GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND : ECA HAS RESERVATIONS ABOUT EGF'S EFFECTIVENESS.

• Position: EU Court of Auditors and European Globalisation Adjustment Fund

Those opposed to the extension of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) - Germany, the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands - have just won over an ally: on 24 June, the EU Court of Auditors (ECA) published an extremely critical report on the effectiveness of this tool in helping redundant workers find a new job.

The EU spending watchdog found that "no adequate data existed to measure how effective the funds were in getting the laid-off workers back into jobs" and that the added value of the aid was not always sufficient. In conclusion, the ECA called for this tool - created in 2006 - to be replaced by a more effective system.

The special report, entitled Has the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund delivered EU added value in reintegrating redundant workers?'(1) noted that "nearly all EGF eligible workers were offered personalised and well-coordinated measures". But all the audited cases included income support measures, which would have been paid by the member states anyway. Moreover, "each EGF measure may have also been eligible for the ESF" and some member states would have preferred to use the latter rather than the former. The auditors found that no quantitative re-integration objectives were set, and that existing data are not adequate to assess the effectiveness of the measures in reintegrating workers into employment. The EGF delivered EU added value when used to co-finance services for redundant workers or allowances not ordinarily existing under member states' unemployment benefit systems. "The evidence gathered during the audit did not convince us that the EGF is the best way to deliver this much-needed specific support," said Ville Itala, the ECA member responsible for the report.

In conclusion, the ECA recommended that:

-athe member states and the European Commission take the necessary steps to ensure the availability of up-to-date and reliable data in order to monitor the achievement of...