Employment: EU Globalisation Fund supported over 21000 workers in 2011
More than 21 000 workers dismissed due to the economic crisis and the effects of globalisation were helped to find new job opportunities by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF:an initiative first proposed by President Barroso to provide help for people who lose their jobs due to the impact of globalisation, was established by the European Parliament and the Council at the end of 2006.) in 2011, according to a report adopted today by the European Commission. The EU's Globalisation Fund paid out a total of €128 million in 2011 to assist these workers in twelve Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland and Portugal).
László Andor, EU Commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: "The European Globalisation Fund has proved to be an efficient and effective tool for people who have lost their job. It is a concrete expression of European solidarity and a practical instrument helping people and regions recover from large-scale layoffs. In particular, the EGF allows Member States to support targeted measures adapted to the circumstances of the workers in question. Since its launch in 2007, a total of some 91 000 redundant workers have already benefited from or are about to receive EGF assistance for training, job search and other forms of support. The EGF will continue to play a crucial role in fighting unemployment."
The fifth annual report on the activities and results of the EGF shows a 50% increase in 2011 of EGF contributions paid out to Member States compared to 2010. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union took 22 decisions in 2011 to deploy EGF funding. The Czech Republic and Greece received support from the EGF for the first time in 2011.
The support was granted to co-finance active labour market policy measures proposed and organised for the workers by the twelve Member States, over a 24-month period following the date of application. The EGF co-financed 65% of the measures, with national sources providing the remaining 35%. The concrete measures for the job-seekers included intensive, personalised job-search assistance, various types of vocational training, up-skilling and retraining measures, temporary incentives and allowances for the duration of the active measures, and other types of support such as business creation support and public employment schemes.
The report also describes the outcome of four EGF contributions granted in previous years to three Member States (Belgium, Sweden and Ireland) in terms of how EGF support helped the redundant workers find new jobs. The results are encouraging as 2 352 workers (45% of the total 5 228 receiving support from the EGF) who had been laid off by employers in the car, textile and computer industries had found new jobs or had become self-employed by the end of the EGF support period (mid-2011).
The good results in terms of re-integration into employment suggest that a longer support period and higher EU co-financing (as a result of the amendment of the EGF Regulation in 2009) is beneficial for both the workers and the local and regional labour markets.
Source: European Commission
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