600 Litouwse textielarbeiders krijgen hulp van EU Globaliseringsfonds (en)
The European Commission has today approved an application from Lithuania for assistance under the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF). The application will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for decision. The funding will help the 600 most affected of the redundant workers in the textiles sector back into employment. The application – for €298,994 – was submitted after 1,089 employees were made redundant from Alytaus Tekstile in Alytus, in southern Lithuania.
"All corners of the EU are feeling the effects, both positive and negative, of globalisation. I am glad that workers in our newer Member States are also benefiting from the help the EGF can provide," said Employment Commissioner Vladimír Špidla. "I am confident that it will help take the edge off these job losses by assisting the Lithuanian authorities in getting the workers back into the labour market as soon as possible."
The Lithuanian application concerns 1,089 dismissals in Alytaus Tekstile. The textile manufacturer went bankrupt in July 2007 as a result of imports of cheap textiles from outside the EU. In this case, the ending of the Multi Fibre Arrangement has lead to a sharp increase in imports of textile products from low-wage economies, largely in Asia. Wages form a significant part of the cost of the products in this sector, and many firms are experiencing difficulties. The application focuses on the 600 workers still in need of assistance at the time of application.
Background
The EGF may give a financial contribution in cases where more than 1,000 workers in an enterprise or a regional sector are made redundant due to major structural changes in world trade patterns leading to substantially increased imports into the EU or a rapid decline in EU market shares.
The EGF was established by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council at the end of 2006 to provide help for people who have lost their jobs due to the impact of globalisation. Commission President José Manuel Barroso proposed the idea in 2005 to create an instrument of solidarity to help workers affected by redundancies resulting from changes in world trade patterns find their way back into work.
There have been 12 applications to the EGF so far. The Alytaus Tekstile application is the eighth approved by the Commission for presentation to the European Parliament and the Council. Six of those applications have been paid in full (€21.7 million in total helping 6,910 workers), a seventh was approved by the Commission on 23 July (€10.5 million helping 1,589 workers). It is the second application concerning the textiles sector, but a further four applications concerning this sector in Italy are currently being assessed by the Commission.
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