Austria asked the European Commission, on Tuesday 21 April, to suspend aid rules "for the duration of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic".
In a letter addressed to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for Competition Policy, seen by EUROPE, the Austrian Minister of Finance, Gernot Blümel, also called for the following measures: - reduce the administrative burden in order to enable us to help our companies as quickly as possible; - exempt 'anti-crisis subsidies' from the obligation of ex-ante notification, as is the case for State Aid to compensate for damage caused by natural disasters; - raise the ceiling for direct contributions to SMEs with immediate effect; - allow for a more flexible interpretation of the definition of who can receive help; - suspend the guarantee fee; - allow additional aid for industries specifically affected by the crisis.
In addition, on 21 and 22 April, the Commission approved several State Aid schemes under the Temporary Framework for State Aid measures adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as amended on 3 April 2020.
Netherlands. The Commission has authorised a loan guarantee scheme of up to €10 billion to support the Dutch economy. This is a guarantee scheme for working capital and investment credits granted by banks to help Dutch companies cover their liquidity needs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme covers only loans granted by banks since 24 March 2020.
The Dutch State guarantees 90% of new loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 80% of new loans to large companies. Banks are obliged to grant borrowers a 6-month moratorium on loan repayments to borrowers before they can invoke the State guarantees on loans provided under the scheme.
Poland. Following the approval of a guarantee scheme on 3 April and a loan and guarantee scheme on 8 April, Poland notified to the Commission a new €110 million scheme to support businesses affected by the pandemic. The new scheme will be financed by re-using resources that had been paid to companies under various financial instruments during the programming period 2007-2013 for EU structural funds and that have been repaid to the State. The Polish authorities will be able to grant aid by providing liquidity support in the form of loan guarantees and subsidised interest rates for loans.
Ireland. The Commission has supported a €200 million scheme to assist businesses in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors operating in Ireland and affected by the pandemic. Public support, which will take the form of direct grants, repayable advances, equity injections, and subsidised loans, aims at ensuring that companies have sufficient liquidity to maintain their activities during and after the outbreak. The scheme, which applies to the whole of Ireland, will be open to companies of all sizes.
Sweden. The green light has been given to a Swedish €38 million scheme to compensate companies that organise cultural events that have been cancelled. These operators will be entitled to compensation for the damage suffered, in the form of direct grants covering 75% of their loss of revenue or additional costs (up to €90,600) and 50% for the part of the losses above this amount. Aid may be granted up to a maximum of €906,000 per beneficiary. Compensation is provided for events scheduled between March 12, 2020 and May 31, 2020 that had to be cancelled or postponed. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)