This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 52021PC0168
Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 granting temporary support pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Kingdom of Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak
Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 granting temporary support pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Kingdom of Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak
Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 granting temporary support pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Kingdom of Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak
COM/2021/168 final
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 29.3.2021
COM(2021) 168 final
2021/0091(NLE)
Proposal for a
COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION
amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 granting temporary support pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Kingdom of Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 (“SURE Regulation”) lays down the legal framework for providing Union financial assistance to Member States, which are experiencing, or are seriously threatened with, a severe economic disturbance caused by the COVID-19 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.
On 25 September 2020, the Council granted financial assistance to Belgium with a view to complementing its national efforts to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and respond to the socioeconomic consequences of the outbreak for workers and the self-employed.
On 11 March 2021, Belgium made a new request for Union financial assistance under the SURE Regulation.
In accordance with Article 6(2) of the SURE Regulation, the Commission has consulted the Belgian authorities to verify the sudden and severe increase in actual and planned expenditure directly related to Belgian labour market measures and health-related measures and caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the increased expenditure for which additional financial assistance is requested pertain to a combination of a new measure and existing measures referred to in Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342:
a number of regional and community income support schemes provide income support to the self-employed, one-person companies and other types of employees, who do not qualify for other kinds of income support. In particular, the compensation premia for companies and for entrepreneurs and a new measure consisting of emergency support to entrepreneurs and one person companies for the Brussels Capital Region, the nuisance, compensation and support premia (and its three subsequent extensions) for the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community and the compensation premium for business closure (and its two extensions) for the Walloon Region provide generalised one-off and sector specific support for companies and self-employed that needed to close their activities due to COVID-19 or faced a substantial reduction in turnover. Other measures (the compensation premium for intermittent workers in the Brussels Capital Region, the nurseries subvention and the cultural operators subvention in the French Community, the training activities in Wallonia) target the self-employed and workers with no access to the temporary unemployment scheme in specific sectors (cultural and care sector, training activities).
Belgium provided the Commission with the relevant information.
Taking into account the available evidence, the Commission proposes to the Council to adopt an Implementing Decision to grant financial assistance to Belgium under the SURE Regulation in support of the measures above.
•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
The present proposal is fully consistent with Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672, under which the proposal is made.
The present proposal comes in addition to another Union law instrument to provide support to Member States in case of emergencies, namely Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) (“Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002”). Regulation (EU) 2020/461 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which amends that instrument to extend its scope to cover major public health emergencies and to define specific operations eligible for financing, was adopted on 30 March.
•Consistency with other Union policies
The proposal is part of a range of measures developed in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic such as the “Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative”, and it complements other instruments that support employment such as the European Social Fund and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)/InvestEU. By making use of borrowing and lending in this particular case of the COVID-19 outbreak for supporting Member States, this proposal acts as a second line of defence to finance short-time work schemes and similar measures, helping protect jobs and thus employees and self-employed against the risk of unemployment.
2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
•Legal basis
The legal basis for this instrument is Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672.
•Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The proposal follows a Member State request and shows European solidarity by providing Union financial assistance in the form of temporary loans to a Member State affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. As a second line of defence, such financial assistance supports the government’s increased public expenditure on a temporary basis in respect of short-time work schemes and similar measures to help them protect jobs and thus employees and self-employed against the risk of unemployment and loss of income.
Such support will help the population affected and helps to mitigate the direct societal and economic impact caused by the present COVID-19 crisis.
•Proportionality
The proposal respects the proportionality principle. It does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives sought by the instrument.
3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
•Stakeholder consultations
Due to the urgency to prepare the proposal so that it can be adopted in a timely manner by the Council, a stakeholder consultation could not be carried out.
•Impact assessment
Due to the urgent nature of the proposal, no impact assessment was carried out.
4.BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The Commission should be able to contract borrowings on the financial markets with the purpose of on-lending them to the Member State requesting financial assistance under the SURE instrument.
In addition to the provision of Member State guarantees, other safeguards are built into the framework in order to ensure the financial solidity of the scheme:
·A rigorous and conservative approach to financial management;
·A construction of the portfolio of loans that limits concentration risk, annual exposure and excessive exposure to individual Member States whilst ensuring sufficient resources could be granted to Member States most in need; and
·Possibilities to roll over debt.
2021/0091 (NLE)
Proposal for a
COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION
amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 granting temporary support pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Kingdom of Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 of 19 May 2020 on the establishment of a European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE) following the COVID-19 outbreak 1 , and in particular Article 6(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1)On 25 September 2020, the Council granted financial assistance to Belgium taking the form of a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 7 803 380 000 with a maximum average maturity of 15 years, following Belgium’s request of 7 August 2020, with a view to complementing its national efforts to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and respond to the socio-economic consequences of the outbreak for workers and the self‑employed.
