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 Spain – EGF/2017/001 ES/Castilla y León mining
Date: 2017-06-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: Castile-Leon, European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Spain, coal mining, collective dismissal, commitment of expenditure, employment aid, financial aid, general budget (EU), reintegration into working life

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.6.2017  COM(2017) 266 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 Spain – EGF/2017/001 ES/Castilla y León mining  
 
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  20  January  2017,  Spain  submitted  an  application  EGF/2017/001 ES/Castilla  y 
León mining for a financial contribution from the EGF, following redundancies2 in 
the  economic  sector  classified  under  the  NACE  Revision  2  Division  5  (Mining  of 
coal and lignite) in the NUTS level 2 region of Castilla y León (ES41) in Spain. 

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/2017/001 ES/Castilla y León 
mining 

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

Date of submission of the application 

Date of acknowledgement of receipt of the 
application 

Spain 
Castilla y León (ES41) 

20 January 2017 

20 January 2017 

Date of request for additional information 

3 February 2017 

Deadline for provision of the additional 
information 

17 March 2017 

Deadline for the completion of the assessment 

9 June 2017 

Intervention criterion 

Article 4(2) of the EGF Regulation 

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

Division 5 (Mining of coal and 
lignite) 

Number of enterprises concerned 

5 

Reference period nine months: 

1 February 2016 - 1 November 2016 

Total number of redundancies 

Total number of eligible beneficiaries 

339 

339 

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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2 

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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) 

339 

125 

1 603 940 
66 500 
1 670 440 
1 002 264 

ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION 

Procedure 

4. 

Spain  submitted  application  EGF/2017/001 ES/Castilla  y  León  mining  within  12 
weeks of the date on which the intervention criteria set out in Article 4 of the EGF 
Regulation were met, on 20 January 2017. The Commission acknowledged receipt of 
the application on the same date, and requested additional information from Spain on 
3 February 2017. Such additional information was provided within six weeks of the 
request. 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 9 June 2017.  

Eligibility of the application 

Enterprises and beneficiaries concerned 

5. 

The  application  relates  to  339  workers  made  redundant  in  the  economic  sector 
classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 5 (Mining of coal and lignite)6. The 
redundancies are located in the NUTS level 2 region of Castilla y León (ES41). 

Enterprises and number of dismissals within the reference period 

Hullera Vasco Leonesa S.A.   (HVL) 
Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo S.A.   (CIDSA) 
Hijos de Baldomero García S.A. 
Minas del Bierzo Alto S.L. 
Unión Minera del Norte S.A.   (UMINSA) 
Total no. of enterprises: 5 

Total no. of dismissals:  

Total no. of eligible workers:  

Intervention criteria 

227 
68 
7 
8 
29 
339 

339 

6. 

7. 

5 
6 

Spain  submitted  the  application  under  the  intervention  criteria  of  Article 4(2) 
derogating from the criteria of Article 4(1)(b) of the EGF Regulation, which requires 
at least 500 workers being made redundant over a reference period of nine 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. 

The reference period of nine months for the application runs from 1 February 2016 to 
1 November 2016. 

In accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013. 
This is the first application regarding redundancies in the mining of coal and lignite sector. 

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Calculation of redundancies and of cessation of activity 

8. 

All the redundancies during the reference period have been calculated from the date 
of the de facto termination of the contract of employment or its expiry. 

Eligible beneficiaries 

9. 

The total number of eligible beneficiaries is 339. 

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

10. 

11. 

In order to establish the link between the redundancies and major structural changes 
in  world  trade  patterns  due  to  globalisation,  Spain  argues  that  the  European  coal 
industry  is  increasingly  suffering  from  competition  from  cheaper  coals  from  non-
European countries.  

Coal  production  at  EU  level  fell  sharply  over  the  period  2005-2015.  In  2005, 
European coal production was 198,8 million toe7 while in 2015 it was 145,3 million 
toe.  This  represents  a  decline  in  production  by  26,9 %.  Coal  production  fell 
constlantly over the period 2005-2010 (-17,9 %), recovered in 2011 (+1,7 %) and it 
fell  contstantly  again  between  2012-2015  (-14,4 %).  In  the  same  period  the 
production of coal worldwide increased by 26,3 %; from 3 033,6 million toe in 2005 
to 3 830,1 million toe in 2015. This resulted in a decline of the EU market share in 
coal production worldwide which fell from 6,6 % in 2005 to 3,8 % in 2015. 

