02-04-2020

“SURE” European instrument for short-time working

In order to combat the impact of the Corona virus pandemic, the European Commission has proposed a new instrument to support short-time working

With "SURE" - as it is named - the EU wants to support companies during the Corona crisis. If their orders dry up and they run out of work, they should not have to lay off their experienced skilled workers but be able keep them in the company. The difference in income will be made up for by the new European instrument "SURE". To finance this, the Commission is aiming to provide up to € 100 billion in loans. The financial support under the "SURE" instrument will take the form of a loan made by the EU to Member States that apply for support. The Commission will raise money on the financial markets to finance the loans and offer these to the Member States at favourable conditions. Thus, Member States will be able to benefit from the EU's high credit rating and low cost of borrowing. The loans will also be backed by a system of voluntary guarantees given by the Member States to the EU. The instrument will start to run as soon as all the Member States have confirmed these guarantees.

At the same time, the Commission is planning to reallocate all available structural funds and use them exclusively to combat the Corona crisis.