Commission proposes to provide additional €2.5 billion to Czechia under SURE

The European Commission has today presented a proposal to the Council for a decision to grant €2.5 billion additional financial support under the SURE instrument to Czechia, bringing the total support to the country to €4.5 billion. Once the Council approves the proposal, the financial support will be provided in the form of loans granted on favourable terms. The loan will fund past expenditure, primarily in 2020 and 2021, on the continuation of measures that were introduced to tackle the severe socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The measures include a short-time work scheme and similar measures for the self-employed that were wound down in early 2022. There are now eleven Member States who have requested additional SURE support on top of the support that the Council had already approved in 2020: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Portugal and Czechia. SURE is a crucial element of the EU's comprehensive strategy to protect jobs and workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Today's proposal, if adopted, would bring the overall financial support granted under SURE to a total of €98.2 billion. The Commission has already disbursed €91.8 billion to 19 Member States under SURE, and it expects to undertake the remaining borrowing operations in the coming months. €1.8 billion is still available under SURE for possible future requests. (For more information: Veerle Nuyts – Tel.: +32 229 96302; Laura Berard — Tel: +32 2 295 57 21)