(2)The loan was to finance the short-time work schemes, similar measures and health-related measures adopted by Belgium, as referred to in Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 2 .
(3)The COVID-19 outbreak continues to immobilise a substantial part of the labour force in Belgium. This has led to a still sudden and severe increase in public expenditure by Belgium in respect of a new measure, namely a new support scheme to small businesses in the Brussels Capital Region, and other existing regional measures, some of them extended, as referred to in Article 3(d)(i) to (iv) of Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342.
(4)The COVID-19 outbreak and the extraordinary measures implemented by Belgium in 2020 and 2021 to contain the outbreak and its socio-economic and health-related impact had and still have a dramatic impact on public finances. According to the Commission's 2020 autumn forecast, Belgium was expected to have a general government deficit and debt of 11.2% and 117.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) respectively by the end of 2020. In 2021, Belgium’s general government deficit and debt are forecast to stand at 7.1% and 117.8% of GDP respectively. According to the Commission’s 2021 winter interim forecast, Belgium’s GDP is projected to increase by 3.9% in 2021.
(5) On 11 March 2021, Belgium requested further financial assistance from the Union in an amount of EUR 394 150 000 with a view to continue complementing its national efforts undertaken in 2020 and 2021 to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and respond to the socioeconomic consequences of the outbreak for workers and the self-employed. In particular it concerns the measures set out in recitals 6 to 7.
(6)It concerns a request for support for an extension of existing regional and community income support schemes referred to in Article 3(d)(i) to (iv) of Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 of the Brussels Capital Region, the Flemish Region and Flemish Community, the Walloon Region and the French Community:
‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/019 du 23 avril 2020/Bijzondere machtenbesluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering nr. 2020/019 van 23 april 2020 3 ’;
‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/030 du 28 mai 2020/Bijzondere machtenbesluit nr. 2020/030 van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 28 mei 2020 4 ’, as extended by ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 15 octobre 2020 relatif à une aide aux secteurs de l'événementiel, du monde de la nuit, du tourisme et de la culture dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19/Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 15 oktober 2020 betreffende steun aan de evenementen-, uitgaans-, toeristische en culturele sector in het kader van de gezondheidscrisis COVID-19’ and ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 12 novembre 2020 relatif à une aide aux entreprises débits de boissons et restaurants dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19 /Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 12 november 2020 betreffende steun aan de eet- en drankgelegenhedenondernemingen in het kader van de gezondheidscrisis COVID-19’. The two extended schemes provide compensation premia to the self-employed and one-person businesses in sectors that were forced to close in the context of the pandemic;
‘Notification de la réunion du conseil des ministres du gouvernement de la région de Bruxelles-Capitale du jeudi 14 mai 2020/Betekening van de vergadering van de Ministerraad van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van donderdag 14 mei 2020, as transposed in ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 24 juillet 2020 instaurant une aide exceptionnelle pour les travailleurs intermittents de la culture/Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 24 juli 2020 houdende invoering van uitzonderlijke steun voor de cultuurwerkers’ 5 ’;
‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 20 maart 2020 6 ’;
‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 10 april 2020 7 ’;
‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 12 juni 2020 8 laying down a “support premium”, as extended by ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 23 oktober 2020’, 'Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 7 augustus 2020’ and ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 13 november 2020’. The three extended schemes, also called respectively “Flemish Protection Mechanism 1,2 and 3” provide a support premium to business that are open but experience a decrease in turnover of at least 60% or had to close their business due to federal safety and security measures;
‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 4 du 23 avril 2020 9 ’, ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française du 7 avril 2020 10 ’; ‘Arrêté ministériel du 8 avril 2020 portant exécution de l’arrêté du Gouvernement wallon du 20 mars 2020 11 ’; ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement wallon du 19 juin 2020 12 ’;
The aforementioned measures pertain to schemes that provide income support to the self-employed, one-person companies, and other types of employees who do not qualify for other kinds of income support. In particular, the compensation premia for companies and for entrepreneurs in the Brussels Capital Region, the nuisance, compensation and support premia in the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community, and the compensation premium for business closure in the Walloon Region provide generalised one-off support for companies and the self-employed which needed to close their activities due to COVID-19 or faced a substantial reduction in turnover.
