The European Commission presented to the Council a proposal to grant financial support of 29 million euros to Cyprus, bringing its total support to the country to 632 million euros under the ‘Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency’ (SURE) instrument.
The loan to Cyprus will contribute to funding the expenditure incurred in 2021 for the continuation of a short-time work scheme and similar measures for the self-employed and specific sectors in the tourism industry.
Once the Council approves the proposals, the support will be provided in the form of loans granted on favourable terms.
There are now ten 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 and Portugal.
SURE is a crucial element of the EU’s comprehensive strategy to protect jobs and workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Commission has already disbursed 91.8 billion euros to 19 Member States under SURE, and it expects to undertake the remaining borrowing operations in the coming months.