RESTRUCTURING/GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND : A DIFFICULT FUND TO IMPLEMENT.

The Globalisation Adjustment Fund proposed by the European Commission on 1 March outlines very strict conditions for intervention

Dual economic and social criteria

EU intervention will only be possible if two criteria are met.

Economic criteria. There must be 1) major changes to the structure of global trade, 2) resulting in "serious economic disruption", (massive increase in imports into the EU, progressive loss of European market share in a given sector or relocation to third countries, ...).

Social criteria. redundancies must be of a certain magnitude:

- Either within a company: 1) at least 1,000 staff (through a single operation, according to one Commission expert); 2) including sub-contractors, 3) in a region where unemployment is higher than the EU or national average (mesured at Nuts II level (1);

- Or at sectoral level: 1) at least 1,000 employees, 2) over a period of six months, 3) in one or more companies at the same sector (level 2 of the EU's NACE nomenclature), 4) representing at least 1% of regional employment (NUTS II level regions (2)

A Commission expert told Europolitics that the magnitude of redundancies is only considered within a single administrative region and as such, transboundary operations are not therefore covereda

Targeted actions

Financial contributions will be available to actions falling within "a coordinated body of tailor-made services focusing on re-employment", notably:

- active labour market measures (job-search assistance, career guidance, personalised retraining and recycling, redeployment assistance,apromoting entrepreneurship and assisting self-employment) ;

- special temporary in-work supplements (job-seeking and mobility allowances, allowances for those participating in training, complementary wage allowances for workers over 50 who agree to return to the labour market on lower wages).

With a budget of 500 per year, assistance should be provided to an average of 35,000 workers (a maximum of 50,000). Funds will not be paid directly to beneficiaries but to the states concerned.

Cumbersome procedure

All fund allocations will be subject to an application from a member state demonstrating eligibility (3), a Commission proposal and a specific decision by the Council of Ministers of the European Union and the European Parliament (co-decision, qualified majority).

Aid will not replace actions falling under the responsibility of companies redeployment plans for example). It will complement actions by the...