BRUSSELS - The European Union is set to allocate 25.4 million euros ($37.2 million) to help thousands of applicants who lost their jobs in the global crisis, according to a plan approved by the European Parliament' budget committee on Wednesday.

The committee approved the plan under which more than 4,700 people from Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain may receive career training and assistance to upgrade their skills and find new jobs.

The so-called European globalization adjustment fund, available since 2009 and with an annual ceiling of 500 million euros ($645 million), has been set up to help those who lost jobs as a consequence of the globalization or the global financial crisis.

The Council of the EU is expected to agree on the plan next week, after which the Parliament's plenary session is to take the final decision later this month.