The European Commission Monday said it will spend EUR2.7 million to aid almost 600 unemployed automobile industry workers in Spain.

The money will be used to re-train workers who have been laid off and help them find new jobs. Most of the workers who will receive this support worked for units of Lear Corp. (LEA), Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. (6474.TO) and Delphi Corp. (DPH).

Over 1,000 workers in Spain's automotive sector have been laid off in recent months, but E.U. funds are reserved for those who will have the most trouble finding new jobs, said the Commission, the E.U.'s executive branch.

The E.U. has allowed some state support for workers during the economic downturn, but this grant comes from a special E.U. fund for workers who have lost their jobs because of globalization. Cars and car parts increasingly are being manufactured in lower wage countries, sending jobs from Europe to Morocco, Turkey and Taiwan, according to the Commission.

"These funds will help those car sector workers to retrain and get back onto the labor market as soon as possible," said E.U. Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said in a statement.

-By Elizabeth Bewley, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1 485; elizabeth.bewley@dowjones.com