European Parliament committee approves aid for laid off Romanian steel workers

Workers laid off from a steel plant in Romania are to receive European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid to help them find new jobs, under plans approved on Thursday, September 11, by the European Parliament's Budgets Committee. However, the aid still has to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, reads a statement of the Parliament. The Romanian authorities applied for EGF aid to help 1,000 workers laid off by steel product maker Mechel Campia Turzii and its supplier. Demand for finished and semi-finished steel products manufactured by these companies fell sharply mainly due to imports from China, which forced Mechel to downsize. The over EUR 3.5 million EGF aid will be used to pay for vocational guidance, starting up new firms and providing mentoring after landing a job, according to the statement. EGF was set up to provide additional support for workers made redundant as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation or the financial crisis and to help them find new jobs. Between 2014 and 2020, the annual ceiling of the fund is EUR 150 million. Local steel maker re-starts work two years after production halt by Mechel New Mechel Targoviste owners lay off a quarter of staff, re-start production Former Mechel Campia Turzii employees in Romania start strike to demand redundancy payments Mechel sells Romanian factories for symbolic amount to stop bleeding money Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com