REPORT 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 Italy – EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva)
9.11.2017 - (COM(2017)0496 – C8‑0322/2017 – 2017/2200(BUD))
Committee on Budgets
Rapporteur: Daniele Viotti
- MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
- ANNEX: DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
- EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
- ANNEX: LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
- ANNEX: LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE
- FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE
MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
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 Italy – EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva)
(COM(2017)0496 – C8‑0322/2017 – 2017/2200(BUD))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2017)0496 – C8‑0322/2017),
– 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 letter of the Committee on Regional Development,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0346/2017),
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;
B. whereas the Union’s financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible;
C. whereas Italy submitted application EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva for a financial contribution from the EGF under the intervention criteria set out in point (a) of Article 4(1) of the EGF Regulation following 1 646 redundancies in Almaviva Contact SpA operating in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 82 (Office administrative, office support and other business support activities) in the NUTS level 2 region of Lazio in Italy (ITI4); whereas 1 610 redundant workers are expected to participate in the measures;
1. Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in point (a) of Article 4(1) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Italy is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 3 347 370 under that Regulation, which represents 60 % of the total cost of EUR 5 578 950;
2. Notes that the Italian authorities submitted the application on 9 May 2017, and that following additional information provided by Italy its assessment was finalised by the Commission on 26 September 2017 and notified to Parliament on the same day;
3. Recalls that the economic crisis has put significant pressure on the price of marketing services and of assistance to buyers of goods and services, leading to a decrease in the turnover and profitability of service providers; taking account of the fact that labour cost is by far the highest production cost in the call centre sector, notes that businesses have reacted to these adverse conditions by relocating, intervening on the cost of labour or closing down; regrets that between 2009 and the first quarter of 2014 a third of all Italian enterprises in the sector have ceased activity;
4. Acknowledges that the present redundancies are directly linked to a 45 % revenue decline of Almaviva’s centre in Rome between 2011 and 2016; regrets that it was not possible to find agreement with the unified trade union representation (RSU) on a plan to align the labour cost in Almaviva-Rome with other Almaviva work centres in Italy, which would have effectively translated into a wage reduction, resulting in the closure of the Rome centre;
5. Notes that workers of the call centre sector should be more protected, which implies in particular avoiding moving staff from one centre to another, which is used as a particular strategy to force massive layoffs;
6. Recognises that the regional and local economy are only slowly recovering vitality after the great difficulties resulting from the economic and financial crisis and that mass redundancies risk stopping or interrupting this recovery; emphasises the crucial importance of active labour market measures, such as those co-financed by the EGF, in avoiding this;
7. Notes that 79 % of the targeted beneficiaries are women and that the large majority of them are between 30 and 55 years old; regrets that it was not possible to find a viable solution to avoid their lay-off, particularly given the fact that women in this age group are already less likely to stay and advance in the labour market due to the difficulty of finding a work-life balance as a result of their responsibilities as informal carers, as well as a lack of equal opportunity in the workplace;
8. Emphasises that the training and other personalised services should take full account of the characteristics of this group of workers, in particular, the high proportion of women; welcomes the inclusion of an estimated EUR 680 000 for the reimbursement of expenses for carers of dependent persons;
9. Welcomes the fact that the Italian authorities started providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 6 April 2017, ahead of the application for the EGF support for the proposed coordinated package;
10. Notes that Italy is planning eight types of measures for the redundant workers covered by this application: (i) individual orientation, (ii) job search assistance, (iii) training, retraining and vocational training, (iv) reemployment vouchers, (v) support towards entrepreneurship, (vi) contribution to business start-up, (vii) reimbursement of expenses for carers of dependent persons, and (viii) reimbursement of mobility costs; notes that the income support measures will be 17,4 % of the overall package of personalised measures, well below the maximum 35 % set out in the EGF Regulation, and that these actions are conditional on the active participation of the targeted beneficiaries in job-search or training activities;
11. Welcomes the establishment of a committee constituted by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE1a), ANPAL1b, Regione Lazio and trade unions to define the strategy and interventions in support of former Almaviva workers as well as to draw up the co-ordinated package of personalised services;
12. Understands that the use of reemployment vouchers is new, having only been used in one previous case; stresses the importance of fully evaluating the effectiveness of such measures once sufficient time has passed for data to be available;
13. Stresses that the Italian authorities have confirmed that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union financial instruments, but that they will be complemented by actions to be financed either by the ESF or with national funds only;
14. Recalls that the design of the coordinated package of personalised services supported by the EGF should anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills, and should be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy;
15. Commends the commitment of the Italian government to defining a new legal framework for telecommunications workers in order to avoid further cases such as that which is the subject of the EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva application;
16. 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;
17. Calls on the Commission to urge national authorities to provide more details in future proposals on the sectors which have growth prospects and are therefore likely to hire people, as well as to gather substantiated data on the impact of the EGF funding, including on the quality of jobs and the reintegration rate achieved through the EGF;
18. Recalls its appeal to the Commission to assure public access to all the documents related to EGF cases;
19. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;
20. 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;
21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its Annex, to the Council and the Commission.
