Coronavirus Crisis EU Response: Supporting research and Economic Recovery

The EU is mobilising all available resources to respond quickly, forcefully and in a coordinated manner to the coronavirus pandemic. The total amount mobilised so far is around €3.4 trillion.

Pie chart showing EU's economic response to coronavirus crisis.
Mobilising the EU budget and the European Investment Bank to save people's jobs and to support companies hit by the crisis.

The Commission’s SURE instrument protects jobs and people at work.

The Commission put forward Temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency – SURE – to help people keep their job during the crisis.

SURE provides funding to Member States of up to €100 billion by covering part of the costs related to the creation or extension of national short-time work schemes.

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Liquidity measures to help hard-hit small and medium businesses:

The EIB Group will aim to invest an additional €20 billion in small and medium-sized businesses, partly using its own capital and partly backed by the EU budget
the Commission has unlocked €1 billion in an EU budget guarantee to the European Investment Fund, so it can provide liquidity to businesses, mobilising €8 billion in all to help at least 100,000 companies
The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative

The Commission tabled an investment initiative to provide Member States with immediate liquidity. It consists of unspent cohesion policy funds.

The initiative also includes:
A 100% financing rate by the EU for measures to fight the crisis, so Member States do not have to frontload money
New methods to reach the most vulnerable under the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, such as home deliveries and the use of electronic vouchers to reduce the risk of spreading the virus
Flexibility to redirect funding between programmes and regions to fund corona response-related actions
Support to fishermen and farmers

State aid. The main fiscal response to the coronavirus will come from Member States’ national budgets. The Commission has adopted temporary state aid rules so governments can provide liquidity to the economy to support citizens and companies, in particular SMEs, and save jobs in the EU

Rapid response. The Commission has adopted numerous decisions approving national measures by different Member States, such as guarantee schemes for companies and funds to support the production and supply of medical devices and masks. The Commission has approved 73 national measures notified by 23 different Member States and the UK

Flexibility of the European fiscal framework. The European Commission has, for the first time, triggered the 'escape clause' to allow exceptional fiscal support. This will allow applying the maximum flexibility to our budgetary rules to help national governments financially support healthcare systems and businesses, and to keep people in employment during the crisis

European Central Bank response. The Commission’s economic measures will complement the European Central Bank’s €750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme of private and public securities during the crisis, in addition to the €120 billion programme decided earlier

Screening of foreign direct investment. On 25 March, the Commission issued guidelines to help Member States screen foreign direct investments and acquisitions of control or influence. The aim is to protect critical European assets and technology in the current crisis

The EU Solidarity Fund can provide support to Member States affected by public health crises like the one caused by the coronavirus

The Commission will directly support the healthcare systems of the EU countries, with €3 billion from the EU budget, matched with €3 billion from the Member States, to fund the Emergency Support Instrument and RescEU’s common stockpile of equipment.

The RescEU initiative will help secure vital equipment, from ventilators to personal protective equipment and help mobilise medical teams for assistance for the most vulnerable, including in refugee camps. The first hosting state will be Romania and the production of the first ventilators has already started.

This Emergency Support Instrument will enable the Commission to procure directly on behalf of the Member States. It will finance and coordinate transport of medical equipment and of patients in cross-border regions. At a later stage, it will help scaling up testing efforts.