Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency situation following the COVID-19 outbreak
Date: 2020-08-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, EU loan, emergency aid, employment aid, epidemic, fight against unemployment, infectious disease, public expenditure, self-employed person

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.8.2020  COM(2020) 471 final 2020/0225 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Belgium to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency situation following the COVID-19 outbreak  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Council  Regulation  2020/672  (“SURE  Regulation”)  lays  down  the  legal  framework  for 
providing  Union  financial  assistance  to  Member  States,  which  are  experiencing,  or  are 
seriously threatened with, a severe economic disturbance caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. 
Support  under  SURE  serves  for  the  financing,  primarily,  of  short-time  work  schemes  or 
similar measures aimed at protecting employees and the self‐ employed and thus reducing the 
incidence of unemployment and loss of income, as well as for the financing, as an ancillary, 
of some health-related measures, in particular in the workplace. 

On  7  August  2020,  Belgium  requested  Union  financial  assistance  under  the  SURE 
Regulation.  In  accordance  with  Article  6(2)  of  the  SURE  Regulation,  the  Commission  has 
consulted  the  Belgian  authorities  to  verify  the  sudden  and  severe  increase  in  actual  and 
planned expenditure directly related to the temporary unemployment scheme, the COVID-19 
replacement  income  for  self-employed,  the  COVID-19  parental  leave,  a  number  of  regional 
income  support  schemes  and  regional  health-related  measures  caused  by  the  COVID-19 
pandemic. In particular, it concerns: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

scheme, 

“chômage 

temporaire/ 

temporary  unemployment 

the 
tijdelijke 
werkloosheid”, which provides compensation for employees whose work is reduced 
or  suspended  because  of  a  decreased  workload  or  the  social  distancing  measures 
imposed  by  the  government.  The  temporary  unemployment  scheme  existed  before 
the COVID-19 pandemic, but the requirements to access the scheme were adapted to 
COVID-19  and  the  application  procedure  was  further  eased.  Furthermore,  the 
allowance for temporary unemployment was increased from 65% to 70% of the daily 
average  wage  (capped  at  EUR  2  754,76  gross  per  month).  In  addition,  a  daily 
premium of EUR 5,36 was introduced. 

the  existing  replacement  income  for  self-employed,  “bridging  right”  (“Droit 
passerelle/ Overbruggingsrecht”), which has been extended by the introduction of a 
“COVID-19  bridging  right”.  This  is  a  benefit  provided  where  social  distancing 
measures  imposed  by  the  government  lead  to  a  total  or  partial  interruption  of  self-
employment  activities  or  to  a  voluntary  interruption  of  at  least  seven  consecutive 
calendar days during the month. Starting from June 2020, the allowance targets self-
employed  persons  who  have  restarted  their  activity  but  still  face  a  reduction  in 
turnover  compared  to  2019.  Self-employed  persons  who  cannot  yet  restart  their 
activity  can  still  benefit  from  the  allowance  but  have  to  prove  that  this  is  due  to 
COVID-19 restrictions.  

the COVID-19 parental leave, which is a special parental leave that does not affect 
the  right  to  the  regular  parental  leave  and  allows  parents  to  take  leave  to  provide 
additional  care  of  their  children  between  May  and  September  2020  with  a  higher 
allowance than under regular parental leave.  

a number of regional schemes that provide income support to the self-employed, one-
person companies and other types of employees, who do not qualify for other kinds 
of  income  support.  In  particular,  the  compensation  premia  for  companies  and  for 
entrepreneurs in Brussels Capital, the nuisance, compensation and support premia in 
Flanders  and  the  compensation  premium  for  business  closure  in  Wallonia  provide 
generalised  one-off  support  for  companies  and  self-employed  that  needed  to  close 

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their activities due to COVID-19 or faced a substantial reduction in turnover. Other 
measures  (the  compensation  premium  for  intermittent  workers  in  Brussels  Capital, 
the  nurseries  subvention  and  the  cultural  operators  subvention  in  the  French 
Community,  the  training  activities  in  Wallonia,  and  the  cultural  operators  and  self-
employed subvention and the touristic operators subvention in the German-speaking 
Community) target  the self-employed and workers with  no access  to  the temporary 
unemployment  scheme  in  specific  sectors  (cultural  and  care  sector,  training 
activities). 

