The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2013)0120 – C7-0060/2013),

–  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 (EGF Regulation)(2),

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

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

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0133/2013),

A.  whereas the Union has set up legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market;

B.  whereas the scope of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was broadened for applications submitted from 1 May 2009 to 30 December 2011 to include support for workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis;

C.  whereas the Union’s financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic 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 IIA of 17 May 2006 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the EGF;

D.  whereas Italy submitted application EGF/2011/016 IT/Agile for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 1 257 redundancies in Agile S.r.l. with 856 workers targeted for EFG co-funded measures, during the reference period from 22 September 2011 to 22 December 2011;

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

1.  Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 2(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Italy is therefore entitled to a financial contribution under that Regulation;

2.  Notes with regret that the Italian authorities submitted the application for EGF financial contribution on 30 December 2011 and that its assessment was made available by the Commission on 7 March 2013; regrets the lengthy evaluation period of 15 months; calls on the Commission to conclude the evaluation phase and to finally present proposals for decisions on the remaining cases submitted in 2011;

3.  Notes that the 1 257 redundancies in Agile S.r.l, an enterprise operating in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in Italy, were caused by the deeper than expected downturn of the IT sector and the tightening of credit that followed the economic and financial crisis, putting an extra burden on the enterprise which could not work out a profitable solution and entered into insolvency proceedings in 2010;

4.  Recalls that the Commission has already recognised that ICT sectors had been hit by the crisis in the past as the EGF has supported workers dismissed in the sector of ICT in Holland (case EGF/2010/012 Noord Holland)(3);

5.  Emphasises the fact that the Agile redundancies are spread out over most of the whole of Italy and that the territories concerned are 12 out of the 20 Italian regions: Piemonte, Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, Basilica, Calabria and Sicily;

6.  Notes that during the three years 2008 to 2010, the unemployment rate in Italy increased from 6,8 % to 8,5 % and that in eight of the 12 regions concerned, there was an increase above the national average ranging from 1,9 % to 2,6 %; emphasises the fact that the Agile redundancies will further exacerbate the current fragile employment situation, in particular in the Southern regions where the outlook of economic recovery is less optimistic;

7.  Welcomes the fact that, in order to provide workers with speedy assistance, the Italian authorities decided to initiate the implementation of the personalised measures on 15 March 2012, well ahead of the final decision on granting the EGF support for the proposed coordinated package;

8.  Calls on the Italian authorities to use the EGF support to its full potential and encourage the maximum number of workers to participate in the measures; recalls that early EGF interventions in Italy suffered from relatively low rate of budget implementation mainly due to low participation rates;

9.  Notes that the coordinated package of personalised services to be co-funded includes measures for the reintegration of 856 workers into employment by means of career advice and skills assessment, outplacement and job-search assistance, vocational training and skills upgrades, postgraduate education, entrepreneurship promotion and contribution to business start-up, hiring benefits, mentoring after reintegration into work, job-search allowances and contributions towards special expenses such as contributions for carers of dependent persons, contributions to commuting expenses and contributions to the expense of moving their residence to take up a new job;

10.  Welcomes in the coordinated package of personalised services the module ‘Mentoring after reintegration into work’, which is aimed at ensuring that the return of the workers on the labour market is sustainable;

11.  Welcomes the fact that the contribution to expenses of residence shall only be paid as a one-off contribution upon presentation of proof of the expenditure incurred;

12.  Welcomes the contributions towards special expenses for carers foreseen to enable the reconciliation of workers with dependent persons (children, elderly or disabled persons) to take care of these persons, to allow the workers participating in the programme to reconcile training and job search with family obligations;

13.  Welcomes the fact that the social partners, and in particular the involvement of trade unions at local level, were consulted on the design of the measures of the coordinated EGF package and that a policy of equality between women and men, as well as the principle non-discrimination, will be applied during the various stages of the implementation of and in access to the EGF;

14.  Recalls the importance of improving the employability of all workers by means of adapted training and the recognition of skills and competences gained throughout a worker's professional career; expects the training on offer in the coordinated package to be adapted not only to the needs of the dismissed workers but also to the actual business environment;

15.  Asks the Commission to further detail, in future proposals, the types of training to be provided, in which sectors the workers are likely to find employment and if the training on offer is aligned to the future economic prospects and labour market needs in the regions concerned by the dismissals, but welcomes the strict link between the voucher and each worker's agreed pathway of reintegration;

16.  Notes that the information provided on the coordinated package of personalised services to be funded from the EGF includes information on complementarity with actions funded by the Structural Funds; stresses that the Italian authorities have confirmed that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union financial instruments; reiterates its call to the Commission to present a comparative evaluation of those data in its annual reports in order to ensure full respect of the existing regulations and that no duplication of Union-funded services can occur;

17.  Emphasises the importance of good and swift cooperation between the Commission and Member States when preparing applications under the forthcoming new EGF regulation in order to provide EGF support speedily;

18.  Requests that the institutions involved make the necessary efforts to improve procedural arrangements in order to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF; appreciates the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following Parliament's request for the accelerated release of grants, aimed at presenting to the budgetary authority the Commission's assessment on the eligibility of an EGF application together with the proposal to mobilise the EGF; hopes that further improvements in the procedure will be integrated in the new Regulation on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2014–2020) and that greater efficiency, transparency and visibility of the EGF will be achieved;

19.  Stresses that, in accordance with Article 6 of the EGF Regulation, it shall be ensured that the EGF supports the reintegration of individual redundant workers into stable employment; stresses, furthermore, that EGF assistance can co-finance only active labour market measures which lead to durable, long-term employment; reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies by virtue of national law or collective agreements nor measures restructuring companies or sectors;

20.  Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

21.  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;

22.  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) Decision 2011/99/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 41, 15.2.2011, p. 8).

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

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 (application EGF/2011/016 IT/Agile from Italy)

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision 2013/277/EU.)