European Parliament resolution of 14 December 2021 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 Italy — EGF/2021/003 IT Porto Canale (COM(2021)0935 — C9-0399/2021 — 2021/0337(BUD))
Date: 2021-12-14
Institutions: Committee on Budgets, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Italy, Sardinia, commitment of expenditure, dismissal, employment aid, general budget (EU), globalisation, harbour installation, reintegration into working life, storage








C_2022251EN.01016301.xml










30.6.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 251/163






P9_TA(2021)0491
Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: application EGF/2021/003 IT/Porto Canale — Italy
European Parliament resolution of 14 December 2021 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 Italy — EGF/2021/003 IT Porto Canale (COM(2021)0935 — C9-0399/2021 — 2021/0337(BUD))
(2022/C 251/25)

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2021)0935 — C9-0399/2021),










—


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), 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 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 letter from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs,










—


having regard to the letter from the Committee on Regional Development,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0345/2021),










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 low-carbon economy, or as a consequence of digitisation or automation;










B.


whereas on 15 July 2021 Italy submitted application EGF/2021/003 IT/Porto Canale for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), following the displacement of 190 workers in the company Porto Industriale di Cagliari SpA in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 52 (Warehousing and support activities for transportation), in the NUTS 2 region of Sardegna (ITG2) in Italy, within a reference period for the application from 1 September 2020 to 1 January 2021;










C.


whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of Article 4(3), derogating from the criteria of Article 4(2), point (a), of the EGF Regulation, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;










D.


whereas even though fewer than 200 displacements occurred within the reference period of four months, the derogation to Article 4(2), point (a), could be granted as they took place in a small labour market, with a GDP per capita of EUR 21 600 in 2018 compared to the European average of EUR 31 000 (4), and which was severely affected by the 2008 crisis (5) and the pandemic crisis (6);










E.


whereas the activity in the Port of Cagliari had been declining between 2011 and 2018 and traffic fell by 90 % in 2018, due to its lack of land connection to the rest of Italy and the gradual shifting of container volumes and operations to hubs located at the edges of the Mediterranean basin;










F.


whereas in 2019 Contship Italia Group, the sole shareholder of Porto Industriale di Cagliari S.p.A, the concessionaire of the container terminal, decided to end its operations in Cagliari and to voluntarily liquidate its subsidiary Porto Industriale di Cagliari SpA, and no new concessionaire was found despite three extensions, leading to the laying off of the 190 workers who were still part of the enterprise in September 2020;










G.


whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027;












1.


Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(3) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Italy is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 1 493 407 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 1 756 950, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 1 686 750 and expenditure for implementing the EGF (7) of EUR 70 200;












2.


Notes that the Italian authorities submitted the application on 15 July 2021, and that the Commission finalised its assessment on 28 October 2021 and notified it to Parliament on the same day;












3.


Notes that the application relates in total to 190 displaced workers whose activity has ceased in the company Porto Industriale di Cagliari SpA; further notes that Italy expects that all of the total eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries);












4.


Recalls that the social impacts of the redundancies are expected to be considerable for the Sardinian economy, which was also significantly affected by the COVID-19 crisis, and where employment numbers fell by 4,6 % in 2020 compared to a decrease of 2,0 % in Italy as a whole (8); further notes that another ongoing EGF application concerns displacements in Air Italy in Sardegna;












5.


Stresses that because of the pandemic, the number of Sardinian households without labour income increased up to 16,5 % in 2020 (+3,5 pp from 2019);












6.


Points out that most of the displaced workers are men (90,5 %) between 30 and 54 years old (98,4 %) and with upper secondary or post-secondary education (83,7 %);












7.


Notes that Italy started providing personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 8 October 2020 and that the period of eligibility for a financial contribution from the EGF will therefore be from 8 October 2020 until 24 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;












8.


Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers and self-employed persons consist of the following actions: general information and vocational guidance, counselling for career development, job-search assistance, mentoring for adjusting to a new job, tutoring for business creation, financial contribution to business creation, training, as well as incentives and contribution to specific costs;












9.


Welcomes the possibility for special time-limited measures within the coordinated package including, inter alia, to pay childcare allowances, as provided in Article 7(2), point (b), of the EGF Regulation in order to facilitate job seekers’ participation in the activities proposed and their transition to work;












10.


Welcomes that training will focus on the green economy, blue economy, personal services, health and social services, promotion of cultural heritage and cultural activities;












11.


Notes that Italy started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 18 January 2021 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 18 January 2021 until 31 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;












12.


Welcomes that the measures were planned to be in line with the Italian National Strategy for Sustainable Development (SNSvS) (9) and that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up through a consultation between the Sardegna Region, ASPAL (10), the Municipality of Cagliari, the Cagliari Port Authority and trade unions; notes that the social partners were fully involved in planning and fine-tuning the package of measures;












13.


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












14.


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 any allowances or rights of the recipients of the EGF allocation to ensure full additionality of the allocation;












15.


Notes that all the procedural requirements were met;












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 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)  https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor/base-profile/sardinia

(5)  https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor/base-profile/sardinia

(6)  Banca d’Italia. L'economia della Sardegna. Rapporto annuale, giugno 2021.

(7)  In accordance with Article 7(5) of the EGF Regulation.

(8)  Banca d’Italia. L'economia della Sardegna. Rapporto annuale, giugno 2021.

(9)  Strategia Nazionale per lo Sviluppo sostenibile (SNSvS).

(10)  The regional public employment services.





ANNEX


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 Italy — EGF/2021/003 IT/Porto Canale


(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision (EU) 2022/48.)