Employment: Commission proposes €570,945 from Globalisation Fund for former workers of the car manufacturer Ford and its suppliers in Belgium | WPN World People News

The European Commission has proposed to provide Belgium with €570,945 from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help 479 workers made redundant by Ford in Genk (Belgium) and its suppliers to find new jobs. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval.

EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor commented: "Car production in Europe has dropped considerably in the years of the Eurozone crisis, mainly due to falling demand. At the same time, structural change in the car industry responding to globalisation is on-going. Many workers in the motor industry are experiencing hardship and EU solidarity in helping them to manage these difficult transitions is therefore important. The € 570,945 we have proposed would help these redundant car workers to adapt their skills and facilitate their transition to a new job."

Belgium applied for support from the EGF following the redundancies of 512 workers of Ford-Werke GmbH (Ford Genk) and ten of its suppliers. These redundancies were the result of a rapid decline of the EU’s market share in the production of passenger cars at worldwide level.

The measures co-financed by the EGF would help the 479 workers facing the greatest difficulties in finding new jobs by providing them with job-search assistance, active job-oriented guidance and a variety of retraining and vocational training.

The total estimated cost of the package is €1.14 million, of which the EGF would provide half.

Source: European Commission