The European Commission has proposed to provide Greece with €2.9 million euro and Finland with €2.5 million euro from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) following a significant number of redundancies in the Greek and Finnish retail sector.

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Greece applied for support from the Globalisation Fund following the dismissal of 725 workers in 9 enterprises operating in the retail sector. The redundancies occurred mainly in the Attica region, but ten other regions have also been affected by the layoffs.

The measures co-financed by the Globalisation Fund will help the 725 former retail workers by providing them with occupational guidance and counselling, vocational training, contribution to business start-up, hiring incentives and job-search and training allowances.

Finland, on the other hand, applied for support from the EGF following the dismissal of 1,660 workers in three retail enterprises. Thanks to this financial support, 1,500 Finnish redundant workers will be offered support and guidance to find new jobs, for example through vocational and re-training courses.

The proposals now go to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval.