SURE - Economy and Finance - European Commission

Summary

European Commission page on SURE, the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency, whose ex-post evaluation was completed in February 2025. SURE foresaw financial assistance up to €100 billion in loans to Member States, and the Council approved a total of €98.4 billion to 19 Member States, with the final disbursement on 14 December 2022. The evaluation confirmed that SURE successfully met its objectives and delivered value for money. Key findings include Member States spending almost EUR 122 billion on measures funded by SURE, and approximately 31.5 million people and 2.5million firms estimated to have been covered in 2020.

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SURE

Ex post evaluation of SURE

The ex-post evaluation of the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) was launched in 2023 and completed in February 2025. It covered the period from the creation of SURE in May 2020 until the end of its use in December 2022.

The evaluation of SURE provides an ex-post assessment of how SURE delivered on its objectives to protect employment and reduce the loss of income, as required by Article 34 of the Financial Regulation and recommended by the European Court of Auditors. The evaluation considered the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU value added, in line with the requirements set out in the Commission Better Regulation Guidelines. The evaluation builds on the results of an external independent supporting study, contracted by the Commission in July 2023 and concluded in May 2024 by a sole tenderer ICF SA.

The evaluation confirmed that SURE successfully met its objectives and delivered value for money. SURE helped cushion the impact of the pandemic and supported a quick and strong recovery from the pandemic.

The success of SURE can be attributed to its timeliness, appropriate policy scope and design with low prescriptiveness, a robust financial architecture, and its coherence with other emergency actions by the Commission and the EU. Key lessons that can be drawn from SURE’s success could be useful for both national policymakers and future EU policy instruments.

- Evaluation
- 18 February 2025
- Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs

Ex-post evaluation of the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)

The evaluation of the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) was completed in February 2025 and covers the period from its creation in May 2020 until the end of its use in December 2022.

What was SURE?

The temporary S upport to mitigate U nemployment R isks in an E mergency (SURE) mobilised significant financial means to fight the negative economic and social consequences of the coronavirus outbreak on their territory. It foresaw to provide financial assistance up to €100 billion in the form of loans granted on favourable terms from the EU to affected Member States to address sudden increases in public expenditure for the preservation of employment. SURE was a crucial element of the EU's comprehensive strategy to protect citizens and mitigate the severely negative socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Specifically, the SURE instrument acted as a second line of defence, supporting short-time work schemes and similar measures, to help Member States protect jobs and thus employees and self-employed against the risk of unemployment and loss of income. As an ancillary, SURE could also finance some health-related measures, in particular at the workplace, to ensure a safe return to normal economic activity.

Loans provided to Member States under the SURE instrument were underpinned by a system of voluntary guarantees from Member States. Each Member State’s contribution to the overall amount of the guarantee corresponds to its relative share in the total gross national income (GNI) of the European Union, based on the 2020 EU budget.

The establishment of SURE has been a further tangible expression of Union solidarity, whereby the Member States agree to support each other through the Union by making additional financial resources available through loans.

Following proposals for additional assistance of €8.9 billion to 11 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Portugal), the Council approved a total of €98.4 billion in financial support to 19 Member States, based on Commission's proposals.

With the final disbursement (14 December 2022) , the EU provided €98.4 billion in back-to-back loans. All 19 EU Member States which had asked to benefit from the scheme received all of the requested amount. This final disbursement closed the last call made by the Commission for Member States to express interest in SURE loans in 2022. The availability of the SURE instrument ended on 31 December 2022.

Country | Proposed loan amount | Disbursed
Belgium | 8.197 billion | 8.197 billion
Bulgaria | 971 million | 971 million
Cyprus | 632 million | 632 million
Estonia | 230 million | 230 million
Greece | 6.2 billion | 6.2 billion
Spain | 21.324 billion | 21.324 billion
Croatia | 1.6 billion | 1.6 billion
Hungary | 651 million | 651 million
Ireland | 2.473 billion | 2.473 billion
Italy | 27.438 billion | 27.438 billion
Lithuania | 1.1 billion | 1.1 billion
Latvia | 472 million | 472 million
Malta | 420 million | 420 million
Poland | 11.236 billion | 11.236 billion
Portugal | 6.2 billion | 6.2 billion
Romania | 3 billion | 3 billion
Slovenia | 1.113 billion | 1.113 billion
Slovakia | 630 million | 630 million
Czechia | 4.5 billion | 4.5 billion
Total | 98.4 billion | 98.4 billion

Note: Amounts displayed in the table are rounded down to the nearest million.

