Commission proposes up to €500 million pe r year for a new European Globalisation a djustment Fund to support workers.

[Henk Elegeert]

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http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/emplweb/news/news_en.cfm?id=131

"
Commission proposes up to €500 million per year for a new European
Globalisation adjustment Fund to support workers.

Brussels 01-03-2006. EU workers will be helped back to work by a new
annual fund of up to €500 million, that could benefit every year up to
50,000 workers in the EU, especially in the regions and sectors hit by
major changes in world trade patterns. The new 'European Globalisation
adjustment Fund' (EGF), proposed today by the Commission, will provide
one-off, time limited individual support for tailor-made services to
help, for example, workers affected by globalisation with individual
wage allowances, re-training or concrete assistance to find new jobs.

The opening-up of economies to international competition brings new
opportunities in terms of economic dynamism, competitiveness and the
creation of high-quality jobs. The Union's overall policy response to
this positive challenge of globalisation lies in its Strategy for Growth
and Jobs, which helps Member States and citizens benefit from the
opportunities of technological innovation and global markets, notably
through the anticipation and positive management of change.

However, job losses in less competitive sectors are an inevitable impact
of trade opening and globalisation. In this context, the aim of the new
Fund is to enable the EU to support workers made redundant as a result
of trade-related adjustment changes.

President Barroso outlined the thinking which led to today's proposal.
"The Globalisation adjustment Fund will express the Union's solidarity
towards those severely and personally affected by trade-adjustment
redundancies. In this way, it will provide a stimulus to respond
appropriately and effectively to the adverse impact of market opening.
The fund will help workers made redundant back to work because we want a
competitive, but also a fair EU," he said.

EU Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Commissioner,
Vladimir Spidla, added: "This Fund is about people. In a globalised
economy, some workers in particular sectors regrettably lose their jobs.
As the EU takes external trade decisions, it is logical that it takes
responsibility through this new European Globalisation adjustment Fund,
to ensure workers who lose their jobs due to such trade changes are
neither forgotten nor ignored in a changing economic environment."

Acting as a sign of the EU solidarity, the EGF will complement the
efforts of the Member States at national, regional and local levels. The
one-off, tailor-made services to be funded by the EGF include job search
assistance, personalised retraining, promoting entrepreneurship, or
assisting self employment.

Equally, special temporary 'in-work supplements', such as allowances for
those participating in training, may be available, as well as
complementary wage allowances for workers over 50. The measures are
designed to help workers laid off by multinational or national
companies, including SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), find and
retain a new job; the actions will be spread over 18 months.
...
"

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