(5) 

health-related measures in the German-speaking Community, which include hygiene 
training,  the  provision  of  protective  material  for  residential  and  care  centres, 
hospitals and medical service providers and information campaigns. 

Belgium provided the Commission with the relevant information.  

Taking into account the available evidence, the Commission proposes to the Council to adopt 
an  Implementing  Decision  to  grant  financial  assistance  to  Belgium  under  the  SURE 
Regulation in support of the above measures. 

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

The present proposal is fully consistent with  Council Regulation 2020/672, under which the 
proposal is made. 

The present proposal comes in addition to another Union law instrument to provide support to 
Member States in case of emergencies, namely Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 
November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) (“Regulation (EC) 
No 2012/2002”). Regulation (EU) 2020/461 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 
which amends that instrument to  extend its scope to  cover major public  health emergencies 
and to define specific operations eligible for financing, was adopted on 30 March.   

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

The proposal is part of a range of measures developed in response to the current COVID-19 
pandemic  such  as  the  “Coronavirus  Response  Investment  Initiative”,  and  it  complements 
other  instruments  that  support  employment  such  as  the  European  Social  Fund  and  the 
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)/InvestEU. By making use of borrowing and 
lending in this particular case of the COVID-19 outbreak for supporting Member States, this 
proposal  acts  as  a  second  line  of  defence  to  finance  short-time  work  schemes  and  similar 
measures,  helping  protect  jobs  and  thus  employees  and  self-employed  against  the  risk  of 
unemployment.  

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The legal basis for this instrument is Council Regulation 2020/672.   

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The  proposal  follows  a  Member  State  request  and  shows  European  solidarity  by  providing 
Union financial assistance in the form of temporary loans to a Member State affected by the 
COVID-19  outbreak.  As  a  second  line  of  defence,  such  financial  assistance  supports  the 
government’s increased public expenditure on a temporary basis in respect of short-time work 
schemes  and  similar  measures  to  help  them  protect  jobs  and  thus  employees  and  self-
employed against the risk of unemployment and loss of income. 

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Such  support  will  help  the  population  affected  and  helps  to  mitigate  the  direct  societal  and 
economic impact caused by the present COVID-19 crisis.  

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal respects the proportionality principle. It does not go beyond what is necessary to 
achieve the objectives sought by the instrument.  

3. 

• 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Stakeholder consultations 

Due to the urgency to prepare the proposal so that it can be adopted in a timely manner by the 
Council, a stakeholder consultation could not be carried out. 

• 

Impact assessment 

Due to the urgent nature of the proposal, no impact assessment was carried out. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The  Commission  should  be  able  to  contract  borrowings  on  the  financial  markets  with  the 
purpose  of  on-lending  them  to  the  Member  State  requesting  financial  assistance  under  the 
SURE instrument.  

In  addition  to  the  provision  of  Member  State  guarantees,  other  safeguards  are  built  into  the 
framework in order to ensure the financial solidity of the scheme: 

 

 

A rigorous and conservative approach to financial management; 

A  construction  of  the  portfolio  of  loans  that  limits  concentration  risk,  annual 
exposure and excessive exposure to individual Member States whilst ensuring 
sufficient resources could be granted to Member States most in need; and 

 

Possibilities to roll over debt. 

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2020/0225 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION 

granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Belgium to 
mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency situation following the COVID-19 
outbreak 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,  

Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 of 19 May 2020 on the establishment of 
a  European  instrument  for  temporary  support  to  mitigate  unemployment  risks  in  an 
emergency (SURE) following the COVID-19 outbreak1, and in particular Article 6(1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

On 7 August 2020, Belgium requested financial assistance from the Union with a view 
to complementing its national efforts to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak 
and its socio-economic consequences for workers.  

