Sylvie Brunet, MoDem Member of the European Parliament, Vice-President of the Renew Europe Group and member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, explains the SURE instrument proposed by the European Commission.

What is SURE’s objective?

It is common knowledge that the current coronavirus crisis is having an extremely negative socio-economic impact. At the moment, the devastation is enormous, and a very large number of European companies and workers are being forced to reduce or even suspend their activities. The “SURE” (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in Europe) instrument proposed by the European Commission aims to provide financial assistance to Member States that have introduced short-time working schemes or similar measures for the self-employed in the context of this crisis. They have rightly done so: it is crucial to avoid redundancies, to support the incomes of workers and the self-employed, to protect jobs and skills during the crisis and to enable as many people as possible to return to work afterwards: we are seeking to prevent this violent but temporary shock from having devastating longer-term consequences for the economy and the labour market in the Member States.

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