REPORT on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers[...]

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 for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium - EGF/2023/001 BE/ LNSA

(COM(2023)0210 - C9-0194/2023 - 2023/0152(BUD))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2023)0210 - C9-0194/2023),

- having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013[1]("EGF Regulation"),

- having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027[2], and in particular Article 8 thereof,

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources[3]('IIA of 16 December 2020'), and in particular point 8 thereof,

- having regard to the trilogue procedure provided for in point 9 of the IIA of 16 December 2020,

- having regard to the opinion 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 (A9-0228/2023),

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 of the global financial and economic crisis, and to assist their reintegration into the labour market; whereas this assistance is made through a financial support given to workers and the companies for which they worked;

B. whereas Belgium submitted application EGF/2023/001 BE/ LNSA for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), following 603 redundancies[4]in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 52 (Warehousing and support activities for transportation) in the province Brabant Wallon, within a reference period for the application from 23 August 2022 to 23 December 2022;

C. whereas the application relates to 603 workers made redundant in the companies Logistics Nivelles SA ('LNSA') and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of Logistics Nivelles;

D. whereas the application is based on the intervention criteria of criteria of Article 4(2), point (a), of the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 200 workers being made redundant over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant by suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;

E. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have reduced economic competitiveness and have a negative impact on economic growth in Belgium;

F. whereas LNSA used to provide logistics services regarding fresh and dry food products, wines and spirits to Carrefour; whereas the redundancies resulted from the decision of LNSA's parent company Kuehne + Nagel to close down its Belgian subsidiary, following financial difficulties of LNSA and significant losses of the company in 2020, which exceeded the total budget for 2020, and in 2021 losses again higher than expected;;

G. whereas Kuehne + Nagel decided to turn its regional distribution into a national distribution and to rely on its subsidiary Kontich NV to supply Carrefour stores across Belgium; whereas Kuehne + Nagel also has facilities in Kampenhout (road logistics); whereas no worker was relocated between logistic centres of Kuehne + Nagel;

H. whereas LNSA, in compliance with the Belgian law on collective redundancies, informed and consulted workers' representatives: whereas this mandatory procedure has secured EUR 1500 per worker to cover retraining costs;

I whereas financial contributions from the EGF should be primarily directed at active labour market policy measures and personalised services that aim to reintegrate beneficiaries rapidly into decent and sustainable employment within or outside their initial sector of activity, while preparing them for a greener and more digital European economy;

J. whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093;

1. Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(2), point (a), of the EGF Regulation are met and that Belgium is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 2 153 358 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 2 533 363, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 2 484 363 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 49 000;

2. Notes that the Belgian authorities submitted the application on 17 February 2023, and that, following the provision of additional information by Belgium, the Commission finalised its assessment on 6 June 2023 and notified it to Parliament on the same day;

3. Notes that the application relates to 603 workers made redundant in the companies Logistics Nivelles SA (LNSA) and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of LNSA; notes further that 542 of the 603 eligible beneficiaries were displaced during the reference period, while 61 workers were made redundant before or after the reference period but their displacement was triggered by the same event that led to the displacement of the former; welcomes the fact that all the redundant workers are expected to participate in the measures;

4. Takes note that the displacements in LNSA are expected to particularly impact workers that are over 50 years old and/or low skilled, as they are more difficult to re-integrate into stable employment, especially taking into account that the unemployment rate in Brabant Wallon at is 8,4 %, 2,8 % higher than the national level and more than 30 % of registered job-seekers in February 2023 were over 50 years old; points to the fact that 86,3 % of the displaced workers live in province Hainaut, where the number of registered job-seekers has increased by 9.8 % year over year; stresses that 53,3 % of LNSA former workers are older than 45 years and the majority of LNSA workers had a handler profile;

5. Notes that no worker was relocated between logistic centres of Kuehne + Nagel; notes that Logistics Nivelles SA complied with the Belgian law on collective redundancies, which establishes a mandatory procedure for informing and consulting workers' representatives that allows for the exploration of any possibility of avoiding or reducing the number of redundancies;

