25/09/2020 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 25 September, the EU Council gave its approval by written procedure to support amounting to €87.4 billion for the 16 member states that requested it under the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (the SURE instrument). The €100 billion instrument to support short-time working schemes, which have been put to the test by the pandemic, has been operational since the recent announcement by the Commission that all national guarantees have been signed (see EUROPE 12565/11). Hungary was until recently still awaiting validation of its application by the European Commission, awaiting “technical” clarifications. Estonia and Ireland, for their part, have reportedly expressed interest in applying for the instrument. However, to date, no formal request is reported to have been made (see EUROPE 12559/14). (PH)