ANNEX: DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund following anapplication from Italy – EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva
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 9 May 2017, Italy submitted an application to mobilise the EGF, in respect of redundancies in Almaviva Contact SpA in Italy. 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) The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution of EUR 3 347 370 in respect of the application submitted by Italy.
(5) 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 2017, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 3 347 370 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].
[4]Done at,
For the European Parliament For the Council
The President 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).
- [4] * Date to be inserted by the Parliament before the publication in OJ.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
I. Background
The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund has been created in order to provide additional assistance to workers suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns.
According to the provisions of Article 12 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020[1] and of Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013[2], the Fund may not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 150 million (2011 prices). The appropriate amounts are entered into the general budget of the Union as a provision.
As concerns the procedure, according to 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 management[3], in order to activate the Fund the Commission, in case of a positive assessment of an application, presents to the budgetary authority a proposal for mobilisation of the Fund and, at the same time, a corresponding request for transfer. In the event of disagreement, a trilogue shall be initiated.
II. Italy’s application and the Commission's proposal
On 26 September 2017, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Italy to support the reintegration in the labour market of workers made redundant by Almaviva Contact SpA, an enterprise operating under the NACE Revision 2 Division 82 (Office administrative, office support and other business support activities) in the NUTS level 2 region of Lazio (ITI4) in Italy.
This is the fifth application to be examined under the 2017 budget and the first in the ‘Office administrative, office support and other business support activities’ sector. It concerns 1664 workers made redundant, of which 1610 are expected to participate in the proposed measures, and refers to the mobilisation of a total amount of EUR 3 347 370 from the EGF for Italy.
The application was sent to the Commission on 9 May 2017 and supplemented by additional information by 4 July 2017. The Commission finalised its assessment on 26 September 2017 and has concluded, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the application meets the conditions for a financial contribution from the EGF, as referred to in Article 4(1)(a) of the EGF Regulation.
The economic crisis has increased the pressure on prices in the call centre sector, boosting competition between service providers and decreasing overall profitability. Given that the labour cost constitutes the major part of production costs in this sector, the rapporteur regrets that many service providers have reverted to strategies to reduce the weight of staff costs, through relocation, remuneration decreases or even closure.
Almaviva Rome suffered a 45% revenue decline between 2011 and 2015. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find a workable solution to this decline, leading to the closure of the Rome work centre in late 2016. Active labour market actions such as those co-financed by the EGF are crucial for the successful reintegration of the over 1600 redundant workers in the labour market in a context of slow economic recovery. For this reason, the rapporteur believes that the EU must act as soon as possible to reinforce this kind of tools along with all its social and welfare instruments.
The eight types of measures to be provided to redundant workers and for which EGF co-funding is requested consist of:
-Individual orientation: This includes skill assessment, profiling of the participant workers and the design of the customised reintegration pathway, as well as the enrolment procedure.
-Job search. This will involve an intensive employment search, including search for local and regional employment opportunities and job-matching.
-Training, retraining and vocational training. The participants will be offered vocational training aimed at the requalification or the upskilling of the workers to cater for the job opportunities identified during the intensive employment search.
-Reemployment voucher granting an amount to be spent in intensive job-search services at accredited providers (public or private). Reflecting the employability of the worker, the value of the voucher can vary between 500 and 5 000 euros. Service providers will be remunerated on the basis of the employability of the worker and the type of contract concluded, ranging from EUR 500 to 2 500 for fixed term contract of at least six months and from EUR 1 000 to 5 000 for permanent contracts. Whenever it has not been possible to find a solution for the redundant worker, the service provider will receive a fixed amount (fee for services) per participant. The fee for services cannot exceed EUR 106,5.
