Article 4 · Regulation (EU) 2021/691

Contents

Article 4Intervention criteria#

1.Member States may apply for financial contributions from the EGF for measures targeting displaced workers and self-employed persons in accordance with the provisions laid down in this Article. In the event of requests from enterprises undergoing restructuring concerning measures targeting workers affected by imminent job displacement, Member States shall apply for financial contributions from the EGF.

2.In the case of major restructuring events, a financial contribution from the EGF shall be provided where one of the following circumstances applies:

(a)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 where that cessation of activity applies to its suppliers or downstream producers;

(b)the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers or self-employed persons, over a reference period of six months, particularly in SMEs, where all operate in the same economic sector defined at NACE Revision 2 division level and are located in one region or two contiguous regions defined at NUTS 2 level or in more than two contiguous regions defined at NUTS 2 level provided that there are at least 200 workers or self-employed persons affected in two of the regions combined;

(c)the cessation of activity of at least 200 displaced workers or self-employed persons, over a reference period of four months, particularly in SMEs, where all operate in the same or different economic sectors defined at NACE Revision 2 division level and located in the same region defined at NUTS 2 level;

(d)the existence of projected collective redundancies concerning at least 200 workers affected by imminent job displacement in a single enterprise undergoing restructuring in a single Member State.

3.In small labour markets, in duly substantiated cases, and in particular with regard to applications involving SMEs, an application for a financial contribution under this Article shall be deemed to be admissible even if some of the criteria set out in the circumstances listed in paragraph 2 are not entirely met, provided that the redundancies or projected collective redundancies have a serious impact on employment and the local, regional or national economy.For applications under Article 8, the Member State shall duly substantiate the application, and shall indicate which of the criteria set out in the circumstances listed in paragraph 2 of this Article are not entirely met.For applications under Article 8a, following a duly substantiated request from the enterprise, including the indication of the criteria set out in the circumstances listed in paragraph 2 of this Article which are not entirely met, the Member State shall submit the application.

4.In exceptional circumstances, and in particular with regard to applications involving SMEs, paragraph 3 shall also apply to labour markets other than small labour markets. The aggregated amount of financial contributions in such cases shall not exceed 15 % of the annual ceiling of the EGF.

5.The EGF shall not be mobilised where public-sector employees are dismissed as a result of budgetary cuts by a Member State.

Defined terms · 7

Show every defined term

beneficiary
means a natural person who participates in EGF co-funded measures;
displaced worker
means a worker, regardless of the type or duration of his or her employment relationship, whose employment contract or relationship is ended prematurely by redundancy, or whose employment contract or relationship is not renewed, for economic reasons;
enterprise undergoing restructuring
means an enterprise undergoing a process that involves ‘collective redundancies’, as defined in Article 1(1), point (a), of Directive 98/59/EC.
implementation period
means the period beginning on the dates referred to in point (j) of Article 8(7) and ending 24 months after the date of entry into force of the decision on the financial contribution pursuant to Article 15(2);
irregularity
means a breach of applicable law, resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator involved in the implementation of the EGF, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the budget of the Union by charging unjustified expenditures to that budget;
self-employed person
means a natural person who employs fewer than 10 workers;
worker affected by imminent job displacement
means a worker in an enterprise undergoing restructuring whose employment contract or relationship, regardless of its type or duration, is expected to be ended by redundancy following a written communication from the employer to the workers’ representatives informing them, during the course of consultations, of, inter alia, the number and categories of workers to be made redundant in accordance with Article 2(3), point (b), of Directive 98/59/EC;