It provides counselling; job search and mobility allowances; new ICT skills and other forms of training; entrepreneurial support, including micro-credits.
[citation needed] The Fund is activated upon request of a member state when a company (whether national, multinational or SMEs) lays off more than 1,000 people either in an enterprise, or in a sector within a region, due to structural changes in world trade.
Since 1 January 2007, the EGF has been funding active labour market policies helping workers made redundant as a result of globalisation, for example through: It complements support provided by the employers and national authorities concerned in terms of active labour market policy measures; it does not fund passive social protection measures such as retirement pensions or unemployment benefits.
The EGF is a response to a specific, European-scale crisis; it provides one-off, time-limited individual support geared directly to helping workers who have become redundant for reasons related to international trade.
The European Commission proposed that, in addition to its current scope, the Fund should be able to support workers made redundant as a result of the global financial and economic crisis on 16 December 2008.