Brussels, 24/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 1 March 2006, the European Commission is expected to unveil a draft regulation establishing an EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund, to come into being on 1 January 2007 (at the start of the new budget period, 2007-2013). The draft regulation reflects the decisions made by the European Council of December 2005 on the upcoming Financial Perspectives by providing details about the Globalisation Adjustment Fund's aims and intervention criteria, eligible measures and the procedures to be followed by the Member States when applying for funding, budget procedures and control and financial management of the funding. The Globalisation Adjustment Fund has been incorporated in the new version of the inter-institutional agreement on budget discipline and improving budget procedures unveiled by the European Commission on 1 February, a vital document for the formal adoption by the European Parliament of the 2007-2013 Financial Perspectives (see EUROPE 9122). The European Commission, Parliament and Council hope to finalise agreement in April on the formal adoption of the EU's next budget.
As decided by the European Council of December last year, the Globalisation Adjustment Fund will provide additional aid to workers who have lost their jobs because of large-scale changes in the structure of global trade, in order to help them re-train and find work. The aid provided by the fund will come on top of Member States' efforts at national, regional and local level, with the aim of getting laid off workers back to the labour market as soon as possible. The use of the fund will depend on the scale of the economic restructuring and its impact on the local, regional and national economies.
As the new inter-institutional agreement stipulates, the maximum funding for the Globalisation Adjustment Fund is EUR 500 million a year, which may be provided from the existing funding available under the overall ceiling of funding for the previous year and/or commitment credits