Where the measures target a wider range of beneficiaries, only the amounts for expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies have been requested. Other measures (the compensation premium for intermittent workers in the Brussels Capital Region, the nurseries subvention and the cultural operators subvention in the French Community, the training activities in the Walloon Region, and the cultural operators and self-employed subvention) target the self-employed and workers with no access to the temporary unemployment scheme in specific sectors (cultural and care sector, training activities).
(7)Support is also requested for a new measure from the Brussels Capital Region. It concerns ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale concernant l’octroi d’une subvention de 1.625.000,00 EUR à la SA Brusoc dans le cadre de l’octroi de micro-crédits de trésorerie pour les indépendants et les micro-entreprises en raison de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19/Toekenning van micro-kaskredieten voor zelfstandigen en zko’s'. In particular, the measure provides micro credits to entrepreneurs and one person companies in Brussels Capital. Only the part of public expenditure related to the expected losses has been requested. The amount requested for expenditure relates only to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies.
(8)Belgium fulfils the conditions for requesting financial assistance set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672. Belgium has provided the Commission with appropriate evidence that the actual and planned public expenditure has increased by EUR 10 103 933 459 as of 1 February 2020 due to the national measures taken to address the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. This constitutes a sudden and severe increase because it is related also to both a new measure and existing measures directly related to short-time work schemes and similar measures, some of them extended, that cover a significant proportion of undertakings and of the labour force in Belgium. Belgium intends to finance EUR 1 906 403 459 of the increased amount of public expenditure through its own financing.
(9)The Commission has consulted Belgium and verified the sudden and severe increase in the actual and planned public expenditure directly related to short-time work schemes and similar measures referred to in the request of 11 March 2021, in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.
(10)Financial assistance should therefore be provided with a view to helping Belgium to address the socio-economic effects of the severe economic disturbance caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Commission should take the decisions concerning maturities, size and release of instalments and tranches in close cooperation with national authorities.
(11)Belgium and the Commission should take this Decision into account in the loan agreement referred to in Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.
(12)This Decision should be without prejudice to the outcome of any procedures relating to distortions of the operation of the internal market that may be undertaken, in particular pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty. It does not override the requirement for Member States to notify instances of potential State aid to the Commission under Article 108 of the Treaty.
(13)Belgium should inform the Commission on a regular basis of the implementation of the planned public expenditure, in order to enable the Commission to assess the extent to which Belgium has implemented that expenditure.
(14)The decision to provide financial assistance has been reached taking into account existing and expected needs of Belgium, as well as requests for financial assistance pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/672 already submitted or planned to be submitted by other Member States, while applying the principles of equal treatment, solidarity, proportionality and transparency,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342 is amended as follows:
(1)Article 2 is amended as follows:
(a)paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. The Union shall make available to Belgium a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 8 197 530 000. The loan shall have a maximum average maturity of 15 years.’;
(b)paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
‘4. The first instalment shall be released subject to the entry into force of the loan agreement provided for in Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/672. Any further instalments shall be released in accordance with the terms of such loan agreement or, where relevant, be subject to the entry into force of an addendum to the latter, or an amended loan agreement concluded between Belgium and the Commission.’;
(2)Article 3 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 3
Belgium may finance the following measures:
(a)the temporary unemployment scheme, ‘chômage temporaire/tijdelijke werkloosheid’ as provided for by the ‘Koninklijk besluit van 30 maart 2020 tot aanpassing van de procedures in het kader van tijdelijke werkloosheid omwille van het Covid-19-virus en tot wijziging van artikel 10 van het koninklijk besluit van 6 mei 2019 tot wijziging van de artikelen 27, 51, 52bis, 58, 58/3 en 63 van het koninklijk besluit van 25 november 1991 houdende de werkloosheidsreglementering en tot invoeging van de artikelen 36sexies, 63bis en 124bis in hetzelfde besluit/Arrêté royal du 30 mars 2020 visant à adapter les procédures dans le cadre du chômage temporaire dû au virus Covid-19 et à modifier l’article 10 de l’arrêté royal du 6 mai 2019 modifiant les articles 27, 51, 52bis, 58, 58/3 et 63 de l’arrêté royal du 25 novembre 1991 portant réglementation du chômage et insérant les articles 36sexies, 63bis et 124bis dans le même arrêté’;
(b)the COVID-19-related replacement income for the self-employed, ‘crisis bridging rights’ as provided for by the ‘Loi du 23 mars 2020 modifiant la loi du 22 décembre 2016 instaurant un droit passerelle en faveur des travailleurs indépendants et introduisant les mesures temporaires dans le cadre du COVID-19 en faveur des travailleurs indépendants/Wet van 23 maart 2020 tot wijziging van de wet van 22 december 2016 houdende invoering van een overbruggingsrecht ten gunste van zelfstandigen en tot invoering van tijdelijke maatregelen in het kader van COVID-19 ten gunste van zelfstandigen’;
