Dutch companies and sectors facing mass redundancies can now apply to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for support.

The money will be available to help employees who have been made redundant to retrain or set up a business. The annual budget for the European Union fund is 500 million euros.

Social Affairs Minister Piet Hein Donner announced the scheme after consultation with his European Union. Companies expecting at least 500 redundancies within four months will be eligible to apply to the fund. For an entire sector, the timeframe is nine months.

The measure is a temporary one, as the EU Globalisation Fund is actually intended for people who lose their jobs because their company has transferred production to a different company.