6. Welcomes the fact that the co-ordinated package of personalised services was drawn up by Belgium in consultation with targeted beneficiaries, their representatives and social partners;

7. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers and self-employed persons consist of the following actions: information services, job-search assistance, including identifying job perspectives in other regions or Member States, occupational guidance and outplacement assistance, training, retraining and vocational training, support towards and contribution to business creation, as well as incentives and allowances;

8. welcomes the inclusion of a module on circular economy and efficient use of resources that was developed for former Swissport workers (EGF/2020/005 BE/Swissport), as part of the Regional Public Employment and Vocational Training Service (Forem) standard training offer, which will be co-financed by the ESF+; reiterates in this context the important role the Union should play in providing the necessary qualifications for the just transformation in line with the European Green Deal; strongly supports the fact that, during the 2021-2027 MFF period, the EGF will continue to show solidarity with persons affected and maintain the focus on the impact of restructuring on workers; calls for future applications to maximise policy coherence;9. Notes that the digital and green transformation will also have an effect on the labour market, especially in the logistics sector; calls, therefore, for special attention to be paid to qualified education, including vocational training and promoting the so-called dual apprenticeship system, which has proven to be effective in other Member States;

10. Notes that Belgium started providing personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 1 August 2022 and that the period of eligibility for a financial contribution from the EGF will therefore be from 1 August 2022 until 24 months after the date of the entry into force of the financing decision;

11. Notes that Belgium started incurring administrative expenditure to implement the EGF on 22 September 2021 and that expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities shall therefore be eligible for a financial contribution from the EGF from 22 September 2021 until 31 months after the date of the entry into force of the Financing Decision;

12. Stresses that the Belgian authorities have confirmed that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union funds or financial instruments, and that the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination will be respected in the access to the prZoposed actions and their implementation;

13. Reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions which are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements, or any allowances or rights of the displaced workers, to ensure full additionality of the allocation; recalls that the Member States applying for funding support from the EGF must ensure that the requirements laid down in national and Union law concerning collective redundancies have been complied with and that the company concerned has provided for its workers accordingly;

14. Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

15. 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;

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

ANNEX: DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium - EGF/2023/001 BE/LNSA

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013[5], and in particular Article 15(1), first subparagraph, thereof,

Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources[6], and in particular point 9 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) aims to demonstrate solidarity and promote decent and sustainable employment in the Union by providing support for workers made redundant and self-employed persons whose activity has ceased in the case of major restructuring events and assisting them in returning to decent and sustainable employment as soon as possible.

(2) The EGF is not to exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093[7].

(3) On 17 February 2023, Belgium submitted an application to mobilise the EGF in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691, in respect of workers' displacements in Logistics Nivelles SA and one supplier in Belgium. It was supplemented by additional information provided in accordance with Article 8(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691. That application is considered to comply with the conditions for providing a financial contribution from the EGF as laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2021/691, on the basis of the assessment made by the Commission in the Proposal for a mobilisation decision of the European Parliament and of the Council[8].

(4) The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution of EUR 2 153 358 in respect of the application submitted by Belgium.

(5) In order to minimise the time taken to mobilise the EGF, this Decision should apply from the date of its adoption,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2023, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers shall be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 2 153 358 in commitment and payment appropriations.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from [the date of its adoption][⁕].

Done at ...,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

I. Background

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was created to provide additional assistance to workers suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns. According to Article 8(1) of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027[9]and of Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/691[10], the Fund may not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices).

In accordance with point 9 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020[11], the Commission is required, following the positive assessment of an application, to submit a proposal to mobilise the Fund to the budgetary authority and to complement it with a corresponding request for transfer to the relevant budget lines.

II. Belgium's application and the Commission's proposal

On 17 February 2023, Belgium submitted an application EGF/2023/001 BE/ LNSA for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 603 redundancies[12]in the company Logistics Nivelles SA (LNSA), and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of Logistics Nivelles, resulting from the decision of its parent company Kuehne + Nagel to close down the company. This is the first application of 2023 and the third to be examined under the 2023 budget.

