EU aid of €6.2 million for former Ford Genk workers

The EU Commission has offered €6.2 million in aid from its globalisation fund to help former Ford Genk employees find a new job. About 4,500 workers were made redundant when factory in Limburg closed down at the end of last year. 

Those eligible for assistance include Ford workers as well as employees at 11 companies that supplied the factory with parts. The aid was proposed by work and social affairs commissioner Marianne Thyssen of the Flemish party CD&V. It still has to be approved by the governments of member states and by the European Parliament.

The globalisation fund was set up to help workers in EU member states affected by changes in the global labour market, which have had a particularly strong effect on the car industry: Europe’s share of that market has fallen from 32.2% in 2007 to 23.2% in 2012.

The money is intended to be used for individual support and assistance, for training programmes and for hiring bonuses to companies for taking on older workers. The total cost of the programme is €10.4 million, of which the EU will provide €6.2 million.

“Recent years have seen the production of motor vehicles decrease markedly in Europe, and the car industry is at present undergoing structural changes as a result of globalisation,” Thyssen said. “The proposal to make more than €6 million available will help 4,500 redundant workers prepare for a new job to see them through these difficult times.”

Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters/Corbis

• Tweetable
• Facebook