Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund following an application from Finland – EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft
Date: 2016-07-29
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Finland, Southern Finland, Western Finland, collective dismissal, commitment of expenditure, employment aid, financial aid, general budget (EU), reintegration into working life, software

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 29.7.2016  COM(2016) 490 final   Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund  following an application from Finland – EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  rules  applicable  to  financial  contributions  from  the  European  Globalisation 
Adjustment  Fund  (EGF)  are  laid  down  in  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 1927/20061 (the ‘EGF Regulation’). 

On 11 March 2016, Finland submitted an application EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft for 
a  financial  contribution  from  the  EGF,  following  redundancies2  in  Microsoft 
(Microsoft Mobile Oy) and 8 suppliers and dowstream producers in Finland. 

Following  its  assessment  of  this  application,  the  Commission  has  concluded,  in 
accordance with all applicable provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the conditions 
for awarding a financial contribution from the EGF are met. 

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION 

EGF application 

EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft 

Member State 
Region(s) concerned (NUTS3 level 2) 

Finland 
Helsinki-Uusimaa FI1B1 
Etelä-Suomi FI1C 
Länsi-Suomi FI197 

Date of submission of the application 

Date of acknowledgement of receipt of the 
application 

11 March 2016 

11 March 2016 

Deadline for request for additional information 

25 March 2016 

Deadline for provision of additional information  6 May 2016 

Deadline for the completion of the assessment 

29 July 2016 

Intervention criterion 

Primary enterprise 

Article 4(1)(a) of the EGF Regulation 

Microsoft Mobile Oy 

Number of enterprises concerned 

9 

Sector(s) of economic activity 
(NACE Revision 2 Division)4 

NACE Revision 2 Division 62 
(Computer programming, consultancy 
and related activities) 

Number of subsidiaries, suppliers and 
downstream producers 

8 

1 
2 
3 

4 

OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 855. 
Within the meaning of Article 3 of the EGF Regulation. 
Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No 1046/2012  of  8  November  2012  implementing  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1059/2003  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the  establishment  of  a  common 
classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) as regards the transmission of the time series for 
the new regional breakdown (OJ L 310, 9.11.2012, p. 34). 
OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 

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Reference period (four months): 

11 September 2015 – 11 January 2016 

Number of redundancies during the reference 
period (a) 

Number of redundancies before or after the 
reference period (b) 

Total number of redundancies (a + b) 

Total number of eligible beneficiaries 

Total number of targeted beneficiaries 

Number of targeted young persons not in 
employment, education or training (NEETs) 
Budget for personalised services (EUR) 
Budget for implementing EGF5 (EUR) 
Total budget (EUR) 
EGF contribution (60 %) (EUR) 

ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION 

Procedure 

2 035 

126 

2 161 

2 161 

1 441 

0 

8 480 000 
    460 000 
8 940 000 
5 364 000 

4. 

Finland submitted application EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft on 11 March 2016, within 
12 weeks of the date on which the intervention criteria set out in Article 4 of the EGF 
Regulation  were  met.  The  Commission  acknowledged  receipt  of  the  application 
within  two  weeks  of  the  date  of  submission  of  the  application,  on  11  March  2016, 
and  requested  additional  information  from  Finland  before  25  March  2016.  Such 
additional information was provided within six weeks of this deadline. The deadline 
of 12 weeks of the receipt of the complete application within which the Commission 
should finalise its assessment of the application's compliance with the conditions for 
providing a financial contribution expires on 29 July 2016. 

Eligibility of the application 

Enterprises and beneficiaries concerned 

5. 

The  application  relates  to  2 035  workers  made  redundant  in  Microsoft  (Microsoft 
Mobile  Oy)  and  8  suppliers  and  downstream  producers.  The  primary  enterprise 
operates in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 62, 
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities.  The redundancies made 
by Microsoft are mainly located in the NUTS level 2 regions of  Helsinki-Uusimaa, 
Etelä-Suomi and Länsi-Suomi. 