The Commission analysed the impact of SURE on unemployment, the real economy and its direct financial effect in the bi-annual reports (see the subsection “Reporting under SURE”). The key findings can be summarised as follows:

- Member States have spent almost EUR 122 billion on measures funded by SURE.
- Approximately 31.5 million people and 2.5million firms were estimated to have been covered by SURE in 2020.
- 9 million people and over 900,000 firms were covered by SURE in 2021 in 15 Member States, with a clear phasing out in 2022 when 350,000 people and 40,000 firms were covered in 4 Member States.
- Policy measures including those supported by SURE are estimated to have effectively helped prevent unemployment for around 1.5 million people in 2020.
- The primary beneficiaries of SURE support were small and medium sized enterprises, in particular in the sectors most affected by the pandemic (accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing).
- Beyond the social and employment benefits, Member States are estimated to have saved EUR 9,0 billion in interest payments.

EU SURE social bond

To finance the instrument, the Commission issued social bonds. The Social Bond Framework meant to provide investors in these bonds with confidence that the funds mobilised would serve a truly social objective.

By 7 December 2022, the European Commission had issued €98.4 billion social bonds in nine rounds under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs (see overview: SURE - Disbursements under various bond maturities ). The issuances consisted of bonds ranging from 5 to 30 years. There was very strong investor interest in these highly rated instruments, and the oversubscription resulted in favourable pricing terms for the bonds. The raised funds were transferred to the beneficiary Member States in the form of loans to help them directly cover the costs related to the financing of national short-time work schemes and similar measures as a response to the pandemic.

On 27 October 2021, the EU SURE social bond was listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange, the world’s leading platform exclusively dedicated to sustainable securities.

Reporting under SURE

As per Article 14 of the SURE Regulation , the Commission was to report to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) and the Employment Committee on the use of financial assistance, including outstanding amounts and the applicable repayment schedule under SURE, and on the continuation of the exceptional occurrences that justify the application of this Regulation.

On top of the legal requirements, the Commission was also bound by Section 2.4 of the Social Bond Framework to report on the allocation and the impact of the SURE proceeds, including on the number of workers and firms that benefitted from measures supported by SURE.

The Commission issued five bi-annual reports to deliver on its reporting obligations and provided additional analysis on the impact of SURE on unemployment, the real economy and its direct financial effect.

Fifth and final bi-annual report on the implementation of SURE

2 June 2023

Press release - Protecting jobs and workers: Final report confirms SURE was crucial in mitigating impact of pandemic and supporting recovery

Fourth report on the implementation of SURE

23 September 2022

Press release - Fourth report confirms SURE success in protecting jobs during pandemic

Third report on the implementation of SURE

24 March 2022

Press release - Third report shows continued success in protecting jobs and supporting recovery

Second report on the implementation of SURE

22 September 2021

Press release - Report confirms instrument's success in protecting jobs and incomes

First report on the implementation of SURE

22 March 2021

Press release - Report confirms SURE's success in protecting jobs and incomes

Audit of SURE

In 2021, the European Court of auditors announced through its 2022 Annual Work Programme that it would audit SURE because of its reported importance in cushioning the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic and its sizeable envelope of €100 billion. The purpose of the audit was to find out whether the Commission responded effectively in mitigating the unemployment risk in the EU over the period 2020-2022 through the SURE instrument.

The European Court of Auditors’ report is overall very positive on the instrument, recognising the quick and efficient reaction by the Commission to the challenge of helping Member States preserve employment as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report makes only one recommendation: to evaluate SURE. The Commission accepted this recommendation and published the ex-post evaluation in February 2025.

