EU geeft €1.7 miljoen aan ontslagen Spaanse autoarbeiders (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – One thousand Spanish car workers who have lost their jobs could receive some €1.7 million from an EU fund that aims to deal with the effects of globalisation, the European Commission said on Tuesday (10 February).
The commission's decision concerns 1,082 employees from 12 companies located in the Spanish regions of Castilla y Leon and Aragon, spokeswoman Chantal Hughes told journalists in Brussels.
A further €1.7 million will be provided by the Spanish government.
The EU money would come from the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), which was launched in 2007 with the aim of helping workers who have lost their job "as a result of changing global trade patterns to find another job as quickly as possible."
The fund has at its disposition €500 million per year, but only €60 million were used in its first year of its existence. Some 15,000 workers have benefited from the money.
Today's announcement comes as concerns about the situation of the European car market have been increasing in the last few months, with EU states producing a bouquet of variegated rescue plans for the sector.
In Spain alone, the third biggest car producer in Europe after Germany and France, car sales fell by 28.1 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year, and by 41.6 percent in January this year compared to the same month last year, according to the Spanish Association of Car and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC).
"The automotive industry in Europe is feeling the impact of changing demand and production patterns as manufacturers look for cheaper places to produce their cars and trucks," EU employment commissioner Vladimir Spidla said in a statement.
Some of the concerned workers lost their jobs as a direct result of production plants being moved outside the EU, notably to Morocco, Turkey and Taiwan, the commission said.
The Spanish application to receive EGF money is the fifth coming from the automotive industry to be approved by the commission, with Portuguese and French car workers having also benefited from the fund.
Other applications have been received by the mobile phone and textile industry as well.
The Spanish demand will now be sent to the European Parliament and the member states, who must first approve release of the funds.
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