Coal production worldwide 
(Million toe) 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

EU 

198,8 

193,2 

187,0 

178,9 

167,9 

165,6 

Worldwide 

3 033,6  3 188,5  3 326,7  3 436,0  3 435,3  3 627,6 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

EU 

168,4 

167,7 

157,3 

150,3 

145,3 

Worldwide 

3 891,4  3 930,4  3 986,5  3 988,9  3 830,1 

Source: BP Statistical review8 

The  coal  market  in  Europe  is  characterized  by  increasing  imports  along  with  the 
decline in production. In 2010, imports surpassed production and since then EU coal 
production  has  been  lower  than  imports.  Furthermore  over  the  period  2010-2014, 
imports  increased  by  16,5 %  (from  230,9  million  tonnes  in  2010  to  268,9  million 
tonnes in 2014). 

Tonne(s)  of  oil  equivalent,  abbreviated  as  toe,  is  a  normalized  unit  of  energy.  By  convention  it  is 
equivalent to the approximate amount of energy that can be extracted from one tonne of crude oil. It is a 
standardized unit, assigned a net calorific value of 41 868 kilojoules/kg and may be used to compare the 
energy from different sources. 
www.bp.com 

12. 

7 

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Coal imports in the EU and Spain, 2010-2014,  
(millions of tonnes) 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

EU 

Spain 

230,9 

12,5 

245,2 

16,5 

262,1 

22 6 

267,0 

14,0 

268,9 

17,1 

Source: Datacomex, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. 

Coal imports in the EU and Spain, 2010-2014, 
change over previous year (%) 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

EU 

Spain 

6,20 

32,71 

6,89 

1,86 

37,55 

-38,57 

0,72 

21,94 

13. 

14. 

The  volume  of  imports  of  coal  from  non-EU  countries  grew  as  the  price  of  coal 
decreased.  The  decline  in  prices  was  mainly  due  to  the  weakness  of  the  world 
economy  coupled  with  lower  demand  following  the  slowdown  in  industrial 
production  in  Asia  (mainly  China)  and  the  oversupply  in  China  resulting  from  the 
coal  rush  during  the  first  decade  of  the  century9.  The  currency  of  the  main  coal 
exporters10 depreciated versus the US dollar pushing prices further down. Thus, the 
selling price of coal in Europe fell from EUR 120/tonne (mid-2011) to EUR 50/tonne 
(2015)11. This fall in prices has turned unprofitable many of the EU coal mines and 
triggered its closure. 

In  Spain,  both  coal  production  and  imports  followed  a  trend  similar  to  that  of  coal 
production  and  imports  at  EU  level.  However,  both  the  downwards  trend  in 
production  and  the  upwards  trend  in  imports  were  sharper  in  Spain.  During  the 
period 2010-2015 Spanish coal production fell by 63,3 % (from 8,35 to 3,06 million 
tonnes). The decline in coal production in Castilla y León, the region concerned by 
the  redundancies,  was  even  sharper  (86,27 %).  In  2014  compared  to  2010,  coal 
imports  into  Spain  increased  by  36,76 %  (i.e.  20  percentage  points  more  than  the 
increase in coal imports into the EU). 

9 

10 
11 

Investment in coal mining capacity during the five years plan 2006-2010 was 2,5 time higher than it has 
been throughout the entire history of PRC. 
The top five coal exporters in the world are Indonesia, Australia, Russia, USA and Colombia. 
Coal Medium-term Market Report 2015, OECD/IEA. www.iea.org 

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Coal production (million tonnes) 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

Spain 

CyL 

8,35 

2,45 

6,62 

1,85 

6,16 

1,56 

4,36 

0,95 

3,90 

1,04 

3,06 

0,41 

Source: IRMC - Instituto para la restructuración de la minería del carbón. 

Coal production, change over previous year (%) 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

Spain 

CyL 

-11,59 

-20,73 

-6,93 

-29,16 

10,58 

-21,39 

-22,66 

-24,35 

-15,56 

-39,13 

9,29 

-60,41 

15. 

The  reorganization  and  reconversion  of  the  coal  mining  sector  in  Spain,  over  the 
years before the economic and financial crisis aimed at favoring the permanence of 
those  mining  enterprises  in  better  conditions  of  profitability.  What  could  not  been 
foreseen  was  the  sharp  fell  of  coal  prices  (almost  60%)  triggered  by  the  economic 
downturn  which  made  domestic  coal  production  unprofitable.  The  number  of  coal 
mining  enterprises  operating  in  Castilla  y  León  decreased  by  25%,  as  the  fall  in 
prices and coal production led to the closure of ten of these coal mining enterprises 
over the period 2010-2016. 

