Brussels, 24/08/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 23 August, the European Commission announced its proposal that the European Globalisation Fund (EGF) be mobilised to a value of €1.8 million, to assist workers in the textiles sector who have lost their jobs in the Spanish region of Galicia. The proposal (which actually dates from 20 August) is still to be adopted by the Council and the European Parliament. “Galicia has been severely hit by the industrial crisis. 32,700 jobs were lost in manufacturing industry during the period 2007 - 2009, of which 4,414 in textiles, 3,940 in the automotive industry, and 2,098 in the maritime industry”, said, László Andor, the European commissioner for employment and social affairs, according to a press release.
The application concerns 703 workers made redundant by 82 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Galicia. These redundancies have had enormous repercussions locally, because they worsen the unemployment problem in the region. In terms of percentages of clothing industry workers, the number of workers made redundant represents, in the hardest-hit towns, 9.68% in Pontevedra, 5% in Lugo, 4.4 % in La Coruña and 2.23 % in Ourense.
500 of the 703 workers will benefit from measures under the EGF, mainly to find a new job (careers advice, training and recycling, support for entrepreneurship, mobility and training cheques, etc). The total cost of this raft of measures has been estimated at nearly €2.8 million; of this sum, the aid requested from the European Union under the EGF will be €1.8 million (to be taken from the 2010 EU budget).
The Commission notes that since the EGF opened its doors in January 2007, 66 requests for assistance have been made, worth a total of €373.6 million. More than 70,000 have enjoyed the support of this fund. The sectors for which applications have been made are as follows: automotive (France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany and Sweden), textiles (Italy, Malta, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Belgium), mobile telecommunications (Finland and Germany), household electronic goods (Italy), IT and electronic equipment (Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands), the mechanical and electronics industry (Denmark), aircraft and special engines repairs and maintenance (Ireland), crystal (Ireland), ceramics and natural stone (Spain), construction (Netherlands, Ireland and Lithuania), carpentry and cabinet-making (Spain), electrical equipment (Lithuania), publishing and printing (Netherlands and Germany), furniture-making (Lithuania), retail trade (Czech Republic and Spain) and wholesale trade (Netherlands). (L.C./transl.fl)