Timeline

- 31 December 2022 SURE is deactivated
- 14 December 2022 The Commission makes a final disbursement of €6.5 billion to 9 Member States
- 21 November 2022 The Council decides to grant additional financial support to Latvia
- 25 October 2022 The Council decides to grant additional financial support to six Member States
- 21 October 2022 The Commission proposes an additional €167 million to Latvia
- 5 October 2022 The Commission proposes to amend Council Implementing Decision 2020/1353 of 25 September 2020 granting support to Poland.
- 3 October 2022 The Commission proposes an additional €2.5 billion to Czechia
- 28 September 2022 The Commission proposes an additional €900 million to Greece, €29 million to Cyprus and €300 million to Portugal
- 20 September 2022 The Commission proposes an additional €550 million to Croatia and €142 million to Lithuania
- 20 September 2022 The Council decides to grant additional financial support to Bulgaria
- 25 August 2022 The Commission proposes to provide €460 million additional support to Bulgaria
- 20 June 2022 The Commission proposes to amend Council Implementing Decision 2020/1355 of 25 September 2020 granting support to Romania.
- 29 March 2022 The Commission disburses €1.5 billion to Poland, €523 million to Portugal and €147 million to Hungary.
- 4 January 2022 The Commission proposes to amend Council Implementing Decision 2020/1354 of 25 September 2020 granting support to Portugal.
- 21 December 2021 The Commission proposes to provide €147 million additional support to Hungary
- 25 May 2021 Commission disburses €14.1 billion to 12 Member States
- 23 April 2021 The Council decides to grant additional financial support to six Member States
- 30 March 2021 The Commission disburses €13 billion to 6 Member States
- 30 March 2021 The Commission proposes to provide €3.7 billion additional support to 6 Member States
- 16 March 2021 Commission disburses €9 billion under SURE to seven Member States
- 26 February 2021 Commission proposes to provide €230 million to Estonia under SURE
- 2 February 2021 Commission disburses €14 billion under SURE to nine Member States
- 1 December 2020 Commission disburses €8.5 billion under SURE to five Member States
- 17 November 2020 The Commission has disbursed €14 billion to Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovenia, Malta and Latvia.
- 16 November 2020 The Commission proposed financial support of €2.5 billion to Ireland
- 27 October 2020 The Commission has disbursed €17 billion to Italy, Spain and Poland
- 23 October 2020 The Council decided to grant financial support of €504 million to Hungary
- 7 October 2020 The Commission proposed financial support of €504 million to Hungary
- 25 September 2020 The Council decided to grant financial support to 16 Member States
- 22 September 2020 SURE is activated
- 24-25 August 2020 The Commission proposed a financial support of €87.3 billion for 16 Member States
- 19 May 2020 The Council approved the proposal and adopted the SURE regulation
- 2 April 2020 The Commission proposed the creation of SURE

Latest news

- Press release
- 2 June 2023

Protecting jobs and workers: Final report confirms SURE was crucial in mitigating impact of pandemic and supporting recovery

In 2020, the Commission´s nearly €100 billion SURE instrument designed to protect jobs and incomes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic supported about 31.5 million employees and self-employed people and over 2.5 million businesses.

1 min read

- Daily news
- 14 December 2022

Commission makes final €6.5 billion payment under SURE, bringing total support to Member States to €98.4 billion

The Commission has today disbursed over €6.5 billion to nine Member States in the final transaction under SURE, the instrument designed to protect jobs and incomes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 min read

- Actualité quotidienne
- 21 October 2022

La Commission propose de fournir 167 millions d'euros supplémentaires à la Lettonie au titre de SURE

La Commission européenne a présenté aujourd'hui au Conseil une proposition de décision visant à accorder à la Lettonie un soutien financier supplémentaire de 167 millions d'euros au titre de l'instrument SURE, ce qui porte son soutien total au pays à 472 millions d'euros.

2 min read

See all

Documents

Factsheet: SURE - Supporting Member States to help protect people in work and jobs

2 April 2020

Related links

SURE legal documents

SURE Regulation

Questions and answers: Commission proposes SURE

Coronavirus response

SURE success stories

Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA), Vol. 21, No. 2 (2022)

Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA), Vol. 20, No. 2 (2021)

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