Coal production enterprises in Castilla y León (2010-2016) 

50

40

30

20

10

0

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

Events giving rise to the redundancies and cessation of activity 

16. 

The  event  giving  rise  to  these  redundancies  is  the  fall  in  the  price  of  coal  in  the 
domestic  market  triggered  by  the  low  prices  of  coal  in  the  international  markets, 
which  plummeted  as  a  consequence  of  the  economic  slowdown,  among  other 
reasons. At current prices, domestic coal production is not profitable. This has led to 
a decrease in coal domestic production (already mentioned above) and the closure of 
several coal mining sites resulting in redundancies. 

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Explanation of the exceptional circumstances underlying the admissibility of the application 

17. 

18. 

Spain argues that, despite the fact that fewer than 500 redundancies occurred within 
the nine-month reference period, this application should nevertheless be assimilated 
to  an  application  under  Article 4(1)(b)  of  the  EGF  Regulation,  as  the  territory 
affected by the redundancies is mostly made up by remote mountain valleys which 
are sparsely populated and highly dependent of a single economic sector. Thus it can 
be consider as a small market. 

The territory affected  by the redundancies is  the mining district  of Castilla y León. 
The mining district is made up by mountainous valleys located in the northern of the 
provinces of León and Palencia, in the Cantabrian range12 and refers to a series of 81 
towns economically dependent of coal mining (31 of which are highly dependent). 

Coal Mining Districts 

  Coal highly dependent district 

  Coal moderately dependent district 

19. 

20. 

12 

The  mining  district  has  a  population  of  111,342  inhabitants  spread  over  an  area  of 
about  8 696  km2.  The  population  density  is  therefore  very  low,  only  12,8 
inhabitants/km2,  far  from  the  national  average  (92,1  inhabitants/km2)  or  the  EU 
average (117,5 inhabitants/km2). 

The mining district is made up of small towns, 44 % of which have 500 inhabitants 
or  less.  Only five towns,  the largest  in  the district,  have  between  5 000 and 10 000 
inhabitants.  These  towns,  often  spread  out  in  isolated  areas,  have  issues  regarding 

The  Cantabrian  range  stretches  for  over  300  km  across  northern  Spain,  from  the  western  limit  of  the 
Pyrenees  to  the  Galician  Massif  in  Galicia,  along  the  coast  of  the  Cantabrian  Sea.  It  makes  a  sharp 
divide between "green Spain" to the north, and the dry central plateau. 

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21. 

22. 

mobility  and  connectivity  to  high  capacity  roads,  technological  infrastructures, 
industrial  land  development,  etc.  mainly  because  of  the  difficulties  associated  with 
being a mountainous area. 

There is a very difficult employment situation in the mining district. Unemployment 
figures may lead to the conclusion that the employment has improved since 2012, the 
worst year of the crisis. However, the reality is quite the opposite. In the district there 
is  a  growing  shortage  of  jobs  and  if  the  number  of  unemployed  persons  decreased 
during  the  period  2010-2015,  this  was  due  to  the  emigration  of  the  population  to 
domestic or international territories offering better job prospects. 

In  December  2015,  the  number  of  unemployed  persons  was  1,03 %  less  than  in 
December  2010  whilst  the  population  of  the  territory  declined  by  8,5 %  over  the 
same period. The development of unemployment by age groups, during these years, 
shows a sharp decrease among the unemployed people in the age group 25-44 years  
(-11 %) and even sharper (-33 %) in the group of under 25 years. The same trend is 
observed  in  the  development  of  the  population  by  age  group.  The  greatest  fall  in 
population occurs in the group under 25-years (-22 %), followed by the group 25-44 
years (-17 %). There is no variation in population in the group of 45+ years (-0,08 %) 
whilst unemployment increased about 27 % in this age group13. 

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

23. 

24. 

25. 

Although  in  the  last  two  years  unemployment  in  Spain  has  decreased  the 
unemployment rate is still high (18,6%)14. 

