Attica electrical equipment manufacturing — Greece

European Parliament resolution of 23 June 2022 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Greece — EGF/2021/008 EL/Attica electrical equipment manufacturing (COM(2022)0248 — C9-0190/2022 — 2022/0170(BUD))

(2023/C 32/20)

The European Parliament,

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

— 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’),

— 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,

— 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,

— having regard to the letters from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and from the Committee on Regional Development,

— 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;

1. Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(2), point (b), of the EGF Regulation are met and that Greece is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 1 495 830 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 1 759 800, comprising EUR 1 689 800 of expenditure for personalised services and EUR 70 000 of expenditure for implementing the EGF ( 7 )

2. Notes that the Greek authorities submitted the application on 21 December 2021, and that the Commission finalised its assessment on 30 May 2022 and notified it to Parliament on the same day; considers that the assessment period should be reduced so that the targeted beneficiaries get the necessary help with less delay;

3. Notes that the application relates in total to 206 displaced workers whose activity has ceased; welcomes the fact that Greece expects that all of the eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries);

4. Recalls that the social impact of the redundancies is expected to be significant for the Attica region in Greece, which had the highest number of unemployed people in Greece in December 2021 (342 744, representing 31 % of registered Greek unemployed people), and where 24,1 % of the population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion ( 8 )

5. Points out that 81,1 % of the dismissed workers have lower secondary education or less and will face difficulties in finding re-employment opportunities;

6. Notes that Greece will start providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries as soon as the mobilisation decision is adopted by the budgetary authorities and that the expenditure on the measures will therefore be eligible for a financial contribution from the EGF from the date on which Greece starts to provide personalised services until 24 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision ( 9 )

7. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following actions: professional counselling, training in digital skills, vocational training and education, higher education, contribution to business start-up, and a variety of allowances;

8. Reiterates in that context the important role the Union should play in providing the necessary qualifications for the just transition in line with the European Green Deal; strongly supports that in 2021-2027 the EGF will continue to show solidarity with persons affected and maintain the focus on the impact of restructuring on workers and calls for future applications to maximise policy coherence;

9. Welcomes the fact that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up by Greece in consultation with workers’ representatives and a number of former employees;

10. Welcomes that training in digital skills was included as a horizontal element in designing the proposed actions, which will contribute to the dissemination of horizontal skills required in the digital industrial age as well as in a resource-efficient economy, in line with Article 7(2) of the EGF Regulation;

11. Notes that Greece started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 1 March 2022 and that expenditure on preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities will therefore be eligible for a financial contribution from the EGF from 1 March 2022 until 31 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;

12. Calls on the Commission to reduce the time taken to assess EGF assistance requests and to mobilise the EGF in a more rapid way, so as to reduce the pressure on national social security systems of the affected regions;

13. Stresses that the Greek authorities have confirmed that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union funds or financial instruments;

14. Reiterates that, to ensure full additionality of the allocation, assistance from the EGF must not replace actions or any allowances or rights of the displaced workers which are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements, as well as required actions by Members States to enhance the competitiveness of companies, particularly SMEs, and their capacity to adapt to the rapidly transforming digital economy, actions to enhance the digital skills of workers in order to address the risk of technological lag and digital illiteracy, measures to enhance the purchasing power of the population, as well as further targeted active employment policies to combat unemployment and facilitate the reintegration of displaced workers into the labour market;

15. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

16. Calls for the swift release of the EGF financial contribution of EUR 1 495 830 to Greece;

17. 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 ;

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

(1) OJ L 153, 3.5.2021, p. 48.

(2) OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 11.

(3) OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 28.

(4) Bsh Oikiakes Syskeves Anon. Viom. Etairia [Bsh-Pitsos], Seller Hellas Avee, Nexans HellasMonoprosopi Ave, Kampourakis Georgios — G.E.M.A., Sammler V. Michalopoulos Aeve, Mavilek Avee

(5) https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi-greece

(6) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00203/default/table?lang=en

(7) In accordance with the fifth paragraph of Article 7 of the EGF Regulation.

(8) According to Eurostat.

(9) With the exception of formal studies of a duration of more than two years, which will be eligible until the deadline for submission of the final report.