Questions have been raised in the European parliament about the decision by vehicle tyre maker Apollo Vredestein to slash 750 of 1100 jobs at its Enschede factory and shift production to Hungary and India

The Indian-owned company, the biggest single employer in the city on the German border, announced the job losses last week.

But local politicians are furious production is being moved to a factory in Hungary which was given €96m in direct and indirect Hungarian government subsidies in 2014. At the time the European Commission said the investment was in line with EU state aid rules.

In addition, the commission said that ‘the aid granted by Hungary favours regional development while any distortions of competition will remain limited’.

Christian Democrat MEP Annie Schreijer-Pierik has now asked EU officials to clarify if any European money was used to build the Hungarian factory and how the approval of the state aid tallies with rules on support for regional economies.

Onze Europarlementariërs @tbwberendsen en @AnnieSchreijer hebben vragen gesteld aan de Europese Commissie over de situatie bij Apollo Vredestein. Zo willen ze snel duidelijkheid over het gebruik van Europees geld in Hongarije, en over de toekomst voor de werknemers in Enschede. pic.twitter.com/fk1eFDHqS7

— CDA Europa (@cdaeuropa) March 6, 2020

Tyre industry news website Tyrepress.com said last July that passenger car tyre production and capacity at Apollo Tyres’ Gyöngyöshalász plant in Hungary had grown to 2.1 million and almost 3 million units a year by the end of March.

However, Apollo Tyres, which started production in Hungary in 2017, told the website it was not ‘preparing to end car tyre production in the Netherlands any time soon’.

Once the reorganisation is complete the Enschede plant will produce tyres for the agriculture industry and winter tyres for special types of car.