Furthermore,  being  the mining  district  a small  geographically  isolated territory,  the 
339 redundancies have a major impact on the district's economy which is currently 
struggling  to cope  with the redundancies  from the mining ancillary industry.  These 
redundancies  are  not  part  of  the  present  application,  since  the  mining  ancillary 
industry  operates  in  a  NACE  division  other  than  Division  5  (Mining  of  coal  and 
lignite). There is already a lack of job-offers in the mining district, triggered by the 
development of the mining  sector (drop in production after increased imports) over 
the  last  years.  These  new  redundancies  can  only  further  aggravate  the  employment 
situation in the area. 

As  mining  companies  have  been  closing  down,  the  jobs  scarcity  has  resulted  in  a 
decline  in  population  in  the  mining  district,  already  mentioned  above,  which  has 
further aggravated the risk of depopulaton of the territory. The layoffs concerned by 
this  application  have  additional  negative  impact  on  the  district  as  might  jeopardize 
the efforts made to encourage the population to remain in the territory.  

Targeted beneficiaries and proposed actions 

Targeted beneficiaries 

26. 

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

Category 

Number of  
targeted beneficiaries 

13 

14 

Source:  ADE  elaboration  with  SEPE  data  (unemployment)  and  data  from  Consejería  de  Economía  y 
Hacienda de la Junta de Castilla y León (population).  
Q4 2016 data. http://www.datosmacro.com/paro-epa/espana 

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Sex: 

Category 

Men: 

Women: 

Citizenship:  EU citizens: 

non-EU citizens: 

Age group: 

15-24 years: 

25-29 years: 

30-54 years: 

55-64 years: 

over 64 years: 

Number of  
targeted beneficiaries 

328 

(96,8 %) 

11 

(3,2 %) 

339  (100,0 %) 

0 

0 

6 

(0,0 %) 

(0,0 %) 

(1,8 %) 

326 

(96,2 %) 

7 

0 

(2,0 %) 

(0,0 %) 

27. 

In addition, Spain will provide personalised services co-financed by the EGF to up to 
125 young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) under the age 
of 30 on the date of submission of the application, given that all of the redundancies 
referred  to  in  paragraph  5  occur  in  the  NUTS  level  2  region    of  Castilla  y  León 
(ES41), which is eligible under the Youth Employment Initiative. 

28. 

The  total  estimated  number  of  targeted  beneficiaries  expected  to  participate  in  the 
measures, including NEETs, is therefore 464. 

Eligibility of the proposed actions 

29. 

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

–  Welcome and information sessions: This is the first measure to be offered to all 
targeted beneficiaries and includes: general and individual information sessions 
on  skills  and  training  requirements;  on  available  counselling  and  training 
programmes; and on allowances and incentives, as well as the profiling of the 
participant workers and the design of the customised reintegration pathway. 

– 

– 

– 

Occupational  guidance  and  counselling  will  be  provided  throughout  the 
implementation period. 

Intensive  job-search  assistance.  This  will  involve  an  intensive  employment 
search,  including  search  for  local  and  regional  employment  opportunities  and 
job-matching.  

Training. This will include a variety of training courses, such as (1) Training 
in  cross-sector  skills  and  competences.  The  training  offer  will  include 
workshops  on  job-search  techniques,  training  in  personal  and  social  skills,  in 
information and communication technologies (ICT), and in foreign languages. 
(2) Vocational training. The vocational training will focus either in upskilling 
those mining related skills which may be relevant to occupations across other 
economic  sectors  (such  as  upgrading  for  explosives  workers,  ordnance 
handling  experts,  and  blasters);  or  in  building  sector-specific  and  job-specific 
skills  for  sectors  where  opportunities  exist  o  are  expected  to  arise,  such  as 
training  for  tourism  and  hospitality  industry  in  rural  areas,  training  related  to 
the  environmental  restoration  of 
the  mining  basins,  reforestation  and 
landscaping,  nursing  assistants  in  geriatrics,  mycology  (training  on  wild 

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– 

– 

– 

mushrooms,  how  to  recognise  the  edible  varieties,  sustainable  mushrooms 
picking,  etc.).  (3) Preparation  for  tests  towards  recognition  of  skills 
acquired through work experience. 

Promotion  of  entrepreneurship.  A  wide  array  of  supports  will  be  made 
available  to  redundant  workers  who  are  considering  starting  their  own 
businesses,  such  as  (1) introductory  modules  focused  on  promoting  business 
initiatives  for  self-employment  and  on  generation  of  business 
ideas; 
(2) counselling on projects and initiatives aimed to develop, produce and guide 
towards 
self-employment  projects; 
viable  business  or 
entrepreneurship covering different levels of the entrepreneurship process from 
the  basic  information  or  first  contact  to  more  elaborate  issues  like  planning, 
feasibility  studies,  preparation  of  business  plans,  etc.; 
carrying  out 
(4) accompaniment  towards  business  creation:  This  support  will  consist  of 
personalized tutoring during the whole process of starting the business. 

