Irish Regions Office Website

April 22, 2009

Globalisation Fund - easier access

The European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has adopted a regulation to revise the elligibility criteria of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) - the scheme to provide support in instances of large-scale redundancy caused by economic displacement to cheaper economies and much spoken of in the Irish media in relation to the DELL closure in Limerick - in order to ensure easier access to funding during the current economic crisis. The revision was part of the measures proposed by the Commission in last November's EU Economic Recovery Plan.

The proposal aims to lower the minimum eligibility criteria to instances of 500 (from 1000) redundancies per enterprise (including subcontractors and buyers) or per sector; to extend the duration of support to up to 2 years; and to increase the co-financing rate of aid to 65%. The fund may be used for schemes in retraining, lifelong learning activities, worker mobility, careers advice or transition to self-employment. In early May the negotiated agreement will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament before passing to the Council of Ministers. It remains unclear whether the latter will fully endorse the proposal, as several Member States fear that lowering the eligibility criteria will deplete resources too rapidly.

www.eu2009.cz/en/news-anddocuments/press-releases/agreementon-european-globalisation-fundbrokered-
by-presidency-17564/

Posted by iroronan at April 22, 2009 12:09 AM