Brussels, 22/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday evening, the European Commissioners for Social Affairs, Vladimir Spidla, and Regional Policy and Social Cohesion, Danuta Hübner, reacted to the announcement of Volkswagen's intentions to shed some 4000 jobs in its Brussels factory (Forest), explaining in a press release that they hope to propose (our translation) " a package of measures as part of the European cohesion policy, to help to find new work for those who are losing their jobs, to help people who want to start up their own business and to help subcontractors to get into new markets, in order to try to offset any repercussions of this decision". On Wednesday, Commissioner Hübner met the Belgian regional authorities, to discuss how the European structural funds may help to counter the consequences of this decision. The Commissioner would like the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) to become involved in this issue, in order to help finance these measures (see EUROPE 9311). Furthermore, Mr Spidla and Ms Hübner stressed the importance granted by the Commission to the observance of "European and national rules in cases of collective redundancies, particularly as relates to information and consultation of the workers' representations", stating that, "as always, social dialogue is the most important instrument to facilitate the situation of the workers as much as possible". Over recent months, the Commission has "emphasised the importance of supporting the workers in transition and helping them to find another job, thanks to active employment market policies, and to make their period of unemployment as short as possible. This is the essence of the much-debated approach of flexicurity" (see other article on the Commission's Green Paper), the Commission has stated. They point out that the European Social Fund supports training and requalification measures in cases of job losses, and that under this programme, Belgium has received 1.1 billion EUR in the period 2000-2006.
Mr Spidla believes that future globalisation adjustment fund may come into play
During a press conference on Wednesday, Commissioner Spidla stated that the Belgian government may call for help under the Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) proposed by the Commission, once it is operational (the EP and the Council are currently trying to reach an agreement at first reading with the objective of implementing the Fund in 2007). The redundancies in Brussels "could be" a case for the EGF, but we would have to wait for the final adoption of the regulation to know the exact conditions in which this can be brought into play, said Mr Spidla, who made it quite clear that he would be in favour of this. José Manuel Barroso has also previously said that the Fund could not be invoked in case of delocalisations within the EU (which is the case in the Volkswagen affair).
In the meantime, Francis Wurtz, president of the GUE/NGL group at the EP, has written to President Borrell to ask for the question to be included on the agenda of the plenary session next week in Brussels, in the form of a declaration by the Commission followed by debate (see EUROPE 9311). "This, with the job losses to be caused by this aggravated 'Vilvorde' affair, will be a real social disaster in Belgium and, more generally, a challenge at the level of the whole of the EU".
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has declared that he is "shocked" by the "national considerations" behind the job losses at the Forest factory (Volkswagen intends to concentrate the production of the Golf at its German factories in Wolfsburg and Mosel), and the Finance Minister, Didier Reynders, spoke of a new manifestation of "national protectionism" which we have "already seen in various dossiers in France" (a reference to the closure of the Renault factory in Vilvorde, near Brussels, which shedded 2900 jobs 10 years ago). (mg / hb)