Enterprises and number of dismissals within the reference period 

Microsoft 
Accenture 
EKS Group 
Eilakaisla 
HCL Technologies Ltd 

1 889 

ISS Palvelut 
27  ManpowerGroup 

4  Suomen Terveystalo 
1  Symbio Finland 

46 

36 
15 
1 
16 

Total no. of enterprises: 9 

Total no. of dismissals:  

2 035 

5 

In accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013. 

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Enterprises and number of dismissals within the reference period 

Total no. of self-employed persons whose activity has ceased:  

Total no. of eligible workers and self-employed persons:  

0 

2 035 

Intervention criteria 

6. 

7. 

Finland submitted the application under the intervention criteria of Article 4(1) (a) of 
the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 500 workers being made redundant over 
a  reference  period  of  four  months  in  an  enterprise  in  a  Member  State,  including 
workers made redundant by suppliers. 

The  reference  period  of  four  months  for  the  application  runs  from  11  September 
2015  to  11  January  2016.  There  were  2 035  redundancies  within  this  reference 
period. 

8. 

The redundancies during the reference period are as follows: 

– 

– 

1 889 workers made redundant by Microsoft, 

146 workers made redundant by eight suppliers and downstream producers. 

Calculation of redundancies and of cessation of activity 

9. 

The redundancies during the reference period have been calculated as follows: 

– 

– 

– 

62  from  the  date  on  which  the  employer,  in  accordance  with  Article 3(1)  of 
Council Directive 98/59/EC6, notified the competent public authority in writing 
of the projected collective redundancies. Finland confirmed prior to the date of 
the  completion  of  the  assessment  by  the  Commission  that  these  62 
redundancies have actually been effected, 

1 931  from  the  date  of  the  employer's  individual  notice  to  lay  off  or  to 
terminate the contract of employment of the workers, 

42 from the date of the de facto termination of the contract of employment or 
its expiry. 

Eligible beneficiaries 

10. 

In addition to the 2 035 workers already referred to, the eligible beneficiaries include 
126  workers  made  redundant  before  or  after  the  reference  period  of  four  months. 
These  workers  were  all  made  redundant  after  the  general  announcement  of  the 
projected redundancies on 8 July  2015. A clear causal link can  be established with 
the event which triggered the redundancies during the reference period. 

11. 

The total number of eligible beneficiaries is therefore 2 161. 

Link between the redundancies and major structural changes in world trade patterns due to 

globalisation 

12. 

In order to establish the link between the redundancies and major structural changes 
in  world  trade  patterns due  to  globalisation,  Finland  argues  that  in  recent  years the 
distribution  of  ICT  sector  employment  between  the  EU  and  other  economies  has 
developed  to  the  detriment  of  the  EU  share.  These  effects  were  particularly  felt  in 
Finland, where the ICT sector plays a key role in the economy. The software industry 

6 

Council  Directive  98/59/EC  of  20 July  1998  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member  States 
relating to collective redundancies (OJ L 225, 12.8.1998, p. 16). 

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13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

is  a  highly  international  industry  and  competition  within  the  sector  is  global.  All 
market  players  can  compete  for  the  same  customers,  and  the  location  and  cultural 
background of the personnel has limited significance.  

In  2014,  the  number  of  people  employed  by  technology  businesses  in  Finland 
decreased  by  2 %,  i.e.  by  over  5 000  employees.  In  2014,  the  industry  employed 
285 000 people in Finland, while in 2008, this total was still 326 000 people7. During 
the same period, the share of China and the United States in the ICT sector personnel 
of the developed countries increased, while the share of Europe decreased8. 

The  mobile  phone  markets  have  developed  under  constant  competition  between 
different  operating  systems.  During  the  first  decade  of  the  2000s  Nokia  dominated 
the  markets.  Since  then  the  Android  operating  system  rapidly  achieved  a  strong 
market  position,  while  Microsoft  failed  to  achieve  a  significant  market  share.  This 
has led to growing imports into the Union. 

Thus, the main reason behind the workforce reductions at Microsoft is the declining 
market  share  of  its  phones  (Lumia)  with  the  Microsoft  Windows  operating  system. 
Android  and  iOS,  the  two  US-designed  operating  systems  used  by  various  Asian-
based manufacturers, have risen to dominate the market in recent years. The market 
share  of  Windows  phones  was  below  4 %  every  year  from  2012  to  2015.  It  is 
important to note that the Microsoft Windows phone operating system still had over 
50 % market share in 20099.  

