The European Council has put in place SURE (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency), a temporary instrument to help workers keep their jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis which can provide up to €100 billion of loans under favourable terms to member states.
The support package 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.
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