-Support towards entrepreneurship. A wide array of supports will be made available to redundant workers who are considering starting their own businesses.
-Contribution to 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.
-The reimbursement of the expenses for carers of dependent persons up to EUR 1 700 is foreseen. This aims to cover the additional costs faced by the participants with caring responsibilities (children, elderly, disabled persons, etc.), in order to avail themselves of training or other measures.
-Reimbursement of mobility costs. To support the geographical mobility of the workers in the case of reemployment in an enterprise at 80 km or more from the place of residence of the worker, a reimbursement of the initial accommodation and transport costs up to EUR 5 000 is foreseen.
According to the Commission, the described measures 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.
The Italian authorities have 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,
-Almaviva Contact SpA, which has continued its activities after the lay-offs, has complied with its legal obligations governing the redundancies and provided for 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.
Italy has notified the Commission that the sources of national pre-financing or co-funding are regional resources provided by the Legislative Decree no. 2017/185 (24.9.2016) and the Fund for Vocational Training managed by ANPAL (Agenzia Nazionale per le Politiche Attive del Lavoro). The financial contribution will be managed and controlled by ANPAL and Regione Lazio will be the intermediate body for the managing authority.
III. Procedure
In order to mobilise the Fund, the Commission has submitted to the Budgetary Authority a request to transfer a global amount of EUR 3 347 370 from the EGF reserve (40 02 43) to the EGF budget line (04 04 01).
This is the fifth transfer proposal for the mobilisation of the Fund transmitted to the Budgetary Authority to date during 2017.
The trilogue procedure shall be initiated in the event of disagreement, as provided for in Article 15(4) of the EGF Regulation.
According to an internal agreement, the Employment and Social Affairs Committee should be associated to the process, in order to provide constructive support and contribute to the assessment of the applications from the Fund.
ANNEX: LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
D(2017)41749
Mr Jean Arthuis
Chair of the Committee on Budgets
ASP 09G205
Subject: Opinion on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for the case EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva Contact S.p.A. from ITALY (COM(2017) 496 final)
Dear Chair,
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) as well as its Working Group on the EGF examined the mobilisation of the EGF for the case EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva Contact S.p.A. and adopted the following opinion.
The EMPL committee and its Working Group on the EGF are in favour of the mobilisation of the Fund concerning this request. In this respect, the EMPL committee presents some remarks without, however, putting into question the transfer of the payments.
The deliberations of the EMPL committee are based on the following considerations:
A) Whereas this application is based on Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 (EGF Regulation) and relates to 1 646 workers made redundant by Almaviva Contact S.p.A. operating in in the economic sectors classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 82 (Office administrative, office support and other business support activities);
B) Whereas, in order to establish the link between the redundancies and major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation, Italy argues that the effects of the economic and financial crisis has put significant downward pressure on prices for marketing services and assistance to buyers of goods and services leading to firms in the sector relocating to countries with cheaper labor costs, reducing their labour costs or closing;
C) Whereas 79,3% of the workers targeted by the measure are women and 20,7% are men; whereas 85,2% are aged between 30 and 54 years and 13,9% are between 55 and 64 years;
Therefore, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to integrate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution concerning the Italian application:
1. Agrees with the Commission that the intervention criteria set out in Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 are met and that, therefore, Italy is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 3 347 370 under this Regulation which represents 60% of the total cost of EUR 5 578 950;
2. Notes that the Commission respected the deadline of 12 weeks from the reception of the completed application from the Italian authorities until finalising its assessment on the compliance with the conditions for providing a financial contribution, on 26 September 2017, and notified it to Parliament on the same day;
3. Recognises that the region of Lazio and city of Rome are only slowly recovering vitality after the great difficulties resulting from the economic and financial crisis and that mass redundancies risk stopping or interrupting this recovery;