The current application is the continuation of a series of previous applications from 
Finland,  all  revolving  around  the  decline  of  Nokia  in  its  country  of  origin.  This 
started  in  2007  with  the  Perlos  case  (EGF/2007/003  FI/Perlos)  and  includes  two 
Nokia Finland cases (EGF/2012/006 FI/Nokia Salo and EGF/2013/001 FI/Nokia) as 
well  as  Broadcom  (EGF/2015/001  FI/Broadcom)  and  computer  programming 
(EGF/2015/005 FI/Computer Programming). Nokia initially moved production lines 
to  the  Far  East,  then  closed  down  the  more  specialised  production  areas  while 
retaining research, development and programming, sold the mobile phone operation 
to Microsoft, and now, even this is being closed down. It is already foreseeable that 
two further related applications for workers being made redundant in the ICT sector 
will be submitted by Finland in the near future. 

17. 

To  date,  the  NACE  Divison  62  sector  has  been  the  subject  of  two  previous  EGF 
applications, both based on trade related globalisation (EGF/2013/001 FI/Nokia and 
EGF/2015/005 FI/Computer programming). 

Events giving rise to the redundancies and cessation of activity 

18. 

The  events  giving  rise  to  these  redundancies  are  as  follows:  in  September  2013, 
Microsoft  acquired  Nokia's  devices  and  services.  Following  this  acquisition, 
Microsoft  Mobile  was  established  in  April  2014.  Approximately  25 000  Nokia 
employees transferred to Microsoft, including 4 700 people based in Finland. 

In 2014, Microsoft announced its plans to reduce the size of its overall workforce by 
up  to  18 000  jobs  in  the  following  year.  1 100  of  those  positions  were  based  in 
Finland.  At the  same  time  Microsoft  decided to  shut  down  the  Oulu  site  and  focus 
research and product development in Salo, Tampere and Espoo. 

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8 

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Statistics Finland, The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries` labour force survey 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/2015-predict-report-
analysis-ict-rd-eu-and-beyond 
http://www.statista.com/statistics/266136/global-market-share-held-by-smartphone-operating-systems/ 

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In  July  2015,  Microsoft  announced  plans  to  restructure  the  enterprise’s  phone 
business  to  better  focus  and  align  resources.  A  maximum  of  2 300  jobs  were 
expected  to  be  lost  in  Finland.  The  Salo  operations  were  shut  down  and  the  tasks 
moved to Microsoft facilities in Tampere and Espoo. 

Most  of  the  redundancies  contained  in  the  present  application  are  former  Nokia 
workers  who  moved  to  Microsoft  in  2013.  Programming  professionals  are  at  the 
centre of these redundancies. 

Expected impact of the redundancies as regards the local, regional or national economy and 

employment 

19. 

20. 

The affected NUTS 2 regions are Helsinki-Uusimaa (FI1B); Etelä-Suomi (FI1C) and 
Länsi-Suomi, (FI197). 88 % of the redundant workers are between 30 and 54 years 
old. The employment prospects for older workers are particularly problematic.  

The  redundant  workers  could  play  an  important  part  in  revitalising  the  industry  if 
their  further  education  and  training,  plans  to  take  up  entrepreneurship,  and 
employment prospects can be supported to a sufficient extent. 

Helsinki-Uusimaa 

21. 

Microsoft is the second biggest ICT enterprise in Espoo, the second  biggest city in 
Finland.  The  sector  as  such  is  a  major  employer  in  Espoo.  In  2013,  about  29 400 
workers (35 % of the private sector workforce) were employed in the sector10. A total 
of  219  ICT  companies  were  established  in  Espoo  in  2014  and  313  closed  down 
during the same period11.  

The ICT cluster around Microsoft is concentrated in Espoo. This means that Espoo is 
severely hit by the redundancies: about 700 Microsoft workers in Espoo will be made 
redundant during this round of lay-offs.  

