The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to start in early 2007

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will start operations in the beginning of next year. The EU Council of Ministers made the decision on establishing the Fund in Brussels today, the 19th of December.

The Globalisation Fund will support people who have lost their jobs as a result of structural changes of the world trade in retraining, vocational reintegration and employment. The Fund will grant assistance for active labour market policy measures. These include job search assistance, career guidance, tailored training and assistance for job search and mobility.

The Fund will grant support for employees that are left jobless. It will not finance the structural reform of companies or sectors. The EU can fund no more than one half of the total expenditure of the measures. Funding can be granted for no longer than a period of one year. This support is a one-off assistance.

The Fund will annually grant assistance up to a total of €500 million. In cases where assistance is made available, the job losses must have a clear connection to structural changes in world trade and a significant negative effect on the regional or local economy. Also small member states with low populations, such as Finland, will be able to receive assistance from the Fund.

The Member States must apply for funding from the Commission within ten weeks of the day on which the requirements for receiving assistance are met. The Commission will together with the Member States assess if the criteria for granting funding are met.

This assistance will complement the support granted through the EU's Structural Funds and the Member States' own measures. It cannot be used to replace the duties imposed by legislation or collective agreements on companies towards the dismissed employees.

The EU summit made the decision on establishing the Globalisation Fund in connection with the financial framework solution in December 2005. The Commission had proposed the setting up of the Fund in March this year. One of the central objectives of Finland's Presidency of the EU in the sector of employment was to advance the processing of the Globalisation Fund issue to an extent that would enable the application of the Regulation as soon as from the beginning of next year.

By Finland's EU Presidency