The European Commission has provided € 14 billion to nine countries

The European Commission announced that it had disbursed € 14 billion to nine EU member states through the first issue of social bonds this year. Emissions were released last week under the SURE program, which aims to promote employment and protect jobs in the EU during emergencies. The Commission recalled that this was the fourth financial support to Member States under the SURE instrument and the first disbursement in 2021. According to the European Commission, soft loans were distributed as follows: Belgium received € 2 billion, Cyprus € 229 million, Greece € 728 million, Latvia € 72 million, Hungary € 304 million, Poland € 4.28 billion, Slovenia € 913 million, Spain € 1.03 billion and Italy 4 .45 billion euros. All nine Member States have already received financial support under the SURE program in 2020. These are loans that will help Member States to deal with a sudden increase in public spending in order to maintain employment. At a specific level, they will help cover the costs directly linked to the financing of national short-term employment schemes and other measures introduced by governments in response to the new coronavirus pandemic, including for the self-employed. After Tuesday's "disbursement", 15 Member States have already received SURE assistance, amounting to € 53.5 billion. So far, € 90.3 billion has been approved for 18 EU Member States. Member States can still apply for financial support under the SURE program, which has a total "firepower" of € 100 billion.