Portugal krijgt 1.5 miljoen uit het Europees fonds voor aanpassing aan de globalisering (en)

The European Commission has approved an application from Portugal for assistance from the European Globalisation adjustment Fund i (EGF). The application concerns 726 workers made redundant by three companies operating in the car sector in the regions Norte and Centro, in Portugal.

The EGF funding of € 1.5 million requested by the Portuguese authorities will help the redundant workers back into employment. The Commission is now making a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council to make the necessary funding available.

The Portuguese application relates to 726 redundancies which followed the closure of three manufacturers of automotive components between July 2010 and April 2011. The fall in demand for electrical equipment for cars, which followed the decline in demand for new motor vehicles in the EU combined with the impossibility of further reducing production costs and/or access to credit, resulted in the closure of the Lear production plant in Guarda and Krombert & Schubert Portugal, Lda. The closure of Leoni Wiring Systems Viana, Lda was due to the combination of a difficult economic situation due to the crisis with the relocation of the production plant to Morocco.

The package of EGF assistance will help the 726 former car workers back into employment by offering them: guidance; recognition, validation and certification of competences; on-the-job training, vocational training and grants for training at personal initiative; entrepreneurial support and support to business creation; and hiring incentives.

The total estimated cost of the package is € 2.3 million, of which the European Union has been asked to provide EGF assistance of € 1.5 million.