03/10/2022 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 3 October, the European Commission proposed to the EU Council the granting of an additional €2.5 billion to the Czech Republic under the SURE instrument, according to a statement. Once the green light has been given by the EU Council, the country will have received €4.5 billion in aid. The loan will finance past expenditure - mainly from 2020 and 2021 - for the continuation of measures that were introduced to deal with the impact of Covid-19, including a short-time working scheme and similar measures for the self-employed, and which were discontinued at the beginning of 2022. The Commission has already given €91.8 billion to 19 Member States under SURE, with €1.8 billion still available under SURE for possible future applications. (SP)