At the end of August 2015, the number of long-term unemployed was 42 % higher 
than a year before. At the same time, unemployment among highly educated people 
in  Uusimaa  is  permanently  above  15 %.  At  the  end  of  August  2015,  there  were  a 
total of 95 967 unemployed jobseekers in Uusimaa, 13,3 % more than a year before. 
The unemployment rate stood at 11,6 %. 

Etelä-Suomi 

22. 

The region lost a total of 6 500 jobs between 2007 and 2013, a decline of 25 %. As a 
result of the Nokia redundancies, the unemployment rate more than doubled between 
2008 and 2015, from 7,0 to 17,5 %. The proportion of highly educated people among 
the unemployed also increased.  

Microsoft's announcement that it would close down its Salo plant means that about 
1 000 people working there lose their jobs. In the businesses providing the unit with 
services, the closure will lead to about 150 additional redundancies. This means that 
a total of about 1 150 jobs will be lost in Salo. About 200 employees of the Salo unit 
received  an  offer  to  move  to  Espoo  and  other  Microsoft  units,  so  that  the  total 
number of redundancies in the Salo area is about 950. 

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www.teknologiateollisuus.fi/sites/default/files/file_attachments/personnel.pdf 

www.teknologiateollisuus.fi/sites/default/files/file_attachments/personnel.pdf 

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Most of the people losing their jobs are highly skilled and experienced in their area 
of work. It is possible that a number of them will be able to find new jobs quickly, as 
they have relevant skills to offer.  

Länsi-Suomi 

23. 

A  total  of  about  1 000  technology  industry  jobs  have  disappeared  in  Tampere  over 
the  past  12  months.  The  fact  that  the  development  and  manufacturing  of  Nokia's 
mobile phone software and network systems have been relocated from the Tampere 
sub-region to other areas has provided a substantial labour reserve.  

The  latest  workforce  reductions  at  Microsoft  affect  about  500  people  in  the 
Pirkanmaa area. Keeping skills up to date and focusing on broad-based expertise are 
important for the employment prospects of individual jobseekers. Most of the large 
operators in the Tampere area have depended on the Nokia/Microsoft axis for their 
business.  Subcontractors  are  therefore  affected  by  the  events,  which  have  led  to 
further redundancies among them. 

Targeted beneficiaries and proposed actions 

Targeted beneficiaries 

24. 

The estimated number of redundant workers expected to participate in the measures 
is  1 441.  The  breakdown  of  these  workers  by  sex,  citizenship  and  age  group  is  as 
follows: 

Sex: 

Category 

Men: 

Women: 

Number of  
targeted beneficiaries 

864 

577 

(60,0 %) 

(40,0 %) 

Citizenship:  EU citizens: 

1 297 

(90,0 %) 

non-EU citizens: 

144 

(10,0 %) 

Age group: 

15-24 years: 

25-29 years: 

30-54 years: 

55-64 years: 

over 64 years: 

0 

17 

(0,0 %) 

(1 %) 

1 279 

(89 %) 

144 

(10,0 %) 

1 

(0,0 %) 

Eligibility of the proposed actions 

25. 

The  personalised  services  to  be  provided  to  the  redundant  workers  consist  of  the 
following actions:  

– 

Coaching mesures and other preparatory measures, these include:. 

The  aim  of  job-seeking  training  is  to  provide  the  participants  with  more 
information  about  the  labour  market,  to  help  them  in  charting  their  own 
possibilities, and to improve and bring up to date their job-seeking skills.  

The  purpose  of  job  coaching  is  to  support  and  guide  a  private  customer  in 
seeking employment and in on-the-job training.  

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Career coaching is  procured for persons having lost their jobs if according to 
the  assessment  of  an  Employment  and  Economic  Development  Office  (TE 
Office) these workers need functional, intensive and long-term support in their 
career  planning.  The  main  emphasis  in  the  coaching  is  on  interaction  and 
exercises in groups. 

Workers at Microsoft have highly varying competencies. In order to assess the 
job-seeker's situation and need for services, the TE Office can organise a range 
of expert assessments.  

