The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2013)0291 – C7-0126/2013),

–  having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management(1) (IIA of 17 May 2006), and in particular point 28 thereof,

–  having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund(2) (EGF Regulation),

–  having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 28 of the IIA of 17 May 2006,

–  having regard to the European Council conclusions on a Compact for Growth and Jobs of 28-29th June 2012,

–  having regard to the European Council conclusions of 7-8th February 2013,

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

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0243/2013),

A.  whereas the European Union with its European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) 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, aggravated by the economic, financial and social crisis, and to assist their reintegration into the labour market;

B.  whereas the Commission implements the EGF in accordance with the general rules laid down by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget(3) and the implementing rules applicable to this form of implementation of the Union budget;

C.  whereas the Union's financial assistance to workers made redundant should be adequate and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible, in accordance with the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission adopted during the conciliation meeting on 17 July 2008, and having due regard for the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the EGF;

D.  whereas up to 0,35 % of the annual EGF amount can be made available each year for technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission, in order to finance monitoring, information, administrative and technical support, as well as audit, control and evaluation activities necessary to implement the EGF Regulation, as laid down in Article 8(1) of that Regulation, including the provision of information and guidance for the Member States in using, monitoring and evaluating the EGF and providing information on using the EGF to the European and national social partners (Article 8(4) of the EGF Regulation);

E.  whereas, in accordance with Article 9(2) of the EGF Regulation, the Commission is obliged to set up an internet site, available in all Union languages, to provide and disseminate information on applications and highlighting the role of the budgetary authority;

F.  whereas, on the basis of those articles, the Commission requested that the EGF be mobilised to cover expenditures in relation to technical assistance in order to monitor applications received and paid and measures proposed and implemented, to expand the website, produce publications and audio-visual tools, to create a knowledge base, to provide administrative and technical support to Member States, and to prepare for the final evaluation of the EGF (2007-2013);

G.  whereas the application fulfils the eligibility criteria laid down by the EGF Regulation;

1.  Agrees with the measures proposed by the Commission to be financed as technical assistance in accordance with Article 8(1) and (4) as well as with Article 9(2) of the EGF Regulation;

2.  Deeply regrets that the results of the final ex-post evaluation of EGF will arrive too late to feed into the discussion on the new regulation on the EGF for 2014-2020, especially regarding the effectiveness of the use of the crisis derogation criterion, since the concerned EGF cases were not analysed in the EGF mid-term evaluation report.

3.  Notes that the Commission has already started to work in 2011 on the electronic application form and on the standardised procedures for simplified applications, faster processing of the applications and better reporting; asks the Commission to present the progress made following the use of technical assistance in 2011 and in 2012.

4.  Recalls the importance of networking and exchange of information on the EGF; supports, therefore, the funding of the Expert Group of Contact Persons of the EGF as well as other networking activities among the Member States including this years' seminar for practitioners on the implementation of the EGF; underlines the need to further enhance the liaising between all those involved in EGF applications, including namely the social partners, to create as many synergies as possible;

5.  Calls on the Commission to invite the Parliament to the seminars and meetings of the Expert Group of Contact Persons organised by means of technical assistance, by using the relevant provisions of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission(4);

6.  Encourages the Member States to profit from the exchange of best practices and to learn particularly from those Member States that have already put in place national information networks on the EGF involving the social partners and stakeholders at local level with a view to having a good structure for assistance in place once any situation which falls under the scope of the EGF might occur;

7.  Calls on the Commission to invite the social partners to the seminars for practitioners organised by means of technical assistance;

8.  Requests the Member States and all the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to improve procedural and budgetary arrangements in order to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF; notes in this sense, the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following Parliament's request to accelerate the release of grants, aimed at presenting to the budgetary authority with the Commission's assessment on the eligibility of an EGF application together with the proposal to mobilise the EGF; expects that further improvements in the procedure will be made within the framework of the upcoming review of the EGF and that greater efficiency, transparency, accountability and visibility of the EGF will be achieved;

9.  Is concerned about the possible adverse impact which reducing the staffing level may have on the swift, regular and effective evaluation of incoming applications and implementation of the EGF technical assistance; considers that any short-term or long-term revision in staff should be based on a prior impact assessment and should take full account, inter alia, of the Union's legal obligations and the institutions' new competences and increased tasks arising from the Treaties;

10.  Regrets that the Commission does not envisage any particular awareness-raising activities for 2013 given that some Member States, including users of the EGF, question the utility and advantages of the EGF;

11.  Notes the fact that following repeated requests from Parliament, the 2013 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 50 million on the EGF budget line 04 05 01; recalls that the EGF was created as a separate specific instrument with its own objectives and deadlines and therefore deserves a dedicated allocation, which would avoid unnecessary delays, due to the fact that now its financing is made through transfers from other budget lines, which may be detrimental to the achievement of the social, economic and policy objectives of the EGF;

12.  Hopes that the actions taken by the Commission in the area of technical assistance will help to raise the added value of the EGF and will lead to more targeted and long term support for and reintegration of redundant workers;

13.  Deeply regrets the decision of the Council to block the extension of the 'crisis derogation' which allows for the provision of financial assistance to workers made redundant as a result of the current social, financial and economic crisis, in addition to those losing their job because of changes in global trade patterns, and which allows an increase in the rate of Union co-financing to 65 % of the programme costs for applications submitted after the 31 December 2011 deadline; calls on the Council to reintroduce this measure without delay, especially in the context of the rapidly deteriorating social situation in several Member States following the expansion and deepening of the recession;

14.  Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

15.  Instructs its President to sign the decision with the President of the Council and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its annex, to the Council and the Commission.

(1) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1. (2) OJ L 406, 30.12.2006, p. 1. (3) OJ L 298, 26.10 2012, p. 1. (4) OJ L 304, 20.11.2010, p. 47.

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, in accordance with point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (EGF/2013/000 TA 2013 - Technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission)

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision 2013/420/EU.)