(3) training 

Support  for  business  start-up.  Workers  who  start  their  own  businesses  will 
receive  up  to  EUR 15 000  to  cover  setting-up  costs,  investment  in  assets  and 
current expenditure. 

Incentives.  There  will  be  a  variety  of  incentives.  (1) Participation  incentive. 
To encourage their participation in the measures, the workers and NEETs will 
receive a lump sum of EUR 150 after three months of active participation and 
completion of at least one of the measures of their own personalised package of 
measures.  (2) Contribution  to  commuting  expenses.  Those  workers  and 
NEETs participating in a measure taking place outside their town of residence 
will receive a contribution to commuting expenses equal to the cost of public 
transportation  from  their  town  to  the  town  where  the  measure  takes  place.  If 
due to a lack of suitable public transportation, the participants have to use their 
own  vehicles  to  commute  they  will  receive  EUR 0,19  per  kilometre. 
(3) Contribution to the expenses for carers of dependent persons. Workers 
and NEETs with caring responsibilities (children, elderly or disabled persons) 
will  receive  EUR 15  per  day  of  participation  in  the  measures.  This  aims  to 
cover the additional costs faced by the participants with caring responsibilities 
in  order  to  avail  themselves  of  training  or  other  measures.  (4) Training 
allowance. The participants who attend 75 % or more of the training sessions 
scheduled  in  their  personalized  pathway  towards  employment,  will  receive 
after completing the training an allowance whose amount will vary according 
to the number of hours of training. The allowance will range from EUR 100 for 
short trainings (25-50 hours) to EUR 600 for training courses of 450 hours or 
more. (5) Employment incentives: A wage subsidy of EUR 150 per month for 
a  maximum  of  six  months  will  be  paid  to  those  workers  who  return  to 
employment.  (6) Hiring  benefits.  This  payment  benefits  the  redundant 
workers  by  facilitating  their  re-employment  under  fix-term  or  permanent 
contracts  in  a  different  company.  For  re-employment  under  permanent 
contracts the hiring enterprise will receive up to EUR 5 000 per worker while 
for re-employment under fixed-term contracts of at least 6 months, the hiring 
company will receive EUR 1 000 per worker. 

30. 

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. 

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31. 

Spain  has  provided  the  required  information  on  actions  that  are  mandatory  for  the 
enterprises 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 

32. 

The  estimated 
personalised  services  of  EUR 1 603 940  and  expenditure 
management, 
EUR 66 500. 

total  costs  are  EUR 1 670 440,  comprising  expenditure  for 
for  preparatory, 
information  and  publicity,  control  and  reporting  activities  of 

33. 

The total financial contribution requested from the EGF is EUR 1 002 264 (60 % of 
total costs). 

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Actions 

Estimated 
number of 
participants 

Estimated cost 
per participant 
(EUR)15 

Estimated total 
costs 
(EUR)16 

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

Welcome and information sessions 
(Programa de información y acogida) 

Occupational guidance and counselling  
(Acciones de orientación y asesoramiento) 

Intensive job-search assistance 
(Acciones de intermediación y gestión)  

Training 
(Acciones de formación y requalificación 
profesional) 

Promotion of entrepreneurship 
(Programa de emprendimiento)  

Support for business start-up  

464 

355 

270 

328 

152 240 

284 

100 800 

333 

90 000 

225 

2 183 

491 100 

62 

30 

1 315 

81 500 

12 500 

375 000 

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

– 

1 290 640 

(80,47 %) 

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

Incentives  
(Programa de incentivos) 

280 

1 119 

313 300 

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 

Sub-total (c): 
Percentage of the total costs : 

Total costs (a + b + c): 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

313 300 

(19,53 %) 

18 000 

28 500 

8 000 

12 000 

66 500 

(3,98 %) 

1 670 440 

15 

16 

To  avoid decimals,  the  estimated  costs  per  worker have been rounded. However  the rounding  has no 
impact on the total cost of each measure which remains as in the application submitted by Spain. 
Totals do not tally due to roundings. 

