Malta seeking €700,000 from EU to retrain Bortex, VF employees

Malta is seeking almost €700,000 from the newly established European Globalisation Fund (EGF) to finance a massive retraining programme directed to the personal needs of the 683 redundant workers laid off last June by textile companies VF and Bortex due to the relocation of their production facilities.

This was confirmed by Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla following a parliamentary question tabled by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat.

"I can confirm that the Maltese authorities have been in contact with the Commission for the past two months and submitted their formal application in the past days."

Commission Spidla also indicated that by mid-November the Commission will be in a position to issue its recommendation to the EU budgetary authorities on whether Malta will qualify for these funds.

Commission sources yesterday explained to The Sunday Times that the process of evaluation on the Maltese application has already started.

"However this is a complex and bureaucratic process in which we have to analyse whether Malta's application satisfies all the rules governing this fund," the sources said.

If Malta gets the Commission's green light in November, the recommendation will then have to be approved by member states.

This is the first time that Malta is trying to tap this new fund, created on the initiative of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to help member states tackle the increasing effects of globalisation on workers.

Last June, local textile factories VF and Bortex announced substantial redundancies. VF decided to pull out of Malta, laying off 570 workers, while Bortex announced that it will be moving its production to China and shedding 113 workers. Both companies cited the lack of competitiveness in relation to other emerging markets like Asia as the main reason for their decisions.

The EGF was formally set up last December following talks at various EU levels with a budget of €500 million annually.