Toespraak Eurocommissaris László Andor over hulp aan 1500 Volvo medewerkers (en)

Mr. László ANDOR

Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

European Globalisation Adjustment Fund - Helping 1500 workers at Volvo, Sweden

Swedish EG Conference

Göteborg, 05 May 2010

Minister,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to be here today. To listen to you and to hear about your experience in using the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Thank You, Sven, for having invited me to open today's conference. You will remember that you made this proposal when we first met in Brussels, in early March. I am a man who keeps his promises…especially when it is not about funding.

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The Volvo project is one of the first EGF i projects to benefit from the new rules adopted in the middle of last year as a response to the economic crisis.

The 15 million Euro “Volvo Cars” project - with €10m from Europe and €5m national funding to help 1500 workers - was also one of the first projects I signed off soon after becoming a Commissioner.

The first time is always more memorable!

I would like to congratulate the Swedish authorities for presenting such an excellent project. It has given us some new ideas, providing inspiration not only for me and my colleagues but also for other applicants.

For instance, the concept of ‘generation change’, where older workers mentor younger workers keen to start a new job, has sparked a lot of interest. This offers newcomers valuable job experience and advice from their seniors. And it gives recognition and status for the older workers, who have the chance to share their skills and insights.

I am impressed by the feedback I have received from my colleagues on how the project has been developing.

And I am looking forward to visiting the Project later today.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all concerned for their involvement and willingness to share information.

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I would also like to say a few words about the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund itself.

I hope you agree with me that the EGF is a relatively new Fund which has already proved useful.

It provides targeted action for workers who have been made redundant. The consequences of globalisation and the financial and economic crisis called for additional support to help those out of work find a new job fast.

I see the EGF as a complement to the European Social Fund.

The ESF provides longer-term support for workers and job seekers through training and other active labour-market policies.

Member States know in advance how much money they can draw down for their agreed ESF operational programmes. It provides stable support, even in unstable times. However, when responding to new situations and unexpected developments that were not — and could not - have been foreseen, it is not the most appropriate tool.

That is why both Funds have their role to play.

Given our experience to date, I think the EGF is a valuable tool that we should keep and develop for the future.

However, the delivery of the Globalisation Fund can and should be improved.

Let's be frank: Member States applying for co-financing from the Fund have to wait too long— on average some 10 months — before they receive their payment.

In many cases, it means that the assistance to the workers is delayed. Few authorities dare risk committing themselves to spending public money without knowing that the funding is fully agreed.

In my view, the Commission should have the authority to decide on EGF funding for individual cases.

Under the current rules, this is not possible. For every single application, the Commission needs to seek the agreement of both the European Parliament and the Council.

This is an unusual procedure, and also hugely time-consuming.

The issue may sound technical, but I can assure you that the solution could be very simple.

Having a separate budget line and putting the Commission in charge would cut red tape and considerably speed up the approval and payment procedure.

And the workers would be helped far more quickly.

But this is not an easy decision to propose or to make. This is also a decision that I will have to share with my fellow Commissioners when time comes to discuss the post 2013 financial framework. And this moment is not far away.

Before concluding, I would like to mention briefly the role of the EGF in our new 10-year strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth - Europe 2020.

As part of this strategy, the Commission has proposed to promote the faster redeployment of skills to emerging high-growth sectors and markets. We will do this under the flagship Initiative called ‘An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era’. Here, the EGF will also have a key role to play.

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We now have three years of experience in running this Fund.

I don't believe we need to question the scope or the range of the Fund as it is today, except of course the funding decision process. At the same time, I am happy to listen to you and your experiences and ideas.

I know that the question that at least some of you have in mind is that of temporary derogations. And whether they should continue after 31 December 2011. Today it is too early to say.

We shall evaluate the Fund next year and since you are one of the first projects to benefit from the derogations, your input is extremely valuable.

Thank you for your attention.