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 18 September 2025 Belgium submitted an application EGF/2025/006 BE/Audi for a financial contribution from the EGF, following 3 414 redundancies at Audi. This is the sixth such application of 2025, and the first to be examined under the 2026 budget.

Following the 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 9 January 2026, 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 3 414 targeted beneficiaries, i.e. workers from Audi and subcontractors, suppliers and downstream producers made redundant. In total, EUR 7 527 625 will be mobilised from the EGF for Audi, 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) Information services, vocational counselling and guidance, and placement services: This measure builds on the outplacement services provided according to Belgian national labour law and includes information sessions, profiling of the workers, individual coaching and support to job-search in the form of active job-search and job-matching, workshops on preparing job applications, and looking for jobs using social networks. Information sessions on other relevant topics such as taxation or how to avoid running into over-indebtedness will also be provided. Special attention is paid to the psychological impact of the dismissal.

(b) Training and retraining: After the workers profiling and agreement of individual projects with the vocational counsellors, specific training will be offered to cater for the identified needs.

(c) Job day: This job-search event brings together jobseekers and employers that seek to fill their vacancies. Before attending the event, counselling sessions help to prepare the meeting with potential employers. The first of such events took place on 3 April 2025.

(d) Promotion of entrepreneurship: The measure aims at workers who wish to launch their own business. It will 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.

(e) Contribution to business start-up: The workers who start a business or a self-employed activity will receive a contribution up to EUR 15 000. The contribution will be paid in two instalments, after proving the start and development of the business activity with supporting documents.

(f) Incentives and allowances:

(1) Job-search allowances. Workers will receive EUR 2 per hour of effective participation in certain job-search activities entitled to the allowance.

(2) Bonus for improving IT skills. Workers who follow both the module for access to and the one to strengthen digital autonomy will receive a lump sum of EUR 700 conditional on their active participation and completion of the training. The bonus aims to reduce digital illiteracy by encouraging workers to improve their IT skills.

(3) Return-to-school allowance. A monthly allowance of EUR 350 will be granted to workers who embark on full-time secondary and tertiary studies, or qualifying training related to acquire the necessary skills for jobs that are in demand and for which recruiting is difficult or linked to critical functions, based on a specific list provided by the Wallonia province.

(4) Allowance towards business creation. To support workers during setting up business, a monthly allowance of EUR 350 will be granted for a maximum of 12 months or up to 18 months under certain conditions. Belgium has provided the required information on actions that are mandatory for the enterprise concerned by virtue of national law or pursuant to collective agreements. They confirmed that a financial contribution from the EGF would not replace such actions.

III. Procedure

In order to mobilise the Fund, the Commission has submitted to the Budgetary Authority a request to transfer a global amount of EUR 7 527 625 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 Development should be associated to the process, in order to provide constructive support and contribute to the assessment of the applications from the Fund.