EU mulls over 6-million-euro bid to help French road transport workers

The European Commission (EC) on Monday proposed to mobilize 6 million euros (about 6.79 million U.S. dollars) from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help 2,513 laid off workers of bankrupt Mory-Ducros in France find new jobs.

The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval. The redundancies from the transport services giant were spread across 84 sites in France.

"The economic crisis has badly affected the road transport sector," said EU Commissioner Marianne Thyssen who oversees employment, social affairs, skills and labour mobility.

Thyssen stressed the importance of supporting out-of-work lorry drivers and their colleagues in their efforts to find new jobs as swiftly as possible: "The European Globalisation Fund will make the workers' transition to new jobs easier and faster by helping them adapt their skills to the requirements of future employment."

France applied for support from the EGF following the dismissal of 2,513 workers from Mory-Ducros SAS. These job losses are largely thought to be the result of the global financial and economic crisis, which led to the road haulage sector's decline coupled with the general weakening of physical output in Europe. Endit