Debate: European Globalisation Adjustment Fund  -
Date: TUESDAY, 27 APRIL 2021
Speaker: Agnes Jongerius
Country: Poland
Language: EN

I think here today we are here to discuss the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and, for health reasons, I’m not able to be here with you today, but my colleague Ms Jongerius will present my position as Parliament’s rapporteur. To start, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to everyone who was involved in the EGF negotiations. It was thanks to your efforts and your dedication that we were able to achieve an excellent result. So a big thanks goes to all my colleagues, all the shadow rapporteurs, of course, also Maria Arena, who was a rapporteur during the previous mandate, Commissioner Schmit, and the colleague from the Commission, the Croatian, the German Presidency and the current Council team and, of course, to all the staff. I’m convinced that the outcome of the negotiations and the agreement that we found with the Council will further strengthen the EGF and its very important instruments to help dismissed workers. This will be crucial in the difficult times to come, with the immense social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have lost their jobs already and it’s our job to help them to find new employment. The new EGF is far better equipped to respond to these challenges. Let me briefly remind you of the most significant achievements. Firstly, the EGF interventions will no longer be exclusively linked to globalisation or an economic or financial crisis, but will cover any restructuring events in the future of a company, a sector or a region. This change will make the EGF far more accessible than before.  We have managed to introduce a threshold of dismissed workers from currently 500 to 200, which allows more dismissed workers to benefit from the EGF matches, therefore increasing their chances to return to employment again. We expect that both the increased scope and the lower threshold will result in an increase of applications, and the EGF has an annual ceiling of EUR 186 million to provide for support.  Much to my regret, the Member States were not willing to agree on a higher ceiling as demanded by Parliament and the Commission, not even in the light of the current crisis. We were, however, successful in securing a childcare allowance, among other special time-limited measures to support dismissed workers. I think it’s of extreme importance, as it will have also a practical importance in daily life for people with children who are already struggling at the moment. They can rest assured that they have the means to provide for their family while participating in reskilling or any other vocational training or education activities supported by the EGF.  We also increased the amount of financial support to EUR 20 000 for dismissed workers who wish to start their own businesses, and we hope it will provide a good incentive for entrepreneurship. Last but not least, the new name of the EGF is from now on the European Globalisation Fund for Displaced Workers. It has been changed to underline the true mission of this fund, namely to support the workers who lost their jobs and to avoid any misunderstandings of the past that the fund supports companies that lay off workers. To wrap up, I really am convinced and proud that for the next seven years we have reinforced the EGF, which is much better equipped to support people who have lost their jobs and to return them to sustainable employment.  Just as a last sentence on behalf of myself, on behalf of our whole political group, the S&D Group, I  really want to thank Vilija for all her hard work on this important file. She did a great job and she managed to get support for even more workers throughout Europe and to help them to return to sustainable employment in these times of need, and I think this is very much appreciated, so thank you for that, Vilija.