C_2018356EN.01013901.xml

P8_TA(2017)0422

Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: application EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva

European Parliament resolution of 14 November 2017 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (application from Italy — EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva) (COM(2017)0496 — C8-0322/2017 — 2017/2200(BUD))

(2018/C 356/20)

The European Parliament,

—	having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2017)0496 — C8-0322/2017),

—	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 (A8-0346/2017),

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;

B.	whereas the Union’s financial assistance to workers made redundant should be dynamic and made available as quickly and efficiently as possible;

whereas Italy submitted application EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva for a financial contribution from the EGF under the intervention criteria set out in point (a) of Article 4(1) of the EGF Regulation following 1 646 redundancies in Almaviva Contact SpA operating in the economic sector classified under the NACE Revision 2 Division 82 (Office administrative, office support and other business support activities) in the NUTS level 2 region of Lazio in Italy (ITI4); whereas 1 610 redundant workers are expected to participate in the measures;

Agrees with the Commission that the conditions set out in point (a) of Article 4(1) of the EGF Regulation are met and that Italy is entitled to a financial contribution of EUR 3 347 370 under that Regulation, which represents 60 % of the total cost of EUR 5 578 950;

Notes that the Italian authorities submitted the application on 9 May 2017, and that following additional information provided by Italy its assessment was finalised by the Commission on 26 September 2017 and notified to Parliament on the same day;

Recalls that the economic crisis has put significant pressure on the price of marketing services and of assistance to buyers of goods and services, leading to a decrease in the turnover and profitability of service providers; taking account of the fact that labour cost is by far the highest production cost in the call centre sector, notes that businesses have reacted to these adverse conditions by relocating, intervening on the cost of labour or closing down; regrets that between 2009 and the first quarter of 2014 a third of all Italian enterprises in the sector have ceased activity;

Acknowledges that the present redundancies are directly linked to a 45 % revenue decline of Almaviva’s centre in Rome between 2011 and 2016; regrets that it was not possible to find agreement with the unified trade union representation (RSU) on a plan to align the labour cost in Almaviva-Rome with other Almaviva work centres in Italy, which would have effectively translated into a wage reduction, resulting in the closure of the Rome centre;

Notes that workers of the call centre sector should be more protected, which implies in particular avoiding moving staff from one centre to another, which is used as a particular strategy to force massive layoffs;

Recognises that the regional and local economy are only slowly recovering vitality after the great difficulties resulting from the economic and financial crisis and that mass redundancies risk stopping or interrupting this recovery; emphasises the crucial importance of active labour market measures, such as those co-financed by the EGF, in avoiding this;

Notes that 79 % of the targeted beneficiaries are women and that the large majority of them are between 30 and 55 years old; regrets that it was not possible to find a viable solution to avoid their lay-off, particularly given the fact that women in this age group are already less likely to stay and advance in the labour market due to the difficulty of finding a work-life balance as a result of their responsibilities as informal carers, as well as a lack of equal opportunity in the workplace;

Emphasises that the training and other personalised services should take full account of the characteristics of this group of workers, in particular, the high proportion of women; welcomes the inclusion of an estimated EUR 680 000 for the reimbursement of expenses for carers of dependent persons;

Welcomes the fact that the Italian authorities started providing the personalised services to the targeted beneficiaries on 6 April 2017, ahead of the application for the EGF support for the proposed coordinated package;

10.

Notes that Italy is planning eight types of measures for the redundant workers covered by this application: (i) individual orientation, (ii) job search assistance, (iii) training, retraining and vocational training, (iv) reemployment vouchers, (v) support towards entrepreneurship, (vi) contribution to business start-up, (vii) reimbursement of expenses for carers of dependent persons, and (viii) reimbursement of mobility costs; notes that the income support measures will be 17,4 % of the overall package of personalised measures, well below the maximum 35 % set out in the EGF Regulation, and that these actions are conditional on the active participation of the targeted beneficiaries in job-search or training activities;

11.

Welcomes the establishment of a committee constituted by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE (4)), ANPAL (5), Regione Lazio and trade unions to define the strategy and interventions in support of former Almaviva workers as well as to draw up the co-ordinated package of personalised services;

12.

Understands that the use of reemployment vouchers is new, having only been used in one previous case; stresses the importance of fully evaluating the effectiveness of such measures once sufficient time has passed for data to be available;

13.

Stresses that the Italian authorities have confirmed that the eligible actions do not receive assistance from other Union financial instruments, but that they will be complemented by actions to be financed either by the ESF or with national funds only;

14.

Recalls that the design of the coordinated package of personalised services supported by the EGF should anticipate future labour market perspectives and required skills, and should be compatible with the shift towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy;

15.

Commends the commitment of the Italian government to defining a new legal framework for telecommunications workers in order to avoid further cases such as that which is the subject of the EGF/2017/004 IT/Almaviva application;

16.

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 measures for restructuring companies or sectors;

17.

Calls on the Commission to urge national authorities to provide more details in future proposals on the sectors which have growth prospects and are therefore likely to hire people, as well as to gather substantiated data on the impact of the EGF funding, including on the quality of jobs and the reintegration rate achieved through the EGF;

18.

Recalls its appeal to the Commission to assure public access to all the documents related to EGF cases;

19.

Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

20.

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;

21.

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) Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (MiSE)

(5) Agenzia Nazionale per le Politiche Attive del Lavoro (ANPAL)