EN 

12 

   EN 

  
                                                 
Actions 

Estimated 
number of 
participants 

Estimated cost 
per participant 
(EUR)15 

Estimated total 
costs 
(EUR)16 

EGF contribution (60 % of total costs) 

– 

1 002 264 

EN 

13 

   EN 

34. 

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. Spain confirmed that these actions are conditional 
on  the  active  participation  of  the  targeted  beneficiaries  in  job-search  or  training 
activities. 

35. 

Spain 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 

36. 

37. 

Spain started providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 15 
February  2017.  The  expenditure  on  the  actions  will  therefore  be  eligible  for  a 
financial  contribution  from  the  EGF  from  15  February  2017  to  15  February  2019. 
The  expenditure  on  the  actions  targeting  NEETs  will  be  eligible  for  a  financial 
contribution  until  31  December  2017,  as  provided  for  under  Article  6(2)  of 
Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013. 

Spain  started  incurring  the  administrative  expenditure  to  implement  the  EGF  on  1 
February  2017.  The  expenditure  for  preparatory,  management,  information  and 
publicity,  control  and  reporting  activities  shall  therefore  be  eligible  for  a  financial 
contribution from the EGF from 1 February 2017 to 15 August 2019.  

Complementarity with actions funded by national or Union funds 

38. 

39. 

The  source  of  national  pre-financing  or  co-funding  are  funds  of  the  autonomous 
region Castilla y Leon. 

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

Procedures  for  consulting  the  targeted  beneficiaries  or  their  representatives  or  the  social 
partners as well as local and regional authorities 

40. 

Spain has indicated that the co-ordinated package of personalised services has been 
drawn  up  in  consultation  with  trade  unions  (UGT17  and  CCOO18),  CECALE19,  the 
confederation  of  business  associations  of  Castilla  and  Leon;  ADE20  (the  regional 
agency 
financing  and  business 
internationalization)  and  FAFECYL21  (a  public  foundation  attached  to  the  regional 
public employment service) . The application and its content was discussed with the 
social partners. To this purpose, six meetings took place from June to October 2016. 

for  economic  development, 

innovation, 

Management and control systems 

41. 

Spain  has  notified  the  Commission  that  the  financial  contribution  will  be  managed 
and controlled by the same bodies that manage and control the ESF. ADE will be the 
intermediate body for the managing authority. 

Commitments provided by the Member State concerned 

42. 

Spain has provided all necessary assurances regarding the following:  

17 
18 
19 
20 
21 

Unión Regional de Trabajadores de Castilla y León (UGT). 
Unión sindical de Comisiones obreras de Castilla y León (CCOO). 
Confederación de Organizaciones Empresariales de Castilla y León (CECALE). 
Agencia de Innovación y Financiación Empresarial de Castilla y León (ADE) 
Fundación para el Anclaje Empresarial y para el Empleo de Castilla y León (FAFECYL) 

EN 

14 

   EN 

                                                 
– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

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, 

the dismissing enterprises,  which  have  continued their activities after  the lay-
offs,  have  complied  with  their  legal  obligations  governing  the  redundancies 
and provided for their 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 

43. 

44. 

45. 

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 2014-202022. 

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 1 002 264, 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  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 management23. 

Related acts 

46. 

47. 

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 1 002 264. 

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. 

22 
23 

OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 

EN 

15 

   EN 

                                                 
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 Spain – EGF/2017/001 ES/Castilla y León mining 

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 1927/200624, 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 management25, and in particular point 13 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

24 
25 
26 

27 

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 1311/201326. 

laid  down 

On 20 January 2017, Spain submitted an application to mobilise the EGF, in respect of 
redundancies  in  the  economic  sector  classified  under  the  Statistical  classification  of 
economic  activities  in  the  European  Community  ('NACE')  Revision  2  Division  5 
(Mining  of  coal  and  lignite)  in  the  Nomenclature  of  Territorial  Units  for  Statistics 
('NUTS')27 level 2 region of Castilla y León (ES41) in Spain. 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. 

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). 
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). 

EN 

16 

   EN 

                                                 
(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

In accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013, Spain has decided 
to  provide  personalised  services  co-financed  by  the  EGF  also  to  125  young  persons 
not in employment, education or training (NEETs). 

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

The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution of 
EUR 1 002 264 in respect of the application submitted by Spain. 

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

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2017, the European Globalisation 
Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 1 002 264 in commitment 
and payment appropriations. 

Article 1 

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 

17 

   EN