The COVID-19 outbreak and the extraordinary measures implemented by Belgium to 
contain the outbreak and its socio-economic and health-related impact are expected to 
have  a  dramatic  impact  on  public  finances.  According  to  the  Commission’s  2020 
Spring forecast, Belgium was expected to have a general government deficit and debt 
of 8.9% and 113.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) respectively by the end of 2020. 
According  to  the  Commission’s  2020  Summer  interim  forecast,  Belgium’s  GDP  is 
projected to decrease by 8.8% in 2020.  

in 

the 

respect  of 

temporary  unemployment 

The  COVID-19  outbreak  has  immobilised  a  substantial  part  of  the  labour  force  in 
Belgium.  This  has  led  to  a  sudden  and  severe  increase  in  public  expenditure  by 
scheme,  “chômage 
Belgium 
temporaire/tijdelijke  werkloosheid”,  the  COVID-19  replacement  income  for  self-
employed,  “COVID-19  bridging right”, the COVID-19 parental leave, and a number 
of regional income support schemes  and in  support  of public health measures, as  set 
out in recitals 4 to 8.  
The “Arrêté royal du 30 mars 2020”2, as referred to in Belgium’s request of 7 August 
2020, adapted the temporary unemployment scheme, “chômage temporaire/ tijdelijke 
werkloosheid”  to  COVID-19,  which  provides  compensation  for  employees  whose 
work is reduced or suspended because of a decreased workload or the social distancing 
measures imposed by the government. The temporary unemployment scheme existed 
before  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  but  the  requirements  to  access  the  scheme  were 

OJ L 159, 20.5.2020, p.1. 

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2  Arrêté royal du 30 mars 2020 visant à adapter les procédures dans le cadre du chômage temporaire dû au virus 
Covid-19 et à modifier l'article 10 de l'arrêté royal du 6 mai 2019 modifiant les articles 27, 51, 52bis, 58, 58/3 
et  63  de  l'arrêté  royal  du  25  novembre  1991  portant  réglementation  du  chômage  et  insérant  les  articles 
36sexies, 63bis et 124bis dans le même arrêté 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

adapted to COVID-19 and the application procedure was further eased. Furthermore, 
the  allowance  for  temporary  unemployment  was  increased  from  65%  to  70%  of  the 
daily  average  wage  (capped  at  EUR  2  754,76  gross  per  month).  In  addition,  a  daily 
premium of EUR 5,36 was introduced. 
The  “Loi  du  23  mars  2020”3,  as  referred  to  in  Belgium’s  request  of  7  August  2020, 
extended the existing replacement income for self-employed, “bridging right” (“Droit 
passerelle/  Overbruggingsrecht”),  by  the  introduction  of  a  “COVID-19  bridging 
right”.  This  is  a  benefit  provided  where  social  distancing  measures  imposed  by  the 
government lead to a total or partial interruption of self-employment activities or to a 
voluntary  interruption  of  at  least  seven  consecutive  calendar  days  during  the  month. 
Starting  from  June  2020,  the  allowance  targets  self-employed  persons  who  have 
restarted  their  activity  but  still  face  a  reduction  in  turnover  compared  to  2019.  Self-
employed  persons  who  cannot  yet  restart  their  activity  can  still  benefit  from  the 
allowance but have to prove that this is due to COVID-19 restrictions.  
The  “Arrêté  royal  du  13  mai  2020  n°  23”4,  as  referred  to  in  Belgium’s  request  of  7 
August 2020, introduced COVID-19 parental leave, which is a special parental leave, 
that does  not  affect  the right  to  the regular parental leave and  allows parents  to  take 
leave  to  provide  additional  care  of  their  children  between  May  and  September  2020 
with  a  higher  allowance  than  under  regular  parental  leave.  The  COVID-19  parental 
leave can be considered a similar measure to short-time work schemes, as referred to 
in  Regulation  (EU)  2020/672,  as  it  provides  income  support  to  employees  and  helps 
preserve  employment  by  preventing  parents,  who  have  to  look  after  their  children 
while schools are closed, from needing to terminate the employment relationship. 

On  the  basis  of  “Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  de  la  Région  de  Bruxelles-Capitale  de 
pouvoirs  spéciaux  n°  2020/019”5,  “Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  de  la  Région  de 
Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/030”6, “Notification de la réunion du 
conseil des ministres du gouvernement de la région de Bruxelles-Capitale du jeudi 14 
mai 2020”7, “Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 20 maart 2020”8, “Besluit van de 
Vlaamse Regering van 10 april 2020”9, “Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 12 juni 
2020”10, “ Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française de pouvoirs spéciaux 

3  Loi  du  23  mars  2020  modifiant  la  loi  du  22  décembre  2016  instaurant  un  droit  passerelle  en  faveur  des 
travailleurs  indépendants  et  introduisant  les  mesures  temporaires  dans  le  cadre  du  COVID-19  en  faveur  des 
travailleurs indépendants 

