27/04/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the announcements of the adoption of the legislative texts adopted by the Member States made at the end of the summit by videoconference of EU leaders on Thursday 23 April, in particular concerning the adoption of the SURE instrument for temporary support to mitigate the risks of unemployment and the plan to set up a Recovery Fund (see EUROPE 12473/1). However, “it is worrying that they will not be available before 1 June when workers, companies and public services are struggling now”, they say. For the trade union organisation, the leaders must “accelerate” the planning of economic recovery with an emphasis on the social and ecological dimension. In their view, the Fund should be based on debt pooling. As for SURE, the trade unions consider that the deadline of 2022 should be extended (see EUROPE 12472/20). (PH)