The EU Commission announced on Friday a series of measures intended to mitigate against the worst economic consequences of the coronavirus in member states.It says that it will use all the tools at its disposal and in particular highlights:
The EU Commission announced on Friday a series of measures intended to mitigate against the worst economic consequences of the coronavirus in member states.
It says that it will use all the tools at its disposal and in particular highlights:
Ensuring the necessary supplies to our health systems by preserving the integrity of the single market and of production and distribution of value chains.Supporting people so that income and jobs are not affected disproportionally and to avoid permanent effect of this crisis.To support businesses and ensure the financial sector has enough money so that it can continue to support the economy.And to allow member states to act decisively in a co-ordinated way, through using the full flexibility of our state aid and stability and growth pact frameworks.This final point allows individual member states to take action at a national level that otherwise might fall foul of state aid rules to support either economic or social schemes. This was highlighted by EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan when he spoke at a gathering of business leaders last week.
Relaxed rules
The Commission also indicated that normal EU rules on countries' budget deficit will be relaxed, as member states use all the resources at their disposal to mitigate the consequences of coronavirus in both public health and commercial contexts.
The EU will also direct €1bn from its budget to the European Investment Fund as a guarantee to incentivise banks to provide liquidity to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
This is aimed at helping 100,000 European SMEs secure about €8bn of financing and credit holidays to the existing debtors that are negatively affected by coronavirus.
The Commission also proposes to direct €37bn from the cohesion policy budget to fighting the impact of coronavirus.
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