Applying to EGF: Lithuanias Experience

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Applying to EGF Lithuanias Experience

• Director of EU Structural Support Department
• Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the
  Republic of Lithuania
• Nijole Mackeviciene
• nmackeviciene_at_socmin.lt
• Meeting of the EGF Contact Persons,
• Brussels, 6 March 2008

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Presentation plan

• Key facts about the application
• Administration system
• Application timetable
• Main problems (1)
• Intervention timetable
• Main problems (2)
• Positive experience
• Recommendations

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1. Key facts about the application

• Sector textile and clothing.
• Company affected Alytaus tekstile, cotton
  text. producer.
• No. of redundancies 1089.
• No. targeted for assistance 700, of which
• 78 females
• 60 low-qualified (ISCO groups 7 and 8)
• 13 non-qualified (ISCO group 9)
• 36 pre-retirement age
• 8 with longstanding health problem or
  disability.
• Intervention criterion Art. 2(a), EGF
  Regulation.
• Planned budget 1,179,884.

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2. Administration system

• Managing authority
• Intermediate body
• Institution responsible for the evaluation  of
  globalization consequences
• European Social Fund Agency
• Paying authority
• Audit institution

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3. Application timetable
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4. Main problems (1)

• Establishment of clear timetables
• the text of Regulation provides rather vague
  guidance.
• Not all affected workers could be targeted
• e.g. those who left voluntarily earlier due to
  long-standing failure of Alytaus tekstile to
  pay salaries.
• Intervention planned and implemented at the same
  time, which causes difficulties with
• Availability of adequate resources (for
  intervention, which has not been formally
  approved by relevant budget authority)
• Co-ordination and complementarity between related
  interventions and meeting their multiple
  eligibility requirements national and EGF or
  (alternatively) ESF.

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5. Intervention timetable
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6. Main problems (2)

• Eligibility of job-search allowances
• 49 of the total budget
• Early feedback from the EC considering them
  passive measures and thus ineligible for EGF
• In Lithuanian context they are time-limited
  financial measures, designed specifically to
  support a package of individually tailored active
  measures - individual employment plan, strictly
  conditional on smooth implementation of the plan,
  with size of payments diminishing over time.

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7. Positive experience

• Early decision of the Government to apply
• Early and clear allocation of institutional
  responsibilities (no co-ordination problems)
• Building on previous experience with ESF
  programmes
• Monitoring and early anticipation of mass
  redundancy by labour exchange
• Availability of external expertise to assist with
  collection of data, conducting analysis and
  developing a case for EGF intervention
• Instant availability of advise from the EC
  services
• Instant availability of examples from other
  Member States in more advanced stages of
  application.

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8. Recommendations

• Address challenges
• provide further clarification of timetables and
  eligibility (EC)
• reconsider possibilities for targeting all the
  affected groups (EC).
• Multiply positive experience
• ensure smooth functioning of national mechanisms
  for early warning on the negative effects of
  globalisation (MS)
• decide early to apply (MS)
• build on the existing national institutions and
  procedures (MS)
• facilitate peer learning (MS and EC) and provide
  early guidance (EC).

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• THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
• E-mail nmackeviciene_at_socmin.lt
• Telephone [phone]