MEPs endorsed a Commission proposal to mobilise €2 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) to support 507 workers who lost their jobs following the bankruptcy of Liberty Steel Belgium, a manufacturer of basic metals, in April 2025. The report passed with 586 votes in favour, 48 against, and 16 abstentions.

The funds will finance career counselling and guidance, vocational training, including IT skills, and help those wishing to start their own businesses. The total cost is estimated at €2.4 million, of which 85% (€2 million) will be covered by the EGF and 15% (€0.4 million) by the Walloon public employment services. The Belgian authorities disbursed support funding for the workers in June 2025, the costs of which will be retroactively covered by the EGF aid.

MEPs note in the report that Liberty had faced years of financial difficulties prior to its bankruptcy, caused by adverse steel market conditions, supply chain disruptions,…