– 

Employment and business services 

Those having lost their jobs will be provided with information, counselling and 
expert  services  for  planning  their  re-employment.  In  previous  EGF  cases  the 
face to face service has proven to be extremely useful. 

– 

Training 

Vocational labour market training will include company development training 
and  training  to  support  entrepreneurship.  The  goal  is  the  acquisition  of  a 
vocational qualification or as the upskilling of existing competencies. Training 
courses that support labour mobility will also be offered.  

– 

Pay subsidy 

Pay  subsidies  will  be  available  for  the  redundant  workers  to  support 
employment  in  a  new  job  or  an  apprenticeship,  by  reducing  the  new 
employer’s payroll costs for a limited time period. The pay subsidy is between 
30 and 50 % of the worker's payroll costs and will be given for a period of 6 to 
24 months. 

– 

Start-up grant 

The  purpose  of  start-up  grants  is  to  promote  the  creation  of  business  activity 
and employment of individual persons. The purpose of the start-up grant is to 
ensure  an  income  for  an  aspiring  entrepreneur  during  the  estimated  time 
required to launch and establish a full-time business. 

– 

Allowances for travel, overnight and removal costs 

A job-seeker may be granted an allowance for travel and accommodation costs 
incurred for job-seeking, or travel and accommodation costs for participation in 
training  measures,  and  compensation  for  removal  expenses  when  accepting  a 
job outside their commuting area. 

26. 

27. 

The  proposed  actions,  here  described,  constitute  active  labour  market  measures 
within the eligible actions set out in Article 7 of the EGF Regulation. These actions 
do not substitute passive social protection measures. 

Finland has provided the required information on actions that are mandatory for the 
enterprise concerned by virtue of national law or pursuant to collective agreements. 
They have confirmed that a financial contribution from the EGF will not replace such 
actions. 

Estimated budget 

28. 

The  estimated 
personalised  services  of  EUR 8 480 000  and  expenditure 

total  costs  are  EUR 8 940 000,  comprising  expenditure  for 
for  preparatory, 

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management, 
EUR 460 000. 

information  and  publicity,  control  and  reporting  activities  of 

29. 

The total financial contribution requested from the EGF is EUR 5 364 000 (60 % of 
total costs). 

Actions 

Estimated 
number of 
participants 

Estimated cost 
per participant 
(EUR) 
(*) 

Estimated total 
costs 
(EUR)  

Personalised services (Actions under Article 7(1)(a) and (c) of the EGF Regulation) 

Coaching  mesures  and  other  preparatory 
measures (Valmennukset ja muut valmentavat 
toimenpiteet) 

785 

600,00 

471 000 

Employment 
(Työllisyys- ja yrityspalvelut) 

and 

business 

services 

1 287 

543,90 

700 000 

Training (Koulutus) 

940 

6 000,00 

5 640 000 

Start-up grant (Starttiraha) 

43 

6 000,00 

258 000 

Sub-total (a): 
Percentage of the package of personalised 
services  

– 

7 069 000  

(83,36 %) 

Allowances and incentives (Actions under Article 7(1)(b) of the EGF Regulation) 

Pay subsidy (Palkkatuki) 

173 

8 000,00 

1 384 000 

Allowances for travel, overnight and removal 
costs (Liikkuvuusavustus) 

Sub-total (b): 
Percentage of the package of personalised 
services: 

 Actions under Article 7(4) of the EGF Regulation 

1. Preparatory activities 

2. Management 

3. Information and publicity 

4. Control and reporting 

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Sub-total (c): 

9 

180 

150,00 

27 000 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

1 411 000 

(16,64 %) 

4 000 

364 000 

77 000 

15 000 

460 000 

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Percentage of the total costs : 

Total costs (a + b + c): 

EGF contribution (60 % of total costs) 

– 

– 

(5,1 %) 

8 940 000 

5 364 000 

(*) To avoid too many decimals, the estimated costs per worker have been rounded. However the rounding has 
no impact on the total cost of each measure. 

30. 

The costs of the actions identified in the table above as actions under Article 7(1)(b) 
of  the  EGF  Regulation  do  not  exceed  35 %  of  the  total  costs  for  the  coordinated 
package  of  personalised  services.  Finland  confirmed  that  these  actions  are 
conditional  on  the  active  participation  of  the  targeted  beneficiaries  in  job-search  or 
training activities. 

