On Friday 17 April, the European Commission approved several national aid schemes to support economies and businesses with public funds in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The schemes were approved under the Temporary Framework for State aid measures adopted by the Commission on 19 March, as amended on 3 April 2020.
Hungary. In particular, a €1 billion aid scheme to support the Hungarian economy has been approved. The support measures under this scheme will be financed by the EU Structural Funds.
Hungary intends to implement measures consisting of direct grants, loans and equity investments, using EU structural funds for this purpose. The scheme will be open to all companies, i.e. micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises, which have access to European structural funds and which are facing difficulties due to the economic impact of the pandemic.
Croatia. The Commission has authorised a €4 million Croatian scheme to support the fisheries and aquaculture sector. The scheme, which will take the form of direct grants, aims to provide liquidity to companies in the sector, which are facing cash flow difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak, to enable them to continue their activities during and after the pandemic.
The scheme, which will apply to the whole territory of Croatia (mainland and islands), will be open to companies of all sizes in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, including those engaged in commercial marine fishing (capture fisheries), shellfish, warm (cyprinids) and cold water (salmonids) fish farming and processing of fisheries and aquaculture products. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)