EGF to Help Workers in the Shipbuilding Sector

Over EUR7.8 million in EU aid to help unemployed workers in Denmark and Spain to retrain and find new work was approved by Parliament on Tuesday.

The money will come from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).

Danish shipbuilders

Denmark applied in October 2011 for EGF aid to fund training and entrepreneurship schemes for 550 shipbuilders made redundant by the Odense Steel  Shipyard or its suppliers.

The schemes will help them find work in other industries, including energy technology, landscaping and robotics.

The EGF aid will total EUR6.5 million and the Danish authorities will contribute a further EUR3.5 million. This is the second aid application for former employees of the Odense Steel  Shipyard and its suppliers.

EU shipbuilders have been losing market share to Asian competitors for decades, in a recession-hit world market that shrank by 20% between 2008 and 2009.

Spanish builders

Spain applied in December 2011 for EGF aid to help 320 workers made redundant by small building firms in the Aragon region to find new jobs through counselling, training and job-seekers assistance.

The EGF aid will total EUR1.3 million, and the Spanish authorities will contribute a further EUR 700,000.

In Aragon, jobs lost in the building industry due to recession accounted for 15% of an overall increase in the jobless total from 40,000 in 2008 to 100,000 in 2011. Aragon has already made another two EGF aid applications, for redundant automotive and retail workers.

MEPs regret Council opposition to EGF

MEPs regret that the Council has blocked the extension of the “crisis derogation” that allows financial assistance for workers made redundant not only following changes in global trade patterns but also as a result of the current financial and economic crisis. They deplore the fact that Denmark is one of the countries undermining the future of the EGF after 2013 even though it has benefited several times from EGF aid under both its trade-related and its crisis-related criteria.

The Council approved the applications in mid July.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, September 11, 2012