Luxembourg, 20/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday 20 June, EU employment ministers managed to agree on the general outline of the European Globalisation Fund for 2014-2020. Countries disagree on a few key areas, but a Franco-German compromise suddenly made it possible to agree on a broad approach.
The political background to the question shifted dramatically in the space of only 24 hours following a deal between France and Germany the day before the meeting in Luxembourg. The Franco-German compromise re-introduces exemptions due to the economic crisis even beyond 2016 (a limitation in time that was initially suggested by the Irish Presidency in an attempt to keep everyone happy). Germany agrees with this as long as the scope of the fund is expanded. The reference to “workers” will be replaced with the term “beneficiaries” and it will be possible to use the fund to tackle youth unemployment in quite a complex manner. The United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Estonia and Slovakia still oppose the deal, either because of the exemptions due to the crisis or the reintroduction of a connection between the fund and measures to tackle youth unemployment. (JK/transl.fl)