The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2015)0047 – C8‑0038/2015),

–  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 (A8-0052/2015),

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 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, 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 to the IIA of 2 December 2013 in respect of the adoption of decisions to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF),

C.  whereas the adoption of the EGF Regulation reflects the agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council to reintroduce the crisis mobilisation criterion, to increase Union financial contribution to 60 % of the total estimated cost of proposed measures, to increase efficiency for the treatment of EGF applications in the Commission and by the Parliament and the Council by shortening the time for assessment and approval, to widen eligible actions and beneficiaries by introducing self-employed persons and young people and to finance incentives for setting up own businesses,

D.  whereas Ireland submitted application EGF/2014/016 IE/Lufthansa Technik for a financial contribution from the EGF, following a total of 424 redundancies in Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Ireland Ltd (LTAI) and two of its suppliers in Ireland,

E.  whereas the Irish authorities will, in addition to the 250 targeted beneficiaries, provide personalised services co-financed by the EGF to up to 200 young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) under the age of 25 on the date of submission of the application,

F.  whereas the application does not fulfil the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 4(1)(a) of the EGF Regulation and is based on the exceptional circumstances provision contained in Article 4(2) of that Regulation,

1.  Agrees with the Commission that the exceptional circumstances put forward by the Irish authorities, namely that the redundancies have a serious impact on employment and the local and regional economy, justify a derogation from the intervention criteria set out in Article 4(2) of the EGF Regulation, and that, therefore, Ireland is entitled to a financial contribution under that Regulation; notes, however, that the exceptional circumstances in this case relate to only 250 persons; in this respect recommends that the Commission establish clear criteria for applications relating to less than 500 workers; underlines that if the criteria laid down in Article 4(1)(a) of that Regulation are not entirely met, applications should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and that there should not be an automatic endorsement of applications that don't meet the basic conditions;

2.  Notes that the Irish authorities submitted the application for EGF financial contribution on 19 September 2014, supplemented it by additional information up to 14 November 2014 and that its assessment was made available by the Commission on 6 February 2015;

3.  Welcomes the fact that, in order to provide workers with speedy assistance, the Irish authorities decided to initiate the implementation of the personalised services to the affected workers on 7 December 2013, well ahead of the decision and even the application on granting the EGF support for the proposed coordinated package; notes that those personalised services which have already been offered will be eligible for EGF funding;

4.  Considers that the redundancies in the 'repair and installation of machinery and equipment' sector in the region of Southern and Eastern Ireland are linked to major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation, as shown by the closure of LTAI as a result of a serious shift in Union trade in goods and services resulting from a technological shift towards the production of new generation aircraft and components, by the shift in wider aircraft component production practices with resultant impacts on the market fundamentals of the underlying business model of LTAI and the shift in location of global aircraft production; notes that the tendency for West European and US carriers is to send their wide-bodied aircraft to China for heavy maintenance and that even the parent company Lufthansa Technik has decided to base its global Airbus A330/340 MRO operations at its Lufthansa Technik Philippines subsidiary;

5.  Notes that to date, the 'repair and installation of machinery and equipment' sector has been the subject of two EGF applications (including this case), the other case having been based on the global financial and economic crisis(4);

6.  Notes that these redundancies are expected to have huge negative impacts on Southern and Eastern Ireland, which presents pockets of considerable local disadvantage, as the following socio-economic indicators show: low levels of educational achievement, lack of professional qualifications and a high level of local authority housing; considers that all these factors point to considerable local disadvantage and poverty and that, moreover, a series of redundancies in enterprises in this sector over the last years has made it even more difficult for the workforce that possesses some very specific skills that are difficult to exploit in other sectors to find a new job; notes that Blanchardstown-Tyrrelstown, Tallaght-Killinarden, Clondalkin-Rowlagh and Tallaght-Fettercairn are a few of the areas where the Lufthansa workers reside where the average unemployment figure is around 23 %;

7.  Points out that the workforce from this sector possesses some very specific skills that are difficult to use in other sectors, making it difficult for the workers to find a new job easily; regrets that this is particularly true for those workers who are closer to retirement (around 20 % of the Lufthansa Technik workers) or have been with that same employer for a number of years;

8.  Notes that currently there are about 1 550 employees in this sector in Ireland, and that the figures presented by Irish authorities show a shrinkage of about 52 % in total employment in that field;

9.  Notes that the coordinated package of personalised services to be co-funded consists of guidance and career planning, EGF training grants, training and further education programmes, higher education programmes, enterprise and self-employment supports, income supports including the EGF course expense contribution scheme;

10.  Notes that the Irish authorities decided to provide personalised services co-financed by the EGF to up to 200 young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) under the age of 25 in addition to the redundant workers; notes further that the NEETs do not belong to the group of redundant workers and were not employed in the same sector;

11.  Notes the personalised services which are to be provided to NEETs consist of the same options as for the redundant workers but will be tailor-made for each NEET individual as appropriate; recalls that the proposed actions should take into account the differences between the needs of dismissed workers and NEETs;

12.  Welcomes the fact that the co-ordinated package of personalised services has been drawn up in consultation with the targeted beneficiaries and their representatives as well as the trade unions;

13.  Welcomes that the Department of Social Protection conducted a comprehensive survey of affected employees to identify the targeted workers, their educational and training background and their potential personalised service needs in order to improve their re-employability;

14.  Notes that the authorities plan to utilise the maximum allowed 35 % of all costs on allowances and incentives in the form of income supports including course expense contributions (CECs); acknowledges that those allowances do not replace the measures provided from national funds;

15.  Appreciates the intention of the Irish authorities to establish a consultative forum or other interactive process to complement the on-going work of the EGF Coordination Unit, once the EGF support has been granted;

16.  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;

17.  Recalls that, in line with Article 7 of the EGF 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;

18.  Stresses 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; recommends that the Commission evaluate the possibility of reducing the required minimum number of workers made redundant to 200 for EGF projects because of the impact on unemployment generated by redundancies in SMEs affected by the economic crisis;

19.  Welcomes that the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected in the access to the proposed actions and their implementation;

20.  Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

21.  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;

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

(1) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 855. (2) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. (3) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. (4) EGF/2009/021 IE/SR Technics.

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (application EGF/2014/016 IE/Lufthansa Technik, from Ireland)

(The text of this annex is not reproduced here since it corresponds to the final act, Decision (EU) 2015/643.)