Tsjechië ontvangt bijdrage uit Europees globaliseringsfonds (en) - Hoofdinhoud

The European Commission today approved an application from the Czech Republic for assistance under the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). The €323 820 requested by the Czech authorities will help 460 redundant workers back into employment. The application was submitted after the Unilever production plant in the Czech town of Nelahozeves was closed and its workers dismissed. The application will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council (the EU's Budgetary Authorities) for approval.

"Reorganisation of production capacities and the closure of production plants in the wake of the impact of the crisis on consumers' spending patterns leads to situations of hardship that the EGF is there to address", said László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. He added: "Nelahozeves, the district of Melník, depends largely on food processing and over 25% of those looking for work in the area only have basic education - without additional support, the workers risk slipping into long-term unemployment".

The Czech application relates to 634 redundancies in Unilever CR spol.s r.o. in the plant of Nelahozeves in the Czech Republic, of whom 460 are targeted for EGF assistance. This Unilever plant supplied food products to the entire EU market and the decline in demand for its products made it unsustainable. Unilever decided to close its factory at Nelahozeves and supply the local and EU markets from other production sites. The economic and financial crisis is at the base of these redundancies: from September 2008 to August 2009 retail turnover in the EU-27 declined by 3.32 %, in the Euro zone by 4.52 %, and in the Czech Republic by 5.88 %.

The redundancies occurred in Nelahozeves, a town in the district of Melník in Central Bohemia the economy of which is largely dependent on food processing. The majority of the redundant workers in Unilever have only basic education and are therefore particularly exposed to the risk of long-term unemployment.

The package of the EGF assistance for the former workers of Unilever will include outplacement assistance, one-to-one counselling and job-search assistance; training; seminars and special workshops for career transition; measures to stimulate older workers; entrepreneurship promotion and aid towards self-employment; and job search allowances as well as help towards mobility. The total estimated cost of the package which has started to be deployed is almost € 500 000, of which the European Union has been asked to provide EGF assistance of € 323 820.

Background

There have been 73 applications to the EGF since the start of its operations in January 2007, for a total amount of about €408.5 million, helping more than 77,300 workers. EGF applications relate to the following sectors: automotive (France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Belgium); textiles (Italy, Malta, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Belgium); mobile phones (Finland and Germany); domestic appliances (Italy); computers and electronic products (Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands); shipbuilding (Denmark); mechanical/electronic (Denmark); repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft (Ireland); crystal glass (Ireland); ceramics and natural stone (Spain); financial services (Netherlands); construction (Netherlands, Ireland and Lithuania); carpentry and joinery (Spain); electrical equipment (Lithuania) publishing and printing industry (Netherlands and Germany), furniture (Lithuania), shoe manufacture (Portugal), retail trade (Czech Republic and Spain) and wholesale trade (Netherlands). Final reports from the earlier cases supported by the EGF show strong results in helping workers stay in the labour market and find new jobs.

The EGF, an initiative first proposed by President Barroso to provide help for people who lose their jobs due to the impact of globalisation, was established by the European Parliament and the Council at the end of 2006. In June 2009, the EGF rules were revised to strengthen the role of the EGF as an early intervention instrument. It forms part of Europe's response to the financial and economic crisis. The revised EGF Regulation entered into force on 2 July 2009 and applies to all applications received from 1 May 2009 onwards.

Further information

EGF website:

http://ec.europa.eu/egf

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