The Committee on Budgets adopted the report drafted by Barbara MATERA (EPP, IT) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for an amount of EUR 2 649 148 in commitment and payment appropriationsin respect of redundanciesin the graphic media industry in the Netherlands (Zuid-Holland and Utrecht).
Members recall that the European Union has set up the appropriate legislative and budgetary instruments to provide additional support to workers who are suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns and to assist their reintegration into the labour market.
Given that the Netherlands has requested assistance in respect of cases concerning 800 redundancies in 52 enterprises operating in the NACE Revision 2 Division 18 (‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’) in the NUTS II regions of Zuid-Holland (NL33) and Utrecht (NL31) in the Netherlands, Members request the institutions involved to make the necessary efforts to accelerate the mobilisation of the EGF for the requested amount.
Members appreciate, in this sense, the improved procedure put in place by the Commission, following the Parliament's request for accelerating the release of grants. They hope that further improvements in the procedure will be reached in the framework of the upcoming reviews of the EGF.
Members recall the institutions’ commitment to ensuring a smooth and rapid procedure for the adoption of the decisions on the mobilisation of the EGF, providing one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have suffered redundancies as a result of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis.
They also recall that:
Members welcome the fact that, following repeated requests from the Parliament, for the first time the 2011 budget shows payment appropriations of EUR 47 608 950 on the EGF budget line 04 05 01. This dedicated allocation will avoid transfers from other budget lines, as happened in the past, which could be detrimental to the achievement of the various policies objectives.