4. Expresses concern at the failure of negotiations with the unified trade union representation, RSU;
5. Notes that the EGF co-funded personalised services for the redundant workers include individual orientation, job search, training, reemployment vouchers to be spent on intensive job-search services, support for redundant workers who are considering starting their own businesses including a contribution to business start-up costs, the reimbursement of the expenses for carers of dependent persons, and the reimbursement of mobility costs;
6. Emphasises that the training and other personalised services should take full account of the characteristics of this group of workers, in particular, the high proportion of women; welcomes the inclusion of an estimated €680 000 for the reimbursement of the expenses for carers of dependent persons;
7. Understands that the use of reemployment vouchers is new, having only been used in one previous case; stresses the importance of fully evaluating the effectiveness of such measures once sufficient time has passed for data to be available;
8. Welcomes the establishment of a committee (constituted by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE[1], ANPAL[2], Regione Lazio and trade unions) to define the strategy and interventions in support of former Almaviva workersas well as to draw up the co-ordinated package of personalised services;
9. Notes that the income supports measures will be 17,4% of the overall package of personalised measures, well below the maximum 35% set out in the Regulation; and that these actions are conditional on the active participation of the targeted beneficiaries in job-search or training activities;
10. Notes that the Italian authorities have provided assurances that the proposed actions will not receive financial support from other Union funds or financial instruments, that any double financing will be prevented and that they will be complementary with actions funded by the Structural Funds;
11. Welcomes Italy’s confirmation that a financial contribution from the EGF will not replace actions the enterprise concerned is required to take by virtue of national law or pursuant to collective agreements;
12. Recalls that in line with Article 7 of the Regulation, the design of the coordinated package of personalised services should anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills and should be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy.
Yours sincerely,
Marita ULVSKOG,
1st Vice-Chair, Acting Chair
c.c. Thomas Händel
ANNEX: LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Letter of 12 October 2017 from Iskra Mihaylova, Chair of the Committee on Regional Development, to Jean Arthuis, Chair of the Committee on Budgets
Subject: Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
Dear Mr Arthuis,
A Commission proposal for a decision to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) has been referred for opinion to the Committee on Regional Development. I understand that it is intended that a report on this will be adopted in the Committee on Budgets on 8 November 2017:
- COM(2017)0496 proposes an EGF contribution of EUR 3 347 370 for 1646 workers made redundant in Almaviva Contact SpA. The enterprise operates in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 82 (Office administrative, office support and other business support activities). The redundancies are located in the NUTS level 2 region of Lazio (ITI4).
The rules applicable to financial contributions from the 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 1927/2006.
The Committee coordinators have assessed this proposal, and asked me to write to you reporting that the majority of this Committee has no objection to this mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to allocate the above-mentioned amount as proposed by the Commission.
Yours sincerely,
Iskra MIHAYLOVA
INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE
|
Date adopted |
9.11.2017 |
|
|
|
|
|
Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
18 3 1 |
|||
|
Members present for the final vote |
Nedzhmi Ali, Jean Arthuis, Gérard Deprez, Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, Jens Geier, Ingeborg Gräßle, Monika Hohlmeier, John Howarth, Vladimír Maňka, Siegfried Mureşan, Răzvan Popa, Jordi Solé, Patricija Šulin, Eleftherios Synadinos, Indrek Tarand, Isabelle Thomas |
||||
|
Substitutes present for the final vote |
Andrey Novakov, Stanisław Ożóg, Marie-Pierre Vieu, Tomáš Zdechovský |
||||
|
Substitutes under Rule 200(2) present for the final vote |
Jonathan Bullock, Auke Zijlstra |
||||
FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE
|
18 |
+ |
|
|
ALDE |
Nedzhmi Ali, Jean Arthuis, Gérard Deprez |
|
|
GUE/NGL |
Marie-Pierre Vieu |
|
|
PPE |
Ingeborg Gräßle, Monika Hohlmeier, Siegfried Mureşan, Andrey Novakov, Tomáš Zdechovský, Patricija Šulin |
|
|
S&D |
Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, Jens Geier, John Howarth, Vladimír Maňka, Răzvan Popa, Isabelle Thomas |
|
|
Verts/ALE |
Jordi Solé, Indrek Tarand |
|
|
3 |
- |
|
|
EFDD |
Jonathan Bullock |
|
|
ENF |
Auke Zijlstra |
|
|
NI |
Eleftherios Synadinos |
|
|
1 |
0 |
|
|
ECR |
Stanisław Ożóg |
|
Key to symbols:
+ : in favour
- : against
0 : abstention