Following its assessment of this application, the Commission has concluded, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the EGF Regulation, that the conditions for awarding a financial contribution from the EGF are met.

On 6 June 2023, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Belgium to support the reintegration in the labour market of 603 targeted beneficiaries, i.e. workers made redundant by LNSA and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of Logistics Nivelles. In total, EUR 2 153 358 will be mobilised from the EGF for Belgium, representing 85 % of the total costs of the proposed actions.

The Commission deemed the Belgian application admissible under the intervention criteria of Article 4(2)(a) of the EGF Regulation, which requires at least 200 workers being made redundant over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant by suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased.

EGF co-funding may be requested for the following five types of actions, to be provided to redundant workers:

a) Information, occupational guidance and outplacement assistance.Going beyond the standard activities in support of former LNSA workers carried out on behalf of LNSA, this will include individual coaching, active job-search and job-matching services, with particular focus on vulnerable persons.

b) Training, retraining and vocational training. Besides standard training provided by Forem and its partners, specific job search modules, specific training addressing identified needs, a module to improve IT skills and to gain digital autonomy will be offered.

c) Support for business creation. To help workers wishing to launch their own business, offers include a diagnosis and guidance phase, awareness-raising actions on entrepreneurship, information sessions on the potential for business creation through territorial economic diagnoses, and networking with relevant entrepreneurs and with certified coaches in business creation.

d) Contribution to business creation. Workers who start a business or an activity as self-employed persons will receive a contribution up to EUR 15 000.

e) Incentives and allowances. (1) Job-search and training allowances. Workers will receive EUR 2 per hour of effective participation in training or job-search activities. (2) Bonus for improving IT skills. A lump sum of EUR 400 will be provided to workers actively participating and completing the module for access to digital autonomy, which aims to improve their IT skills. (3) Bonus for improving language skills. With a view to encourage development of cross-disciplinary language stills to facilitate job re-integration, a lump sum of EUR 500 will be granted to workers who follow an intensive language training module organized by Forem or a language immersion course in an enterprise to improve their Dutch, English or German language skills as part of a specific job search. (4) Return-to-school allowance. A monthly allowance of EUR 350 will be granted to workers who embark on secondary or tertiary studies full-time for at least one year, or qualifying training of at least 3 months to acquire the necessary skills for jobs that are in demand for which it is difficult to find people. (5) Allowance towards business creation. Workers will received a monthly contribution of EUR 350, for a maximum of 12 months, while preparing to start their own business.

According to the Commission, the described measures constitute active labour market measures within the eligible actions set out in Article 7(2) of the EGF Regulation and do not substitute passive social protection measures.

Belgium provided the required information on actions that are mandatory for the enterprises concerned by virtue of national law or pursuant to collective agreements. They confirmed that a financial contribution from the EGF will not replace such actions.

Procedure

In order to mobilise the Fund, the Commission has submitted to the Budgetary Authority a request to transfer a global amount of EUR 2 153 358 from the EGF reserve (budget line 30 04 02; commitment appropriations) to the EGF (budget line 16 02 02; commitment appropriations).

According to an internal agreement within the Parliament, the Employment and Social Affairs Committee and the Committee on Regional Policy should be associated to the process, in order to provide constructive support and contribute to the assessment of the applications from the Fund.

LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS(29.6.2023)

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers - EGF/2023/001 BE/LNSA - Belgium ((2023/0152(BUD))

Dear Mr Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee and decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs considered the matter and at its meeting of 28 June 2023 decided to call on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution.

