SURE

The temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) is available for Member States that need to mobilise significant financial means to fight the negative economic and social consequences of the coronavirus outbreak on their territory. It can provide financial assistance up to €100 billion in the form of loans from the EU to affected Member States to address sudden increases in public expenditure for the preservation of employment. SURE is a crucial element of the EU's comprehensive strategy to protect citizens and mitigate the severely negative socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Specifically, the SURE instrument acts as a second line of defence, supporting short-time work schemes and similar measures, to help Member States protect jobs and thus employees and self-employed against the risk of unemployment and loss of income.

Loans provided to Member States under the SURE instrument are underpinned by a system of voluntary guarantees from Member States. Each Member State’s contribution to the overall amount of the guarantee corresponds to its relative share in the total gross national income (GNI) of the European Union, based on the 2020 EU budget.

The establishment of SURE is a further tangible expression of Union solidarity, whereby the Member States agree to support each other through the Union by making additional financial resources available through loans.

Following proposals for additional assistance of €3.7 billion to 6 Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta), the Council has approved a total of €94.3 billion in financial support to 19 Member States, based on Commission's proposals.

With the latest disbursement (25 May 2021), the EU has provided nearly €90 billion in back-to-back loans. All 19 EU Member States which have asked to benefit from the scheme have received part or all of the requested amount. Other Member States can still submit requests to receive financial support under SURE which has an overall firepower of up to €100 billion.

Country	Proposed loan amount	Disbursed
Belgium	8.197 billion	8.197 billion
Bulgaria	511 million	511 million
Cyprus	604 million	604 million
Estonia	230 million	230 million
Greece	5.265 billion	5.265 billion
Spain	21.324 billion	21.324 billion
Croatia	1.02 billion	1.02 billion
Hungary	504 million	504 million
Ireland	2.5 billion	2.5 billion
Italy	27.438 billion	27.438 billion
Lithuania	957 million	957 million
Latvia	305 million	305 million
Malta	420 million	420 million
Poland	11.236 billion	8.236 billion
Portugal	5.934 billion	5.41 billion
Romania	4.099 billion	3 billion
Slovenia	1.113 billion	1.113 billion
Slovakia	630 million	630 million
Czechia	2 billion	2 billion
Total	94.3 billion	89.6 billion

The financial support is provided in the form of loans granted on favourable terms from the EU to Member States. These loans will assist Member States in addressing sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment in the context of the pandemic crisis. Specifically, they will help Member States to cover the costs directly related to the financing of national short-time work schemes, and other similar measures they have put in place as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, in particular for the self-employed. As an ancillary, SURE could also finance some health-related measures, in particular at the work place, used to ensure a safe return to normal economic activity.

EU SURE social bond

To finance the instrument, the Commission has been issuing social bonds. The Social Bond Framework is meant to provide investors in these bonds with confidence that the funds mobilised will serve a truly social objective.

By 18 May, the European Commission had issued €89.6 billion social bonds in six rounds under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs and keep people in work. The issuings consisted of 5-, 10- and 15-year bonds. There was very strong investor interest in these highly rated instruments, and the oversubscription resulted in favourable pricing terms for the bonds. The raised funds are transferred to the beneficiary Member States in the form of loans to help them directly cover the costs related to the financing of national short-time work schemes and similar measures as a response to the pandemic.

On 27 October, the EU SURE social bond was listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and will be displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange, the world’s leading platform exclusively dedicated to sustainable securities.