EUobserver.com

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – The European Commission has approved German and Finnish applications for money from the EU's globalisation fund, granting almost €15 million to a total of 4,300 workers from the two countries.

The demands concern BenQ company in Germany and Perlos in Finland, both in the mobile phone sector.

Germany had requested a contribution of €12.8 million from the EGF to aid 3,300 workers sacked by BenQ, while Finland had asked for €2 million for the 1,000 people dismissed by Perlos.

They are respectively the third and fourth projects to have been given the green light for money from the fund.

The fund was put in place at the end of last year following pressure by some national governments to counter the negative aspects of globalisation – such as job losses when companies move to cheaper production countries.

It has been made available since 1 January 2007 and has a maximum of €500 million per year. It is financed by unused community funds in other areas.

The money is supposed to be used by national governments to offer retraining and help the reintegration of workers into the labour market.

In addition, in order to be eligible, the applicant country has to prove that the job losses have occurred as a result of "changes in world trade patterns" - or globalisation.

It must also concern redundancies of over 1,000 workers. The only exception to that rule is for small states – such as Malta - where enterprises of more than 1,000 workers are hard to find.

Only three countries - including those announced today, have fulfilled the conditions so far.

France, which has in the past repeatedly warned against the negative impacts of globalisation, was the first member state to apply for a contribution from the fund.

It was granted some €2.558 million and €1.258 million in June to help workers sacked by car companies Peugeot-Citroen and Renault respectively.

The demands have now to be approved by member states and the European Parliament in order to take effect.

"One has to be realistic about the procedures", a spokesperson for the commission said today.

"There is always a little time between the proposal of the European Commission and the decision of the Council [the member states] and the European Parliament. Normally this kind of procedure takes time", he added.

Currently, two other member states are waiting in line for money from the EGF.

Italy has asked for a total of more than €42 million in three different cases, while Malta has requested €681,207 in one case, according to the fund's website.

Brussels grants cash to Germans and Finns hit by globalisation