Yours sincerely,

Dragoş Pîslaru

SUGGESTIONS

A. Whereas, on 17 February 2022, Belgian authorities submitted an application EGF/2023/001 BE/LNSA for a financial contribution from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF);

B. Whereas the application relates to 603 workers made redundant in the companies Logistics Nivelles SA (LNSA) and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of LNSA;

C. Whereas the Commission deemed the Belgian application admissible under the intervention criteria of Article 4(2)(a) of the EGF Regulation, which requires the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced by suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased;

D. Whereas on 6 June 2023, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF to support the reintegration in the labour market of 603 beneficiaries, and communicated it to the Parliament and the Council on the same day;

E. Whereas the event giving rise to these displacements is Kuehne + Nagel (K+N)'s (a global transport and logistics company based in Switzerland, providing sea freight and airfreight forwarding, contract logistics, and overland businesses) decision to close down its Belgian subsidiary LNSA, which has been facing financial difficulties in the past years (in 2020, LNSA's losses were higher than the total budget and a capital increase was necessary to offset the losses; in 2021, the losses were again higher than expected; LNSA could not continue in business in the long or medium term without profit or without breaking even); whereas LNSA provides logistics services regarding fresh and dry food products, wines and spirits to Carrefour; whereas with a view to renewing the contract with Carrefour, K+N carried out a study to define a future network, which would improve services at competitive costs; whereas, based on the study results, K+N decided to turn its regional distribution of fresh and dry foods into a national distribution (instead of delivering to northern stores from Logistics Kontich NV (Kontich) and to southern stores from LNSA, to make all deliveries from Kontich and close LNSA down);

F. Whereas in 2022 Q4, the unemployment rate in Wallonia (8,4%) was 2,8 percentage points higher than the unemployment rate at national level (5,6%); whereas, although LNSA is located in province Brabant Wallon, the redundancies concern also Hainaut where 86,3% of the dismissed workers live; whereas in February 2023, the number of registered job seekers has increased by 9,8% year-over-year in Hainaut and by 3,7% in Brabant Wallon;

G. Whereas the Walloon authorities argue that the displacements in LNSA will have a particular impact on two categories of workers (the low skilled and those aged 50+) that are already disadvantaged in the regional labour market; whereas those aged 50 or more accounted for 30% of the registered job-seekers in Brabant Wallon in February 2023 and more than half (53,3%) of LNSA former workers are older than 45;

H. Whereas Belgium has described how the recommendations set out in the EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring have been taken into account in the present case; whereas LNSA complied with Belgian law on collective redundancies, which establishes a mandatory procedure for informing and consulting workers' representatives; whereas the procedure makes it possible to explore any possibility of avoiding or reducing the number of redundancies; whereas it also seeks to mitigate the consequences of job loss through complementary social measures, such as support for redeployment or retraining of redundant workers;

I. Whereas Wallonia's regional legislation provides for specific support for redundant workers, in the form of a redeployment unit (cellule de reconversion) by the Regional Public Employment and Vocational Training Service (Forem), at the request of workers' representative organisations; whereas the redeployment unit does not constitute an obligation for the employer, nor for Forem; whereas the implementation of the EGF co-financed measures will be managed through such a redeployment unit;

J. Whereas the EGF shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices), as laid down in Article 8 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027;

Therefore, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to integrate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Reminds that the objective of the EGF is to demonstrate solidarity with, and provide support to beneficiaries; considers that financial contributions from the EGF should be primarily directed at active labour market policy measures and personalised services that aim to reintegrate beneficiaries rapidly into decent and sustainable employment within or outside their initial sector of activity, stresses the importance of preparing workers for a green and digital European economy and therefore fasten the twin transitions; reiterates in this context the important role the Union should play in providing the necessary qualifications for the just transformation in line with the European Green Deal;

2. Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in Article 4(2)(a) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Belgium is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 2 153 358 under that Regulation, which represents 85 % of the total cost of EUR 2 533 363, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 2 484 363 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 49 000;

3. Notes that all the procedural requirements were met; welcomes the involvement of the social partners as well as Forem in the package of measures for which the EGF co-financing is requested; underlines the need for transparency at every step of the procedure and calls for social partners' involvement in the package of service's implementation and evaluation;

4. Stresses that Belgium has confirmed that the measures described below receiving a financial contribution from the EGF will not also receive financial contributions from other Union financial instruments;