4  Arrêté royal du 13 mai 2020 n° 23 pris en exécution de l'article 5, § 1, 5°, de la loi du 27 mars 2020 accordant 
des pouvoirs au Roi afin de prendre des mesures dans la lutte contre la propagation du coronavirus COVID-19 
(II) visant le congé parental corona 

5  Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  de  la  Région  de  Bruxelles-Capitale  de  pouvoirs  spéciaux  n°  2020/019  modifiant 
l’arrêté  de  pouvoirs  spéciaux  n°  2020/013  du  7  avril  2020  relatif  à  une  aide  en  vue  de  l’indemnisation  des 
entreprises affectées par les mesures d’urgence pour limiter la propagation du coronavirus. 

6  Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 2020/030 relatif à l’aide 

aux entreprises qui subissent une baisse d’activité en raison de la crise sanitaire du COVID−19 

7  Notification  de  la  reunion  du  conseil  des  ministres  du  gouvernement  de  la  région  de  Bruxelles-Capitale  du 
jeudi 14 mai 2020 point 23  - Mesures de soutien d’urgence au secteur créatif et culturel bruxellois suite à la 
crise COVID-19. 

8  Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 20 maart 2020 tot toekenning van steun aan ondernemingen die verplicht 
moeten  sluiten  ten  gevolge  van  de  maatregelen  genomen  door  de  Nationale  Veiligheidsraad  vanaf  12  maart 
2020 inzake het coronavirus. 

9  Besluit  van  de  Vlaamse  Regering  van  10  april  2020  tot  toekenning  van  steun  aan  ondernemingen  die  een 
omzetdaling hebben ten gevolge van de exploitatiebeperkingen opgelegd door de maatregelen genomen door 
de Nationale Veiligheidsraad vanaf 12 maart 2020 inzake het coronavirus. 

10 Besluit  van  de  Vlaamse  Regering  van  12  juni  2020  tot  toekenning  van  steun  aan  ondernemingen  die  een 
omzetdaling hebben ondanks de versoepelde coronavirusmaatregelen, tot wijziging van de artikelen 1, 9 en 11 

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n° 4 du 23 avril 2020”11, “Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française du 7 
avril  2020”12,  “Arrêté  ministériel  portant  exécution  de  l'arrêté  du  Gouvernement 
wallon  du  20  mars  2020”13,  “  Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  wallon  du  19  juin”14,  “ 
Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret  I vom 6. April 
2020” and “Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret III 
vom 20. Juli 2020,” as referred to in Belgium’s request of 7 August 2020, the Belgium 
authorities have introduced a number of regional schemes that provide income support 
to  the  self-employed,  one-person  companies,  and  other  types  of  employees,  who  do 
not qualify for other kinds of income support.  In particular, the compensation premia 
for companies  and  for  entrepreneurs in  Brussels  Capital,  the nuisance, compensation 
and support premia in Flanders and the compensation premium for business closure in 
Wallonia  provide  generalised  one-off  support  for  companies  and  self-employed  that 
needed  to  close  their  activities  due  to  COVID-19  or  faced  a  substantial  reduction  in 
turnover. Where the measures target a wider range of beneficiaries, only the amounts 
for  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  self-employed  and  one-person  companies 
have  been  requested.  Other  measures  (the  compensation  premium  for  intermittent 
workers  in  Brussels  Capital,  the  nurseries  subvention  and  the  cultural  operators 
subvention  in  the  French  Community,  the  training  activities  in  Wallonia,  and  the 
cultural operators and self-employed subvention and the touristic operators subvention 
in  the  German-speaking  Community)  target  the  self-employed  and  workers  with  no 
access  to  the  temporary  unemployment  scheme  in  specific  sectors  (cultural  and  care 
sector, training activities). As the cultural  operators and self-employed subvention in 
the German-speaking Community provides loans that can be converted into grants, in 
order to meet the requirement of being public expenditure, only expenditure relating to 
loans  being  converted  into  grants  should  be  supported  under  Regulation  (EU) 
2020/672. 

Finally,  the  “Parlament  der  Deutschsprachigen  Gemeinschaft,  Corona-Krisendekret  I 
vom 6. April 2020”15, as referred to in Belgium’s request of 7 August 2020, introduces 
health-related  measures  in  the  German-speaking  Community,  which  include  hygiene 
training, the provision of protective material for residential and care centres, hospitals 
and medical service providers and information campaigns. 

