European Parliament resolution of 14 November 2019 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (application from Belgium — EGF/2019/001 BE/Carrefour) (COM(2019)0442 — C9-0127/2019 — 2019/2114(BUD))
Date: 2019-11-14
Institutions: Committee on Budgets, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: Belgium, European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, commitment of expenditure, dismissal, employment aid, financial aid, general budget (EU), globalisation, reintegration into working life, supermarket




C_2021208EN.01003601.xml










1.6.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 208/36






P9_TA(2019)0053
Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund — EGF/2019/001 BE/Carrefour — Belgium
European Parliament resolution of 14 November 2019 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (application from Belgium — EGF/2019/001 BE/Carrefour) (COM(2019)0442 — C9-0127/2019 — 2019/2114(BUD))
(2021/C 208/08)

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2019)0442 — C9-0127/2019),










—


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 1927/2006 (1) (EGF Regulation),










—


having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (2), and in particular Article 12 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 management (3) (IIA of 2 December 2013), and in particular point 13 thereof,










—


having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 13 of the IIA of 2 December 2013,










—


having regard to the letter of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0021/2019),










A.


whereas the Union has set up legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns or of the global financial and economic crisis, and to assist their reintegration into the labour market; whereas this assistance is made through a financial support given to workers and the companies for which they worked;










B.


whereas the Union’s financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible; whereas this case involves a particularly vulnerable age group, in which more than 81 % of workers are between 55 and 64 years old;










C.


whereas Belgium submitted application EGF/2019/001 BE/Carrefour for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 751 redundancies during the reference period in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 47 (Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles), between 30 November 2018 and 30 March 2019; whereas an additional 268 workers were made redundant before or after the reference period; whereas, according to Commission, a clear causal link can be established with the event that triggered the redundancies during the reference period; whereas no other funds or programmes were deployed in relation to the facts described in the application submitted by Belgium;










D.


whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of point (a) of Article 4(1) 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 and downstream producers and / or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;










E.


whereas in accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013, Belgium has decided to also provide personalised services, co-financed by the EGF, to 330 young persons who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs);












1.


Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(1) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Belgium is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 1 632 028 under that Regulation, which represents 60 % of the total cost of EUR 2 720 047, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 2 665 047 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 55 000;












2.


Notes that the Belgian authorities submitted the application on 20 June 2019, and that, following the provision of additional information by Belgium, the Commission finalised its assessment on 4 October 2019 and notified it to Parliament on the same day;












3.


Notes that Belgium started providing personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 1 December 2018 and that the period of eligibility for a financial contribution from the EGF will therefore be from 1 December 2018 to 20 June 2021;












4.


Notes that Belgium started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 25 January 2018 and that expenditure on preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities between 25 January 2018 and 20 December 2021 will therefore be eligible for a financial contribution from the EGF;












5.


Recalls that the design of the coordinated package of personalised services should also anticipate emerging labour market developments, with a special focus on the shift towards a source-efficient and sustainable economy;












6.


Recalls that this is the 14th EGF application from Belgium, and that those applications have covered a variety of sectors: automotive, manufacture of basic metals, textiles, machinery and equipment, glass and, with this case, the retail sector is covered in Belgium for the first time; recalls that this is the 10th EGF application so far to cover the retail sector;












7.


Acknowledges that retail trade is going through a period of major change, due to globalisation (e-commerce, online shopping), resulting in redundancies and that changing patterns in consumers' habits and digitalisation also have an impact on retail trade; underlines that the redundancies in Carrefour Belgique SA do not directly concern the food industry, but mostly pertain to the e-commerce of goods such as books and electronic devices; notes that these kind of redundancies may further increase in the future due to digitalisation, which should be considered during the discussions on the future EGF in the next multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027;












8.


Believes that globalisation represents a challenge for the Union; considers, moreover, that tackling youth and other unemployment involves the creation of opportunities of re-skilling and up-skilling in the European companies; expects that Carrefour Belgique SA will ensure the necessary high-quality social dialogue with its workers during this process;












9.


Notes that the application relates in total to 1 019 workers made redundant in Carrefour Belgique SA, and that the redundancies concern the whole of Belgium; notes furthermore that Belgium expects that only 400 out of the total eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries), namely workers made redundant in Wallonia as those redundancies have a particularly significant adverse impact on the employment situation and thus on the regional economy of Wallonia due to scarcity of jobs in the region, the relatively high unemployment rate and, as a consequence, the expected difficulties of redeployment for the redundant workers, in particular those aged 50+; recalls, in that regard, that the unemployment rate of 8,6 % in Wallonia is considerably higher than the average unemployment rate of 6,9 % in the Union, being more than twice as high as the unemployment rate of 3,5 % in region of Flanders;












10.


Notes furthermore that Belgium proposes personalised services co-financed by the EGF to up to 330 young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) under the age of 25 on the date of submission of the application, given that 240 of the redundancies occur in the NUTS level 2 regions of Province Hainaut and Province Liège, that had youth unemployment rates for young persons aged 15 to 24 of at least 20 %, based on the annual data available for 2018;












11.


Notes that Belgium is planning five types of actions for the redundant workers covered by this application:






(i)


Support/Guidance/Integration,










(ii)


Training, retraining and vocational training,










(iii)


Support towards business creation,










(iv)


Contribution to business start-up,










(v)


Allowances; underlines that, in this case, the relevance of support, guidance and integration, as well as training, retraining and vocational training is evidenced by the number of estimated participants (730 estimated participants in the first action, 460 in the second);
















12.


Underlines that NEETs will be particularly trained for job search and application, and will be better informed on labour law, social rights and support in administrative procedures. Moreover, a monthly allowance of EUR 350 will be granted to workers and NEETs who undertake full-time studies of at least one year;












13.


Welcomes that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up by Belgium in consultation with the social partners, in particular with trade unions, vocational counsellors and social workers, in order to reconsider various redeployment solutions adapted to the needs of the redundant workers;












14.


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












15.


Reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements, or measures for restructuring companies or sectors;












16.


Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;












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 347, 20.12.2013, p. 855.

(2)  OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884.

(3)  OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.





ANNEX


DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL


on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund following an application from Belgium — EGF/2019/001 BE/Carrefour

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 1927/2006 (1), 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 management (2), and in particular point 13 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:






(1)


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.










(2)


The EGF is not to 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 (3).










(3)


On 20 June 2019, Belgium submitted an application to mobilise the EGF, in respect of redundancies in Carrefour Belgique SA. 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.










(4)


In accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013, Belgium has decided to provide personalised services co-financed by the EGF also to 330 young persons not in employment, education or training (NEETs).










(5)


The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution of EUR 1 632 028 in respect of the application submitted by Belgium.










(6)


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:


Article 1

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2019, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 1 632 028 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] (*1).


Done at …,


For the European Parliament


The President




For the Council


The President





(1)  OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 855.

(2)  OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.

(3)  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).

(*1)  Date to be inserted by the Parliament before the publication in OJ.