The European Parliament has given the green light to the reform of the European Globalization Adjustment Fund to expand its scope and allow workers at risk of losing their jobs to also benefit from its aid. Until now, this instrument was aimed mainly at people already goodbyesbut the new regulations introduce a preventive approach.
With this modification, companies in the process of restructuring will be able to request support for their employees before layoffs occur, with the aim of facilitating their transition to new jobs. The fund will finance measures such as training, professional requalification, job guidance or support in job search.
In addition, the reform expands the scope of application to workers from supplier companies or other companies in the same production chain that may be indirectly affected by the cuts, one of the main novelties of the text.
Broad support in the European Parliament to accelerate access to aid
The new framework introduces improvements to speed up access to aid. Among them, a maximum period of 14 weeks is established to submit applications from when the planned dismissals are communicated to the authorities, as well as the possibility of splitting payments.
Likewise, part of the fund’s annual budget will be reserved for situations of imminent dismissal, with a funding limit per request, with the aim of strengthening its capacity to respond to restructuring processes.
The reform has been approved in the plenary session of the European Parliament with 566 votes in favor, 67 against and 26 abstentions, reflecting broad political support.
The text must be formally adopted by the Council before its entry into force, after which new measures will be applied to improve the protection of workers in situations of economic change.