Belgium fulfils the conditions for requesting financial assistance set out in Article 3 of 
Regulation  (EU)  2020/672.  Belgium  has  provided  the  Commission  with  appropriate 
evidence that the actual and planned public expenditure has increased by EUR  7 766 

(8) 

(9) 

van het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 10 april 2020 tot toekenning van steun aan ondernemingen die 
een  omzetdaling  hebben  ten  gevolge  van  de  exploitatiebeperkingen  opgelegd  door  de  maatregelen  genomen 
door  de  Nationale  Veiligheidsraad  vanaf  12  maart  2020  inzake  het  coronavirus,  en  tot  wijziging  van  de 
artikelen 1, 6, 9 en 12 van het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 20 maart 2020 tot toekenning van steun 
aan ondernemingen die verplicht moeten sluiten ten gevolge van de maatregelen genomen door de Nationale 
Veiligheidsraad vanaf 12 maart 2020 inzake het coronavirus. 

11 Arrêté  du Gouvernement de la Communauté  française  de  pouvoirs spéciaux  n° 4 du 23 avril 2020 relatif au 

soutien du secteur culturel dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19. 

12 Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française du 7 avril 2020 relatif au soutien des milieux d’accueil 

dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19. 

13 Arrêté  ministériel  portant  exécution  de  l'arrêté  du  Gouvernement  wallon  du  20  mars  2020  relatif  à  l'octroi 
d'indemnités  compensatoires  dans  le  cadre  des  mesures  contre  le  coronavirus  COVID-19  and  Arrêté  du 
Gouvernement  wallon  relatif  à  l'octroi  d'indemnités  compensatoires  dans  le  cadre  des  mesures  contre  le 
coronavirus COVID-19. 

14 Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  wallon  du  19  juin  portant  des  dispositions  diverses  relatives  aux  formateurs  et  au 

subventionnement des activités de formation des centres de formation du réseau IFAPME 
15 Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret I vom 6. April 2020 

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380 000 as of 1 February 2020 due to the national measures taken to address the socio-
economic  effects  of  the  COVID-19  outbreak.  This  constitutes  a  sudden  and  severe 
increase because it related to both new measures and an extension of existing measures 
covers a significant proportion of undertakings and of the labour force in Belgium.  

(10)  The Commission has consulted Belgium and verified the sudden and severe increase 
in  the  actual  and  planned  public  expenditure  directly  related  to  short-time  work 
schemes  and  similar  measures,  as  well  as  the  recourse  to  relevant  health-related 
measures  related  to  the  COVID-19  outbreak,  referred  to  in  the  request  of  7  August 
2020, in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.  

(11)  Financial assistance should  therefore be provided with  a view to  helping Belgium to 
address the socio-economic effects of the severe economic disturbance caused by the 
COVID-19 outbreak. 

(12)  This decision should be without prejudice to the outcome of any procedures relating to 
distortions of the operation of the internal market that may be undertaken, in particular 
under Articles 107  and  108 TFEU.  It  does not  override the  requirement  for Member 
States to notify instances of potential State aid to the Commission under Article 108 
TFEU. 

(13)  Belgium  should  inform  the  Commission  on  a  regular  basis  of  the  implementation  of 
the planned public expenditure, in order to enable the Commission to assess the extent 
to which Belgium has implemented that expenditure. 

(14)  The  decision  to  provide  financial  assistance  has  been  taken  taking  into  account 
existing  and  expected  needs  of  Belgium,  as  well  as  requests  for  financial  assistance 
pursuant  to  Regulation  (EU)  2020/672  already  submitted  or  planned  to be  submitted 
by other Member States, while applying the principles  of equal  treatment,  solidarity, 
proportionality and transparency, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Belgium fulfils the conditions set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.  

Article 1 

Article 2 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The Union shall make available to Belgium a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 
7 766 380 000. The loan shall have a maximum average maturity of 15 years. 

The availability period for financial assistance  granted by this Decision shall be 18 
months starting from the first day after the entry into force of this Decision.  

