Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

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.

In accordance with point 9 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020, 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 29 October 2024, Belgium submitted an application EGF/2024/003 BE/Van Hool for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 2 411 redundancies at the company Van Hool. This is the third such application of 2024, and the first to be examined under the 2025 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 26 March 2025, the Commission adopted a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the EGF in favour of Belgium for tailored measures to support the reintegration in the labour market of 2 397 targeted beneficiaries, i.e. Van Hool workers made redundant. In total, EUR 7 999 015 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 the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers or self-employed persons over a reference period of four months, in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers displaced in suppliers and downstream.

EGF co-funding has been requested for the following six types of actions, to be provided to redundant workers:

(a) Social Intervention Advisor (SIA) and workers registration: Information sessions in which social intervention advisors inform workers about the support available to facilitate their transition to employment and worker registration are the first services offered to all laid-off workers.

(b) Outplacement: In Belgium, the personalised packages of measures co-financed by the EGF complement the legal obligation for employers described in paragraph 19. However, since the redundancies occurred as a result of the enterprise’s bankruptcy, former Van Hool workers do not receive such services. This outplacement measure will provide all redundant workers, regardless of their age, with 60 hours of outplacement services. Services include administrative and psychological support, personal assessment sessions (what can I do, what do I want to do, etc.), digital skills assessment, job search assistance or assistance towards self-employment, advice on negotiating employment contracts, etc.

Digitally illiterates will receive basic ICT training and additional support through digibanks, where workers can borrow a laptop, receive training on how to use it and get answers to their digital questions. Webinars and other online tools, such as 123digit.be, will help those who already have some digital skills to improve them.

(c) Job-search support and job placement: Along with job-search support and help to prepare for future job applications, this measure includes organising job search events, like job fairs, and job scouting to locate potential job vacancies that may suit former Van Hool workers.

(d) Vocational guidance: Various vocational guidance services are on offer to cover general guidance needs or shortcomings such as not having a realistic job goal, not meeting labour market requirements or having a poor knowledge of Dutch.

(e) Training, retraining and vocational training: Upon agreement of individual projects with the vocational counsellor, specific training will be offered to cater for the identified needs. Workers will also have access to a wide range of training that includes the training offered by VDAB or by training providers.

(f) Training at the workplace: Workers receive on-the-job training at the enterprise that will employ them after training. Depending on the needs of the worker, the training can last between 4 and 26 weeks. Training is followed by an employment contract, either permanent or fixed term of at least the same duration as the training.

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 7 999 015 from the EGF reserve (budget line 30 04 02; commitment appropriations) to the EGF (budget line 16 02 02; commitment appropriations).