31. 

Finland confirmed that the costs of investments for self-employment, business start-
ups and employee take-overs will not exceed EUR 15 000 per beneficiary. 

Period of eligibility of expenditure 

32. 

33. 

Finland started providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 11 
September  2015.  The  expenditure  on  the  actions  will  therefore  be  eligible  for  a 
financial contribution from the EGF from 11 September 2015 to 11 March 2018. 

Finland started incurring the administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 11 
September  2015.  The  expenditure  for  preparatory,  management,  information  and 
publicity,  control  and  reporting  activities  shall  therefore  be  eligible  for  a  financial 
contribution from the EGF from 11 September 2015 to 11 September 2018.  

Complementarity with actions funded by national or Union funds 

34. 

35. 

36. 

37. 

The  sources  of  national  pre-financing  or  co-funding  mainly  come  from  the  public 
employment  services  item  in  the  administrative  branch  of  the  Ministry  of 
Employment and the Economy (MEE). Some services will also be funded from the 
operating expenditure of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the 
Environment (ELY Centres) and the TE Offices.  

Finland  has  confirmed  that  the  measures  described  above  receiving  a  financial 
contribution from the EGF will not receive financial contributions from other Union 
financial instruments. 

Finland  is  also  implementing  EGF  contributions  for  the  redundant  workers  of 
Broadcom  and  in  the  computer  programming  sector.  The  Microsoft  case  will 
cooperate with  Labour Mobility  in Europe  2014–2020, which is  a national EURES 
service  development  project.  International  recruitment  events  will  be  arranged 
regionally in cooperation with EGF and EURES services. 

A  national  package  of  measures  "Models  between  the  recruiting  company  and  the 
retrenching company" has been launched within the ESF. This package of measures 
will be producing results that can be useful for the implementation of projects under 
this EGF application.  

Procedures  for  consulting  the  targeted  beneficiaries  or  their  representatives  or  the  social 

partners as well as local and regional authorities 

38. 

Finland  has  indicated  that  the  co-ordinated  package  of  personalised  services  was 
drawn up in consultation as follows: the Ministry of Employment and Economy has 
convened a group that addresses the redundancies in Microsoft and participates in the 
preparation  of  the  EGF  application.  This  working  group  includes  representatives 

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from  the  Centres  for  Economic  Development,  Transport  and  the  Environment  and 
the  Employment  and  Economic  Development  Offices  for  Uusimaa,  South-western 
Finland  and  Pirkanmaa.  Other  representatives  are  Microsoft,  the  Federation  of 
Finnish  Technology  Finland,  and  the  Union  of  Professional  Engineers  in  Finland, 
Academic  Engineers  and  Architects  Finland/Federation  of  Professional  and 
Managerial Staff YTN and Tampere region Economic Development Agency Tredea. 

Management and control systems 

39. 

The application contains a description of the management and control system which 
specifies  the  responsibilities  of  the  bodies  involved.  Finland  has  notified  the 
Commission that the financial contribution will be managed by the MEE, which also 
manages ESF funds. The same Ministry acts as the Certifying Authority. There is a 
strict  separation  of  duties  and  of  reporting  relationships  between  the  departments 
responsible  for  these  two  functions.  The  management  functions  for  the  EGF  have 
been assigned to the Employment and Entrepreneurship Department, while those for 
the ESF are with the Regional Department. The certifying functions for both Funds 
are within the Human Resources and Administration Unit. The Ministry has prepared 
a manual setting out in detail the procedures to be followed. 

40. 

The Audit Authority will be the independent Internal Audit Unit, operating under the 
Permanent Secretary in the same ministry. 

Commitments provided by the Member State concerned 

41. 