The  Union  financial  assistance  shall  be  made  available  by  the  Commission  to 
Belgium in a maximum of eight instalments. An instalment may be disbursed in one 
or several tranches. The maturities of the tranches under the first instalment may be 
longer than the maximum average maturity referred to in paragraph 1. In such cases, 
the maturities of further tranches shall be set so that the maximum average maturity 
referred to in paragraph 1 is respected once all instalments have been disbursed.  

The  first  instalment  shall  be  released  subject  to  the  entry  into  force  of  the  loan 
agreement provided for in Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.   

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5. 

6. 

Belgium  shall  pay  the  cost  of  funding  of  the  Union  referred  to  in  Article  4  of 
Regulation (EU) 2020/672 for each instalment plus any fees, costs and expenses of 
the Union resulting from any funding.  

The Commission shall decide on the size and release of instalments, as well as on the 
size of the tranches.  

Belgium may finance the following measures: 

Article 3  

a)  the  temporary  unemployment  scheme,  “chômage  temporaire/tijdelijke  werkloosheid” 

as provided for by the Arrêté royal du 30 mars 2020; 

b)  the  COVID-19-related  replacement  income  for  the  self-employed,  “Crisis  bridging 

rights” as provided for by the Loi du 23 mars 2020;  

c) the COVID-19 parental leave as provided for by the  Arrêté royal du 13 mai 2020 n° 

23;  

d) regional income support schemes, as follows:,  

i) 

– 

– 

– 

ii) 

– 

– 

– 

for the Brussels Capital Region: 

a  compensation  premium  for  companies  as  provided  for  by  the  Arrêté  du 
Gouvernement  de  la  Région  de  Bruxelles-Capitale  de  pouvoirs  spéciaux  n° 
2020/019,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  the  self-
employed and one-person companies;  

a  compensation  premium  for  entrepreneurs  as  provided  for  by  the  Arrêté  du 
Gouvernement  de  la  Région  de  Bruxelles-Capitale  de  pouvoirs  spéciaux  n° 
2020/030,  only  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  the  self-
employed and one-person companies;  

a  compensation  premium  for  intermittent  workers,  as  provided  for  by 
Notification  de  la  réunion  du  conseil  des  ministres  du  gouvernement  de  la 
région de Bruxelles-Capitale du jeudi 14 mai 2020 point 23;  

for the Region of Flanders: 

a nuisance premium as provided for by Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 
20  maart  2020,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  the  self-
employed and one-person companies;  

a compensation premium as provided for by Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering 
van 10 april 2020, for the part of expenditure related to the support of the self-
employed and one-person companies;  

a support premium as provided for by Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 12 
juni  2020,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  self-employed 
and one-person companies;  

iii) 

for the French Community: 

– 

– 

a cultural operators subvention as provided for by Arrêté du Gouvernement de 
la Communauté française de pouvoirs spéciaux n° 4 du 23 avril 2020; 

nurseries  subvention  as  provided  for  by  Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  de  la 
Communauté  française  du  7  avril  2020,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to 
the support of self-employed and one-person companies;  

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iv) 

for the Walloon Region: 

– 

– 

v) 

– 

– 

a  compensation  premium  for  business  closure  as  provided  for  by  Arrêté 
ministériel  portant  exécution  de  l'arrêté  du  Gouvernement  wallon  du  20  mars 
2020,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to  the  support  of  self-employed  and 
one-person companies;  

training  activities  as  provided  for  by  Arrêté  du  Gouvernement  wallon  du  19 
juin; 

for the German-speaking Community: 

a cultural operators and self-employed subvention as provided for by Parlament 
der  Deutschsprachigen  Gemeinschaft,  Corona-Krisendekret  I  vom  6.  April 
2020, Art. 7, for the part of expenditure relating to loans being converted into 
grants;  

a 
touristic  operators  subvention  as  provided  for  by  Parlament  der 
Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret III vom 20. Juli 2020, 
Art. 4, for the part of expenditure related to the support of self-employed and 
one-person companies;  

e)  health  related  measures  in  the  German-speaking  Community  as  provided  for  by 
Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Corona-Krisendekret I vom 6. April 
2020, Art. 7. 

Belgium shall inform the Commission by [DATE: 6 months after date of publication of this 
Decision],  and  every  6  months  thereafter  of  the  implementation  of  the  planned  public 
expenditure until such time as that planned public expenditure has been fully implemented. 

Article 4 

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium. 

Article 5 

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.  

Done at Brussels, 

Article 6 

For the Council 
The President 

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