Commission proposes €3.6 million to help 1 000 redundant workers in Romanian steel industry

The European Commission has proposed to provide Romania with €3.6 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help 1 000 former workers of the steel products manufacturer SC Mechel Campia Turzii SA and the downstream producer SC Mechel Reparatii Targoviste SRL to find new jobs. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval.

EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor commented: "The manufacture of finished and semi-finished steel products in the EU has been seriously disrupted due to intensified competition from countries outside the EU, particularly China. Today's proposal would help to prepare some 1 000 former steelworkers from the Cluj region in Romania for new job opportunities or to set up their own businesses".

Romania applied for support from the EGF following the dismissal of more than 1 500 workers in Mechel Campia Turzii and in Mechel Reparatii Targoviste in Romania. The dismissals were the result of increased competition from steel products manufacturers elsewhere in the world.

More details on EGF website.

European cool robots

The EU Robotics Week 2013 has just started!

The European Commission funds over 100 collaborative projects under the 7th Framework Programme on advanced research into robots. The projects aim at helping robots better understand the world around them through sensing, perception, understanding, reasoning and action.

Here are some examples of the best EU-funded Robotics projects:

•   RoboHow – Can a robot learn to make pancakes on its own? The project enables robots to learn on their own how to carry out tasks in human working and living environments by finding instructions online or by observing humans doing them. The goal is to develop robots that can help people in everyday activities, as well as to find out to what extent a robot can learn by itself. 

•   RADHAR – Self-Driving. Driving a wheelchair can be difficult and very tiring. As a result, the user may over-steer the wheelchair or not have enough strength to steer it. The RADHAR (Robotic ADaptation to Humans Adapting to Robots) project has developed an intelligent wheelchair that enables people with cognitive or physical challenges to independently drive around in an everyday-life environment.

•   Stiff-Flop - A Surgical Robot based on an Elephant's Trunk. This robotic arm could be used in keyhole surgery, as it is able to adjust its texture and stiffness to organs inside the human body; it can soften to get through narrow passages and then stiffen again when needed avoiding damage to soft tissue.

•   STRANDS - The Last Robot Standing Wins! STRANDS is an EU-funded project enabling robots to achieve robust and intelligent behaviour in human environments.

•   ROBOFOOT – Robots bring manufacturing back to Europe. The industry for hand-made fashion shoes is one of the important industries in Europe, which faced intense competition from low-cost countries. The EU-funded ROBOFOOT project showed that robots can also be introduced in traditional footwear industry, maintaining most of the current production facilities and help Europe's footwear industry.

I'll end with a quote from Emil Cioran: "Man is a robot with defects."