David Casa appointment

Nationalist MEP David Casa has been entrusted with a dossier connected to funds Malta may soon be trying to tap.

Appointed as the EPP's spokesman for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGAF), Mr Casa will be involved directly in negotiations on applications from member states applying to get some of the €500 million available every year to help Europe struggle with globalisation and the current recession.

The fund was set up by the EU in 2006 to help member states which face sudden redundancies due to globalisation.

Malta already benefitted from this fund when VF and Bortex made around 650 factory workers redundant and it given a €700,000 grant to help the staff train and find alternative employment.

The government is currently studying the possibility of applying for funds to help workers to be laid off by ST Microelectronics.

However, according to a spokesman, government is still waiting to receive a concrete plan from ST Microelectronics on how the company is to proceed with its announced 450 redundancies before sending a formal application to Brussels.