EU to use special fund to help Spanish car workers

BRUSSELS, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- The European Commission approved on Tuesday an application from Spain to help the country's car workers under the European Globalization Adjustment Fund (EGF).

The application will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for approval of release of the funds.

The application, for a total of 1.6943 million euros (around 2.2026 million U.S. dollars), was submitted after 1,082 employees were made redundant at three car producers and nine car component manufacturers located in the two neighboring Spanish regions of Castilla y Leon and Aragon.

"The automotive industry in Europe is feeling the impact of changing demand and production patterns as manufacturers look for cheaper places to produce their cars and trucks," EU Employment Commissioner, Vladimir Spidla, said.

"This is the case in Castilla y Leon and Aragon, the two Spanish regions affected, where the EGF has been asked to co-fund member state activities to help redundant workers back into jobs as quickly as possible," he said.

For three of the companies involved, the redundancies are a direct result of a delocalization of production to countries and regions outside the EU.

For the remaining nine, the redundancies result from an increase in imports of cars and their components into the EU and a decrease in the EU market share in the production of motor vehicles, according to the European Commission.

The total estimated cost of the package of EGF assistance is 3.4 million euros (around 4.4 million dollars), of which the European Commission has been asked to fund 1.7 million euros (2.2 million dollars). The funding will help 368 most affected redundant workers back into employment.

The assistance will include guidance, preparation for personal pathways, general and specific training, support by a specialized team for reintegration, incentives to support active job-searching and incentives for rapid reintegration into employment.

There have been 15 applications to the EGF so far, the Commission said. Twelve of the applications have been approved, helping more than 15,000 workers.

The Castilla y Leon and Aragon application is the fifth concerning the automotive industry approved by the Commission for presentation to the European Parliament and the Council. The other applications concern the mobile phone and textile industries.

The EGF may give financial assistance in cases where more than 1,000 workers in an enterprise, region or a sector are made redundant due to major structural changes in world trade patterns leading notably to substantially increased imports into the EU or a rapid decline in EU market share.

The EGF was established by the European Parliament and the Council at the end of 2006 to provide help for people who have lost their jobs due to the impact of globalization.