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EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level policy measures

Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure EU-2019-21/1065 – measures in European Union

Creation of a new instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)

Country European Union , applies eu-wide (or beyond)
Time period Temporary, 19 May 2019 – 31 December 2022
Context COVID-19
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Employment protection and retention
– Income support for people in employment (e.g., short-time work)
Author Barbara Surdykowska (Institute of Public Affairs)
Measure added 05 September 2020 (updated 18 September 2020)

Background information

The EU instrument "Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency" (SURE) is one of the three safety nets, for jobs and workers, businesses and Member States, contained in the Eurogroup report agreed on 9 April 2020. In order to provide requesting Member States with financial assistance at favourable terms, the European Commission will raise funds on international capital markets on behalf of the EU. SURE loans will be backed by the EU budget and guarantees provided by Member States. Formally, the financial assistance will be granted by a decision adopted by the Council on a proposal from the Commission.

Content of measure

SURE is a temporary scheme which can provide up to €100 billion of loans under favourable terms to all 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 workplace in response to the crisis.

SURE will become available after all Member States have provided their guarantees. Each Member State's contribution to the overall amount of the guarantee corresponds to its relative share in the total gross national income (GNI) of the European Union, based on the 2020 EU budget. The instrument will then be operational until 31 December 2022. On the proposal from the Commission, the Council may decide to extend the period of availability of the instrument, each time for a further six-month period, if the severe economic disturbances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak persist.

Use of measure

On August 24, the first SURE loans were proposed by the Commission for the following countries:

  • Italy - €27.4 billion
  • Spain - €21.3 billion
  • Poland - €11.2 billion
  • Belgium - €7.8 billion
  • Portugal - €5.9 billion
  • Romania - €4 billion
  • Greece - €2.7 billion
  • Czechia - €2 billion
  • Slovenia - €1.1 billion
  • Croatia - €1 billion
  • Lithuania- €602 million
  • Slovakia - €631 million
  • Bulgaria - €511 million
  • Cyprus - €479 million
  • Malta - €244 million
  • Latvia - €192 million

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Applies to all workers Applies to all businesses Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
EU (Council, EC, EP)
European Funds
National funds
Other

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Informed Informed
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Social partners were not directly involved in the work on this initiative. However, they had demanded its creation (especially trade unions) and monitored the design process.

Views and reactions

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has supported the SURE initiative from the outset, calling for it to be implemented as soon as possible. However, it currently call for reinforcing the social partners' involvement in the design, governance and implementation of the Recovery Plan.

BusinessEurope (BE) treats SURE with caution, although it recognizes its usefulness in the current state of EU economies. In its proposal for a European recovery plan, BE indicates that where new instruments are developed as SURE, they should be temporary and directly connected to the COVID-19 crisis.

Sources

  • 02 April 2020: EU urged to swiftly approve 'SURE' to save jobs from C19 breakdown (www.etuc.org)
  • 30 April 2020: BUSINESSEUROPE proposals for a European economic recovery plan (www.businesseurope.eu)
  • 19 May 2020: COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2020/672 of 19 May 2020 on the establishment of a European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE) following the COVID-19 outbreak (eur-lex.europa.eu)
  • 05 August 2020: MFF and Recovery Plan: the ETUC demands reinforcement of social partners involvement (www.etuc.org)
  • 24 August 2020: SURE: Commission proposals to the Council for support to the Member States (ec.europa.eu)

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Creation of a new instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE), measure EU-2019-21/1065 (measures in European Union), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/EU-2019-21_1065.html

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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.