5. Notes that the application relates to 603 displaced workers whose activity has ceased; welcomes the fact that Belgian authorities expect that all of the eligible beneficiaries will participate in the measures (targeted beneficiaries); stresses that 97% of the targeted beneficiaries are men, 74,6% are aged between 30-54 years, 20,9% - over the age of 54 years; underlines that 48.8% of the targeted beneficiaries have an education level of lower secondary education or less; further stresses the specific needs of these groups should be taken into account when providing personalised services;

6. Recalls that personalised services to be provided to the workers consist of the following measures: (a) information services, occupational guidance and outplacement assistance, (b) training, retraining and vocational training, (c) support towards business creation, (d) contribution to business creation, and (e) incentives and allowances (the following incentives and allowances are foreseen: (1) Job-search and training allowances; (2) Bonus for improving IT skills; (3) Bonus for improving languages skills; (4) Return-to-school allowance; (5) Allowance towards business creation);

7. Stresses in particular the importance of Article 7.2 of the EGF Regulation, which requires the coordinated package to anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills, which are compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy and with a particular focus on the dissemination of skills required in the digital industrial age; therefore, welcomes in particular, that in foreseen measures for training include module to improve IT skills and gain digital autonomy, complementing the module to develop digital skills that is part of Forem's standard training offer;

8. Recalls the possibility for special time-limited measures within the coordinated package including, inter alia, to pay childcare allowances, as provided in Article 7.2 b of the EGF regulation to facilitate job seekers' participation in the activities proposed;

9. Reiterates that assistance from the EGF must not replace actions that are the responsibility of companies, by virtue of national law or collective agreements; notes that LNSA, in compliance with the Belgian law on collective redundancies, informed and consulted workers' representatives: whereas this mandatory procedure has secured EUR 1500 per worker to cover retraining costs.

LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers - EGF/2023/001 BE/LNSA - Belgium ((2023/0152(BUD))

Dear Mr Van Overtveldt,

The European Commission has transmitted to the European Parliament its proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund following an application from Belgium (COM(2023)0210) following displacements in Logistics Nivelles SA (LNSA) and one supplier in Belgium.

I understand that it is intended that a report on this proposal will be soon adopted in the Committee on Budgets.

The application relates to displaced workers whose activity has ceased in Logistics Nivelles SA (LNSA) (447 workers) and SuperTransport SA/NV, a supplier of Logistics Nivelles (95 workers). In addition, the eligible beneficiaries include 61 displaced workers whose activity ceased before or after the reference period of four months. The total number of eligible beneficiaries is 603.

Logistics Nivelles operated in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 division 52 (Warehousing and support activities for transportation). The displacements in this enterprise are located in the NUTS 2 region of Brabant Wallon (BE31).

The event giving rise to these displacements is Kuehne + Nagel (K+N)'s decision to close down its Belgian subsidiary LNSA. The entrerprise has been facing financial difficulties in the past years. In 2020, LNSA's losses were higher than the total budget and a capital increase was necessary to offset the losses. In 2021, the losses were again higher than expected. LNSA could not continue in business in the long or medium term without profit or without breaking even.

The personalised services to be provided to displaced workers consist of the following measures: Information services, occupational guidance and outplacement assistance; Training, retraining and vocational training; Support towards business creation; Contribution to business creation; Incentives and allowances.

The estimated total costs are EUR 2 533 363, comprising expenditure for personalised services of EUR 2 484 363 and expenditure for preparatory, management, information and publicity, control and reporting activities of EUR 49 000. The total financial contribution requested from the EGF is EUR 2 153 358 (85 % of total costs).

Pursuant to Article 8(7), point (m) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691, Belgium has specified that the national pre-financing and co-funding is provided by Wallonia.

The rules applicable to financial contributions from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013.

The committee coordinators have assessed this proposal and asked me to write to you reporting that the majority of this committee has no objection to this mobilisation of the EGF to allocate the above-mentioned amount as proposed by the Commission.

Yours sincerely,

Younous OMARJEE

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention