REPORT on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, in application of 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
31.3.2008 - (COM(2008)0094 - C6-0085/2008 - 2008/2043(ACI))
Committee on Budgets
Rapporteur: Reimer Böge
PR_ACI_Funds
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, in application of 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
(COM(2008)0094 - C6-0085/2008 - 2008/2043(ACI))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2008)0094 - C6-0085/2008),
– 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], 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],
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0083/2008),
A. whereas the European Union has set up the appropriate legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who suffer from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market,
B. whereas the European Union's financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible,
C. whereas Malta and Portugal have requested assistance in respect of redundancies in the textile sector in Malta and the automobile sector in Portugal, by letters of 12 September 2007 and 9 October 2007[3],
1. Requests the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to accelerate the mobilisation of the Fund;
2. Stresses its concern regarding the nature of measures financed from the Fund with a view to reducing the number of persons remaining unemployed; asks the Commission, in cooperation with the Portuguese authorities, to closely monitor the situation in relation to the provisions of Article 3, second paragraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 and to report to the legislative and budgetary authorities;
3. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;
4. 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;
5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its annex, to the Council and Commission.
ANNEX: DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of ...............
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
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
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], 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], and in particular Article 12(3) thereof,
Having regard to the Commission proposal,
Whereas:
(1) The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (the "Fund") was established to provide additional support to workers who suffer from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist them with their reintegration into the labour market.
(2) The Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 allows the mobilisation of the Fund within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million.
(3) On 12 September 2007 Malta submitted an application to deploy the Fund, in respect of redundancies in the textile sector, specifically for workers made redundant by VF(Malta)Ltd and Bortex Clothing Ind Co Ltd. The application complies with the requirements for determining the financial contributions as laid down in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006.
(4) On 9 October 2007 Portugal submitted an application to deploy the Fund, in respect of redundancies in the automobile sector, specifically for workers made redundant by Opel in Azambuja, Alcoa Fujikura in Seixal and Johnson Controls in Portalegre. The application complies with the requirements for determining the financial contributions as laid down in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006.
(5) The Fund should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution for the applications,
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
For the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2008, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the sum of EUR 3 106 882 in commitment and payment appropriations.
Article 2
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels,
For the European Parliament For the Council
The President The President
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 point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and sound financial management[1] and of the Article 12 of the Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006[2], the Fund may not exceed a maximum amount of EUR 500 million, drawn from the margin under the global expenditure ceiling from the previous year, and/or from the cancelled commitment appropriations from the previous two years, excluding those related to Heading 1b. The appropriate amounts are entered into the budget as a provision as soon as the sufficient margins and/or cancelled commitments have been identified.
As concerns the procedure, in order to activate the Fund, the Commission, in case of a positive assessment of an application, presents a proposal for mobilisation of the Fund to the budgetary authority and, at the same time, a corresponding request for transfer. In parallel, a trilogue is organised in order to find an agreement on the use of the Fund and the amounts required. The trilogue can take a simplified form.
II. State of play: Commission's proposal
In 2007, the first year of operating of the Fund, it was mobilised for the total amount of EUR 18,6 million, upon a positive assessment of four applications coming from France (Peugeot and Renault suppliers), Germany (BenQ) and Finland (Perlos).
The current proposal is the first one considered under the 2008 budget. It refers to the applications of Malta and Portugal, submitted to the Commission respectively in September and October 2007.
On 12 September 2007, the Maltese authorities submitted an application for Fund[3] relating to the 675 redundancies in two companies in the textile sector: VF Ltd. and Bortex Clothing. The 562 redundancies in VF Ltd. were linked to the company's decision to close its Maltese factory and move production to Asia. As for Bortex, the 113 redundancies are linked to the reduction of the firm's activities in Malta. The Maltese authorities requested a contribution of EUR 681 207, in order to cover a part of costs of the support measures, estimated at some EUR 1,36 million.
The Maltese application is based on Article 2(c) of the legal base (Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006), relating to the interventions criteria for the small labour markets. The assessment of the application carried out by the Commission has been positive both as concerns this point, as well as concerning the other criteria set up in the legal base.
The Portuguese application[4], referring to the 1549 redundancies in automobile sector, has been submitted to the Commission on 9 October 2007. The redundancies occurred in the region of Lisboa (Alcoa Fujikura) and Alentejo (Opel Portugal and Johnson Controls), on the background of the general trend for delocalisation of the motor vehicles production outside the EU. Portuguese authorities applied for EUR 2 425 675 from the Fund, which would cover part of costs of support measures estimated at some EUR 4,85 million.
The Commission considers that the two applications meet the intervention criteria and other requirements laid down in the legal basis[5]. The proposal for a decision of the Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the Fund and the corresponding request for a transfer of a total amount of EUR 3 106 882 have been submitted to the Parliament on 20 February and 19 February respectively.
.
The maximum annual budget available for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund is EUR 500 million. In the budget 2008 this maximum amount has been placed in the reserve under budgetary line 40 02 43, in line with the relevant legal provisions.
III. Procedure
The Commission has presented a transfer request[6] in order to enter specific commitment and payment appropriations in the 2008 budget, as required in Point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 and Article 12(3) of the legal base.
According to an internal agreement with the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, this committee should be associated to the process. In order to provide constructive support and contribution to the implementation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the Chairs of the Budget and Employment and Social Affairs Committees, Mr R. Böge and Mr J. Andersson, have agreed by an exchange of letters of 22.01.07 (EMPL) and 20.03.07 (BUDG) that the two committees will work in close cooperation. In order to ensure both a possibility for all the competent committees to express their views and an efficient cooperation and a quick decision on the mobilisation, the Committee on Budgets has suggested to discuss the draft report at a joint meeting with the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. The opinion of the EMPL committee will be included in the final version of the current draft report.
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE
|
Date adopted |
27.3.2008 |
|
|
|
||
|
Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
23 0 0 |
||||
|
Members present for the final vote |
Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Richard James Ashworth, Reimer Böge, Herbert Bösch, Daniel Dăianu, Brigitte Douay, Göran Färm, Szabolcs Fazakas, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Louis Grech, Catherine Guy-Quint, Jutta Haug, Ville Itälä, Wiesław Stefan Kuc, Janusz Lewandowski, Vladimír Maňka, Jan Mulder, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, László Surján, Helga Trüpel, Kyösti Virrankoski, Ralf Walter |
|||||
|
Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Thijs Berman |
|||||