Malta en Portugal krijgen geld uit fonds voor opvangen effecten globalisering (en)

The EP Budgets Committee approved on Thursday the release of aid from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGAF) for Portugal and Malta. The aim is to help 1549 Portuguese car industry workers and 675 Maltese textile industry workers to retrain.

Portugal and Malta applied last year for aid from the EGAF, which was set up in 2006 to counter the adverse effects of globalisation. In December the European Commission approved these two applications on the technical level but the budgetary authority (Parliament and Council) still had to decide whether the use of the fund was justified and whether the total requested sum of €3 106 882 should be released.

Now the Budgets Committee - after consulting the Employment Committee - has adopted its position on the basis of two reports. The first, by Reimer Böge (EPP-ED,DE) deals with mobilisation of the fund as such, while the second, by Kyösti Virrankoski (ALDE, FI) deals with the adjustment needed to the 2008 budget in order to fund the aid to these countries.

Retraining of Maltese textile workers

MEPs welcomed the application by Malta for €681 207 to fund an assistance plan for textile workers who had lost their jobs following the unexpected closure of two companies, VF Ltd. and Bortex Clothing. The total cost of the plan to reintegrate the redundant workers on the labour market is put at €1.3 million by the Maltese authorities.

This is the first time EGAF money has been used for one of the countries that joined the EU since 2004. It is also the first time that a special clause in the regulation governing the fund, relating to smaller markets, has been used. The 675 redundancies account for 0.4% of the working population of this country of 402 000 inhabitants.

Over €2.4 million for Portuguese automobile workers

The Budgets Committee also gave the go-ahead to the transfer of €2 425 675 to retrain 1549 Portuguese workers laid off by three automobile companies (Alcoa Fujikura, Johnson Controls and a factory belonging to Opel Portugal). The plan of the Portuguese authorities, expected to cost a total of €4.8 million, provides for vocational retraining, aid for entrepreneurship and certification of the employees' qualifications.

MEPs ask for more detail

During a debate in the budgets and employment committees on 10 March, some MEPs expressed reservations about the scale of the administrative costs, which represent 10% of the total sum requested by the Maltese authorities. Some MEPs, notably from the Greens/EFA group, also voiced concern about the structure of the Portuguese plan, arguing that to grant a subsidy that which was largely equivalent to salary compensation was in breach of the regulation and could set a dangerous precedent.

In the end, however, the Budgets Committee decided that the use of the EGAF was justified in both cases. MEPs nevertheless adopted an amendment expressing concern about the measures used to reduce the number of people left without a job and needing support from the fund. They ask the Commission and the Portuguese authorities to ensure that the principle of not using the Fund for salary compensation is respected. 

Parliament is due to vote on the two reports at its April plenary session.

The EGAF, which was designed to help workers who lose their jobs following shifts in world trade patterns, came into operation in 2007. Three Member States have received funding from it so far: France, Germany and Finland. Further applications made by Italy, Portugal and Spain are in the pipeline.