COVID-19: Council adopts temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE)

20 May 2020 12:03 PM

As part of its emergency support package to tackle the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the EU has put in place a temporary instrument to help workers keep their jobs during the crisis.

The Council yesterday adopted SURE, a temporary scheme which can provide up to €100 billion of loans under favourable terms to member states. The instrument enables member states to request EU financial support to help finance the sudden and severe increases of national public expenditure, as from 1 February 2020, related to national short-time work schemes and similar measures, including for self-employed persons, or to some health-related measures, in particular at the work place in response to the crisis.

SURE is one of the three safety nets, worth €540 billion, for jobs and workers, businesses and member states, contained in the Eurogroup report agreed on 9 April 2020. EU leaders endorsed the report on 23 April and called for the package to be operational by 1 June 2020.

Zdravko Maric, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of finance of Croatia yesterday said:

The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an exceptional challenge for Europe, as it puts many lives and livelihoods at risk. Beyond the public health implications, the outbreak has also caused massive economic and social disruption with many companies having to rely on public support to preserve employment. SURE will be a vital safety net to protect jobs and workers as it will ensure that member states have the necessary means to finance measures to tackle unemployment and loss of income, as well as some health-related measures.

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