EU wrong to use taxpayers’ cash “to export jobs”, says leading Green

23 November 2010

One of Britain's leading Green politicians today criticised the way EU funding can be used to help companies move jobs away from areas where they are badly needed.

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, was speaking of the use of EU regional development funds (ERDF) by Twinings Tea to transfer jobs out of the UK to a new factory in Poland.

In a written reply to a question asked by Keith Taylor, the European Commission confirmed that €12m had been paid to Twinings' parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) on 4 October. The deal will transfer 392 jobs to the Polish plant from Twinings facilities in South Shields and Andover.

ABC channelled the application through a Polish subsidiary, meaning that the full requirements for regional development funds to be used for regeneration were not met.

Speaking today, Keith Taylor said:

"These funds are intended for genuine regeneration, not simply relocating jobs from one member state to another. There are good examples of new EU investment which help build communities, but instead this deal risks dismantling them."

Keith will be raising the case in the Regional Development committee in the European Parliament, and chasing the European Commission to take action, arguing that there is a strong moral case for Twinings to repay the money.

Keith Taylor said:

"The Twinings deal was rushed through, and this optimised the chances of getting the grant - another 3 months would have meant undertakings about genuine regeneration would need to have been given. There is no way the ABF lawyers would not have known that."

The South East MEP concluded:

"It is this sort of behaviour that gives ammunition to critics who say the EU is not serving the interests of the people it represents."

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