Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2696 of 4 December 2023 setting out the procedures to follow and the template to be used for conducting the beneficiary surveys of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council

This Regulation sets out the procedures to follow and the template to be used for conducting the beneficiary surveys referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2021/691.

1 The Commission shall set up the survey on an online survey-management system, in the official language(s) of the Member State concerned, using the template referred to in Article 3. The link to the survey shall be sent to the Member State concerned not later than five months after the end of the implementation period of the relevant financial contribution.

2 The Member State concerned shall launch the survey during the sixth month after the end of the implementation period in accordance with Article 22(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/691 by sending out an invitation to participate in the survey to each beneficiary of European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) assistance. From the date of the launch of the survey, the Commission shall keep the survey active for at least four weeks.

3 The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission about possible holiday periods or other circumstances that might impact the participation rate. In this case, the survey may be scheduled for an extended period of up to eight weeks.

4 The Member State concerned shall send a reminder to the beneficiaries one week before the scheduled end of the survey.

5 In case of low participation rates, the Commission and the Member State concerned may agree on an extension of the survey period. If it is agreed to extend the survey period, the Member State concerned shall send out an additional reminder to the beneficiaries and shall indicate the duration of the extended period.

6 The Member State concerned shall report to the Commission about the efforts made to encourage participation and inform the Commission as soon as the survey has been launched, and as soon as any reminder has been sent out.

7 The Member State concerned shall make aware the beneficiaries of the future survey as soon as they seek assistance and request them to keep their contact details updated until the launch of the survey. Member States shall help beneficiaries in accessing the online survey-management system.

1 The beneficiary surveys referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2021/691 shall be carried out using the template set out in the Annex.

2 The Commission shall make the template available in all official Union languages.

3 The Member State concerned may request to add questions to the template for national monitoring or evaluation purposes, as long as the template as such is not altered. The suggested additional questions have to be submitted to the Commission in the official language(s) of the Member State not later than two months after the end of the implementation period. The Commission decides whether to allow additional questions to be added.

1 The Commission shall be the owner of the data collected. The Commission shall use the quantitative and qualitative information collected for monitoring and evaluation purposes only.

2 Upon request, the Commission shall make the aggregate results of a survey available to the Member State concerned for national monitoring and evaluation purposes.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.