Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Latvia to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency situation following the COVID-19 outbreak

Summary:

Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision adopted by the European Commission on 24 August 2020, concerning temporary support to Latvia to address unemployment risks in the framework of the SURE instrument.

Further information:

Council Regulation 2020/672 - also known as SURE Regulation - lays down the legal framework for providing EU financial assistance to Member States, which are experiencing, or are seriously threatened with, a severe economic disturbance caused by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Support under SURE serves for the financing, primarily, of short-time work schemes or similar measures aimed at protecting employees and the self‐employed and thus reducing the incidence of unemployment and loss of income, as well as for the financing, as an ancillary, of some health-related measures, in particular in the workplace.

Latvia requested financial assistance in this framework on 7 August 2020. The Commission consulted the Latvian authorities to verify the sudden and severe increase in actual and planned expenditure directly related to a scheme for the compensation of idle workers, and its related expenditure - the downtime allowance and the workers’ bonus for children-, a scheme for wage subsidies for the export industry, wage support payments for medical professionals and workers in the cultural industry, as well as health related expenditure on protective personal equipment and COVID-19 related sickness benefits caused by the pandemic.

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 24/08/2020: Coronavirus: Commission proposes to provide €81.4 billion in financial support for 15 Member States under SURE https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1496

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