L167/26 Official Journal of the European Union 29.6.2009 REGULATION (EC) No 546/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 on establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular the third paragraph of Article 159 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (?), Whereas: (1) Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parlia- ment and of the Council of 20 December 2006 (*) estab- lished the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (the EGF) to enable the Community to provide support and show solidarity to workers made redundant as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation. 2)  In its Communication of 2 July 2008, the Commission presented, in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, its first annual report to the European Par- liament and to the Council. The Commission concluded that it would be appropriate to reinforce the impact of the EGF on the creation of jobs and training opportunities for Europe’s workers. (3)  The ‘Common Principles of Flexicurity’ endorsed by the European Council on 14 December 2007 and the Com- mission Communication entitled ‘New skills for new jobs: Anticipating and matching labour market and skills needs’ (') Opinion of 24 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (%) Opinion of 22 April 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (}) Opinion of the European Parliament of 6 May 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 11 June 2009. (%) O] L 48, 22.2.2008, p. 82. both emphasise the objective of fostering the continuous adaptability and employability of workers through better learning opportunities at all levels and through skills- development strategies responsive to the needs of the economy, including, for example, skills needed for the transition to a low-carbon and knowledge-based economy. On 26 November 2008, the Commission issued a Com- munication on a European Economic Recovery Plan based on the fundamental principles of solidarity and social jus- tice. As part of the response to the crisis, the rules of the EGF need to be revised to provide for a derogation in order to broaden temporarily the EGF's scope and to enable it to react more effectively. The Member States applying for an EGF contribution under this derogation must establish a direct and demonstrable link between the redundancies and the financial and economic crisis. In order to ensure that the intervention criteria are applied transparently, a definition of the event constituting redun- dancy should be introduced. In order to give more flexibil- ity to Member States to present applications and to better meet the solidarity objective, the redundancy threshold should be lowered. In conformity with the objective of fair and non- discriminatory treatment, all workers whose redundancy can be clearly linked to the same redundancy event should be entitled to benefit from the package of personalised ser- vices presented for an EGF contribution. Technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission should be used in order to facilitate the implementation of the EGF. In order to provide additional EGF support during the period of the financial and economic crisis, the co-financing rate should be temporarily increased. In order to improve the quality of the actions and to leave sufficient time for the measures to be effective in reinte- grating into employment the most vulnerable workers, the period during which the eligible actions must be carried out should be extended and clarified.