EU proposes €840,000 fund to help Spanish textile workers

The European Commission (EC) has proposed providing Spain with 840,000 euros (1.15 million U.S. dollars) to help 300 workers made redundant in the textile sector in Valencia find new jobs, an EC statement said on Thursday. The funds, from the European globalisation adjustment fund (EGF), were requested by the Spanish authorities to help former workers from 198 small and medium-sized businesses. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the European Union's Council of Ministers for approval. "Workers in the Spanish textile industry have been hard hit by rising global competition and the economic crisis. The Spanish labour market is particularly challenging," said the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor. "But I am convinced that the proposed support from the EGF will help the workers who lost their jobs to find new opportunities," he said. Spain applied for EU support following the dismissal of hundreds of textile workers in Valencia. The dismissals were the result of increased competition from textiles manufactured elsewhere in the world, compounded by the economic crisis.