A contentious €500m ($672m) European Union “shock ab­sorber” fund to help workers who lose their jobs to global competition has received just two requests for aid since its launch, raising questions about the extent of “de­localisation” of European jobs.

The low level of take-up from the fund, created at the end of last year, has prompted claims from liberals in the European Commission that the threat from the offshoring of jobs to Asia and elsewhere has been exaggerated.