The EGF can co-finance projects including measures such as: help with looking for a job, careers advice; education, training and re-training; mentoring and coaching; entre- preneurship and business creation. The Fund can also provide training allow- ances, mobility/relocation allowances, sub- sistence allowances or similar support. However, the EGF does not co-finance social protection measures such as pen- sions or unemployment benefit.
The EGF can only co-finance active labour market measures to help redundant workers back into employment. The EGF may also fund a Member State’s ‘implementing activities’ – such as preparatory, informa- tion, publicity and control activities for use of the funding. To design support packages, Member States must take into account the backgrounds, experience and educational levels of their workers, their ability to be mobile and current/expected job opportuni- ties in the regions concerned.
Complementarity with other
EU programmes
The EGF’s financial contributions comple- ment support measures available for ben- eficiaries from Union funds or other Union policies or programmes. It provides workers with one-off and time-limited individual support. It is designed to increase employ- ability and ensure the rapid reintegration of redundant workers into employment through active labour market measures. It is therefore different from, and complemen- tary to, the European Social Fund (ESF). The EU Structural and Investment Funds, particularly the ESF, take a strategic, long- term perspective. They anticipate and man- age the social impact of industrial change through activities such as life-long learning. Depending on the regional or national situ- ation, the EGF can be used alongside the ESF. For example in Belgium Limburg and
Oost-West Vlaanderen, the EGF comple- mented federal, regional and ESF funding through training for dismissed employees in the textiles sector. In Spain, in Galicia and Castilla la Mancha, the EGF enabled the delivery of more tailored and flexible support to redundant workers than would have been possible under the ESF, thanks to the establishment of guidance teams for individuals.
Delivery of the EGF support has raised the profile of challenges associated with com- pany restructuring in Europe. In some cases, this has encouraged stakeholders in the Member States to cooperate closely for the first time and to seek innovative solutions for specific groups of redundant workers. The Fund has also had an impact on entire industrial sectors. For example, thanks to EGF assistance for workers losing their jobs in the printing/graphic sector in the Neth- erlands, various Member States have become more aware of the needs of older workers when they are made redundant.
What is new in the EGF
for 2014-2020?
The EGF is being continued for the period of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Frame- work from 1 January 2014 to 31 Decem- ber 2020. It will therefore continue to provide specific, one-time support to work- ers dismissed as a result of major struc- tural changes due to globalisation. It is set to go on helping Member States to tackle unemployment in such cases.
EU co-funding has been increased from 50 % to 60 % starting in January 2014. However, the EGF’s overall funding has been reduced to a new annual maximum amount of EUR 150 million from the previ- ous EUR 500 million.
The categories of workers eligible to benefit from the Fund have been broadened for the period 2014-2020. They can include the self-employed, temporary workers and fixed-term workers. Besides globalisation, the intervention criteria include global finan- cial and economic crises.
Until the end of 2017 and under certain circumstances, young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in regions with high youth unemployment can benefit from EGF support in equal numbers to EGF workers receiving support in those regions.
As before, with EGF co-financing, Member States must devise a ‘coordinated package of personalised services’ (including tailored training and retraining, special time-limited measures such as job-search or mobility allowances) to help targeted beneficiaries to remain in the labour market and find new employment or self-employment. A special focus is placed on helping disad- vantaged, older and young unemployed people to find new jobs.
The rules on the Fund’s intervention crite- ria, eligible beneficiaries, eligible applica- tions, measures and so on are set out in the EGF Regulation for 2014-2020, which repeals the original legislation of 2006.
Box 5.3 EGF amounts requested per Member State (2007-Aug.2013) HR UK SK HU LU LV CY EE CZ MT BG SI PL LT EL RO PT FI SE BE AT NL FR DE ES IT IE DK 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 EUR million
Over the whole period of January 2007 to August 2013, a total amount of EUR 471.2 million was requested from the EGF by
20 Member States. Denmark requested the highest amount of co-funding from the EGF (EUR 63.7 million/10 applications) followed by Ireland (EUR 63.3 million/7 applications), Italy (EUR 60.6 million/12 applications) and Spain (EUR 57.1/18 applications). Amounts not yet approved are indicative, as they may still change during the assessment phase.