Finland has provided all necessary assurances regarding the following:  

– 

– 

the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected 
in the access to the proposed actions and their implementation, 

the  requirements  laid  down  in  national  and  EU  legislation  concerning 
collective redundancies have been complied with, 

–  Microsoft  Mobile  Oy  the  dismissing  enterprise,  which  has  continued  its 
activities  after  the  lay-offs,  has  complied  with  its  legal  obligations  governing 
the redundancies and provided for its workers accordingly, 

– 

– 

– 

the proposed actions will not receive financial support from other Union funds 
or financial instruments and any double financing will be prevented, 

the  proposed  actions  will  be  complementary  with  actions  funded  by  the 
Structural Funds, 

the  financial  contribution  from  the  EGF  will  comply  with  the  procedural  and 
material Union rules on State aid. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

Budgetary proposal 

42. 

The  EGF  shall  not  exceed  a  maximum  annual  amount  of  EUR 150 million  (2011 
prices),  as  laid  down  in  Article 12  of  Council  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom) 
No 1311/2013  of  2  December  2013  laying  down  the  multiannual  financial 
framework for the years 2014-202012. 

12 

OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. 

EN 

11 

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43. 

44. 

Having examined the application in respect of the conditions set out in Article 13(1) 
of  the  EGF  Regulation,  and  having  taken  into  account  the  number  of  targeted 
beneficiaries, the proposed actions and the estimated costs, the Commission proposes 
to mobilise the EGF for the amount of EUR 5 364 000, representing 60 % of the total 
costs  of  the  proposed  actions,  in  order  to  provide  a  financial  contribution  for  the 
application. 

The  proposed  decision  to  mobilise  the  EGF  will  be  taken  jointly  by  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council,  as  laid  down  in  point  13  of  the  Inter-institutional 
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 management13. 

Related acts 

45. 

46. 

At the same time as it presents this proposal for a decision to mobilise the EGF, the 
Commission will present to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal 
for a transfer to the relevant budgetary line for the amount of EUR 5 364 000. 

At the same time as  it adopts this  proposal for a decision to mobilise the  EGF, the 
Commission  will  adopt  a  decision  on  a  financial  contribution,  by  means  of  an 
implementing  act,  which  will  enter  into  force  on  the  date  at  which  the  European 
Parliament and the Council adopt the proposed decision to mobilise the EGF. 

13 

OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 

EN 

12 

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Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund  
following an application from Finland – EGF/2016/001 FI/Microsoft 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 

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 1927/200614, and in particular Article 15(4) thereof, 

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 management15, and in particular point 13 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

14 
15 
16 

The  European  Globalisation  Adjustment  Fund  (EGF)  aims  to  provide  support  for 
workers  made  redundant  and  self-employed  persons  whose  activity  has  ceased  as  a 
result  of  major  structural  changes  in  world  trade  patterns  due  to  globalisation,  as  a 
result of a continuation of the global financial and economic crisis, or as a result of a 
new  global  financial  and  economic  crisis,  and  to  assist  them  with  their  reintegration 
into the labour market. 

The  EGF  is  not  to  exceed  a  maximum  annual  amount  of  EUR 150  million  (2011 
in  Article 12  of  Council  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom) 
prices),  as 
No 1311/201316. 

laid  down 

On 11 March 2016 Finland submitted an application to mobilise the EGF, in respect of 
redundancies  in  Microsoft  (Microsoft  Mobile  Oy)  and  8  suppliers  and  dowstream 
producers. It was supplemented by additional information provided in accordance with 
Article 8(3)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 1309/2013.  That  application  complies  with  the 
requirements  for  determining  a  financial  contribution  from  the  EGF  as  laid  down  in 
Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013. 

In  accordance  with  Article 4(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 1309/2013,  the  application 
from Finland is considered admissible since the redundancies have a serious impact on 
employment and the local, regional and national economy. 

The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution of 
EUR 5 364 000,00 in respect of the application submitted by Finland. 

In  order  to  minimise  the  time  taken  to  mobilise  the  EGF,  this  decision  should  apply 
from the date of its adoption, 

OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 855. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
Council  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  No 1311/2013  of  2  December  2013  laying  down  the  multiannual 
financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884). 

EN 

13 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2016, the European Globalisation 
Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 5 364 000 in commitment 
and payment appropriations. 

Article 2 

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union. It shall apply from [the date of its adoption]. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

  

Date to be inserted by the Parliament before the publication in OJ. 

EN 

14 

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