Greece Gets Access to €2bn Through EU’s SURE Support Program

Greece from Tuesday, November 17, will have access to funds from the EU’s SURE instrument, which is aimed to help companies and employees affected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Speaking yesterday on Greek public broadcaster ERT, von der Leyen said that Greece will have access to 2 billion euros worth of funds, out of a total of 2.7 billion euros.

“It is a lot of money for a good cause,” she said, adding that SURE’s goal is for healthy companies to keep their workforce and avoid dismissals.

According to von der Leyen, the funds will subsidize a portion of the salaries of employees that work for companies that are not doing enough business due to the pandemic.

Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras welcomed the announcement and said the funds will cover the government’s Covid-19 support measures announced to safeguard employment in Greece, which include a special purpose compensation scheme for workers, social security contributions for employees whose employment contracts are temporarily suspended, social security contributions of the country’s seasonal workers and the Syn-Ergasia support tool for businesses and their employees.

Announced in May, the SURE instrument offers financial support in the form of loans to help member states cover 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 Covid-19 pandemic.

Regarding the disbursement of the NextGenerationEU funds, the Commission’s president said that Greece has access to 31 billion euros.

“It is really important for Greece but also for the other 26 Member States,” she said.