Commission proposes to provide €2.5 billion to Ireland under SURE

The European Commission has today presented a proposal to the Council for a decision to grant €2.5 billion in financial support to Ireland under the SURE instrument. Today’s proposal brings overall financial support proposed under SURE to a total of €90.3 billion and covering 18 Member States. Once the Council approves this proposal, the financial support will be provided in the form of loans granted on favourable terms. These loans will assist Ireland in covering the costs related to its Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic. SURE is a crucial element of the EU’s comprehensive strategy to protect jobs and workers, and mitigate the severely negative socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. Today’s proposal follows the recent first disbursements worth €17 billion to Italy, Spain and Poland, and the two highly successful social bond issuances by the Commission to finance the instrument. Member States can still submit formal requests for support under SURE, which has an overall firepower of up to €100 billion.