Irish Regions Office Website

August 01, 2008

Funding for Economic and Natural Disasters

The €500 million European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) has begun softening the blow of significant job losses caused by companies directly affected by "major structural changes in world trade patterns". Under defined criteria, since last year Member States have been able to claim financial assistance to support retraining, upskilling or job search allowances related to significant numbers of interrelated redundancies affecting an enterprise, region or recognisable industrial sector. Payments totalling €13.6 million have been authorised recently to the national authorities to help 3,700 dismissed workers in the Portuguese and Spanish automotive sector and the Maltese textile sector to get back to work. However with €467 million still uncommitted, the first EGF Annual Report published in early July has seen the Commission propose simplified application procedures, with a view to clarifying and speeding up decision-making on applications and revising the EGF regulation. This move if approved, would significantly enlarge the fund’s scope through a downward revision of the eligibility threshold (currently standing at 1,000 workers); an increase in the duration of aid; a widening of its fields of applicability to see it applied to redundancies caused by changes in the evolution of technologies, production patterns, access to raw materials or price fluctuations; as well as to indirect job losses (to other companies in the geographical zone concerned). The financing of mobility allowances for workers looking for jobs in other Member States is also proposed.

Meanwhile the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) has made available aid totalling €162.4 million to help deal with the consequences of devastating floods that hit parts of England, Northern Ireland and Wales last summer. This can be employed towards the cost of emergency measures such as rescue services; restoring roads, water infrastructure and schools; securing dams; providing temporary accommodation;. and clean-up activities. Recent Commission proposals to extend the fund's scope to cover damage due to industrial accidents and to drop the threshold for intervention have been shelved by the Council of Ministers.

Globalisation fund: http://ec.europa.eu/egf

Solidarity fund: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/solidar/solid_en.htm

Posted by iroronan at August 1, 2008 03:41 PM