EU job-search aid: €1 million for 339 former coal miners in Spain
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-Staff made redundant by five mining companies; most from “Hullera Vasco Leonesa S.A.” (227);
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-Spain submitted application for aid from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) on 20 January 2017;
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-Job losses were the result of competition from cheaper coal from non-European countries.
EU job-search aid worth €1,002,264 for 339 dismissed coal miners in the Spanish region Castilla y León was approved by Parliament on Tuesday.
A resolution, drafted by rapporteur Monika Vana (Greens/EFA, AT), recommending that the aid request be approved, was passed by 602 votes to 86, with 9 abstentions.
Over the past 10 years, coal production in the EU and the global price of coal have fallen sharply, resulting in an increase in coal imports from non-EU countries and in many EU coal mines becoming unprofitable and closing down, MEPs note in the resolution.
These trends have been ”even more pronounced in Spain, leading to a reorganisation and reconversion of the coal mining sector”, MEPs say, pointing out that “ten coal mining enterprises had to close in Castilla y León alone over the period 2010-2016.”
Next steps
The EGF aid still needs to be approved by the Council of Ministers, on 11 July 2017.
Quick facts
The measures co-financed by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund help redundant workers by providing career coaching and individual guidance, employment and business services, a variety of vocational training schemes, services for new entrepreneurs and start-up grants, hiring incentives, training-related allowances, subsidies and contributions towards removal costs. The Fund’s annual ceiling is €150 million.
Who's involved
Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in the mining sector in Spain
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