(c)the COVID-19 parental leave as provided for in the ‘Arrêté royal n° 23 du 13 mai 2020 pris en exécution de l’article 5, § 1, 5°, de la loi du 27 mars 2020 accordant des pouvoirs au Roi afin de prendre des mesures dans la lutte contre la propagation du coronavirus COVID-19 (II) visant le congé parental corona/Koninklijk besluit nr. 23 van 13 mei 2020, tot uitvoering van artikel 5, § 1, 5°, van de wet van 27 maart 2020 die machtiging verleent aan de Koning om maatregelen te nemen in de strijd tegen de verspreiding van het coronavirus COVID-19 (II) houdende het corona ouderschapsverlof’;
(d)regional and community income support schemes, as follows:
(i) for the Brussels Capital Region:
–a compensation premium for companies as provided for in the ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/019 du 23 avril 2020/Bijzondere machtenbesluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering nr. 2020/019 van 23 april 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies;
–a compensation premium for entrepreneurs as provided for in the ‘Bijzondere machtenbesluit nr. 2020/030 van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 28 mei 2020/Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/030 du 28 mai 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies, as extended by ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 15 octobre 2020 relatif à une aide aux secteurs de l'événementiel, du monde de la nuit, du tourisme et de la culture dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19/Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 15 oktober 2020 betreffende steun aan de evenementen-, uitgaans-, toeristische en culturele sector in het kader van de gezondheidscrisis COVID-19’ and as extended by ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 12 novembre 2020 relatif à une aide aux entreprises débits de boissons et restaurants dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19/ Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 12 november 2020 betreffende steun aan de eet- en drankgelegenhedenondernemingen in het kader van de gezondheidscrisis COVID-19’;
–a compensation premium for intermittent workers, as provided for in the ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 24 juillet 2020 instaurant une aide exceptionnelle pour les travailleurs intermittents de la culture/Besluit van de Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering van 24 juli 2020 houdende invoering van uitzonderlijke steun voor de cultuurwerkers’;
–an emergency support scheme to entrepreneurs and one person companies as provided for by ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale concernant l’octroi d’une subvention de 1.625.000,00 EUR à la SA Brusoc dans le cadre de l’octroi de micro-crédits de trésorerie pour les indépendants et les micro-entreprises en raison de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19/Toekenning van micro-kaskredieten voor zelfstandigen en zko’s’ for the the part of public expenditure related to the expected losses on loans granted to the self-employed and one-person companies.
(ii) for the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community:
–a nuisance premium as provided for in ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 20 maart 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies;
–a compensation premium as provided for in ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 10 april 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies;
–a support premium as provided for in ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 12 juni 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies, as extended by ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 23 oktober 2020’, Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 7 augustus 2020’ and ‘Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 13 november 2020’ (Flemish Protection Scheme 1, 2, 3).
(iii) for the French Community:
–a cultural operators subvention as provided for in ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 4 du 23 avril 2020’;
–nurseries subvention as provided for in ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française du 7 avril 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies;
(iv) for the Walloon Region:
–a compensation premium for business closure as provided for in ‘Arrêté ministériel du 8 avril 2020 portant exécution de l’arrêté du Gouvernement wallon du 20 mars 2020’, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-employed and one-person companies;
–training activities as provided for in ‘Arrêté du Gouvernement wallon du 19 juin 2020’;
(v) for the German-speaking Community:
–a cultural operators and self-employed subvention as provided for in ‘Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret I vom 6. April 2020’, Article 7, for the part of expenditure relating to loans being converted into grants;
–a touristic operators subvention as provided for in ‘Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, CoronaKrisendekret III vom 20. Juli 2020’, Article 4, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the selfemployed and one-person companies;
(e)health related measures in the German-speaking Community as provided for in ‘Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret I vom 6. April 2020’, Article 7.
(3)Article 4 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 4
1.Belgium shall inform the Commission by 30 March 2021, and every six months thereafter of the implementation of the planned public expenditure until that planned public expenditure has been fully implemented.
2.Where measures referred to in Article 3 are based on planned public expenditure and have been subject to an Implementing Decision amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1342, Belgium shall inform the Commission within 6 months after the date of adoption of that decision, and every 6 months thereafter of the implementation of the planned public expenditure until that planned public expenditure has been fully implemented.’ .
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium.
Done at Brussels,
For the Council
The President
