Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Slovenia 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: EU loan, Slovenia, emergency aid, employment aid, epidemic, fight against unemployment, infectious disease, public expenditure, self-employed person

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.8.2020  COM(2020) 467 final 2020/0220 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Slovenia 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,  Slovenia  requested  Union  financial  assistance  under  the  SURE 
Regulation.  In  accordance  with  Article  6(2)  of  the  SURE  Regulation,  the  Commission  has 
consulted  the  Slovenian  authorities  to  verify  the  sudden  and  severe  increase  in  actual  and 
planned expenditure directly related to  short-time work schemes and similar measures caused 
by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it concerns: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

a wage compensation scheme for employees who did not work (or waited for work) 
due to a temporary incapacity of the employers to provide work for business reasons. 
The  benefit  payable  under  the  scheme  is  capped  at  80%  of  the  employees'  average 
wage in the last three months, but is not lower than the minimum wage in Slovenia, 
and  is  conditional  on  employee  retention  during  the  employer’s  participation.  The 
scheme  was  in  force  from  13  March  2020  to  31  May  2020.  The  scheme  has  since 
been  extended  from  1  June  2020  until  31  August  2020  with  a  planned  further 
extension until the end of September 2020. 

an  exemption  from  the  payment  of  social  security  insurance  contributions  for 
employees benefitting from the wage compensation scheme. That scheme was also in 
force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

a short-time work scheme that allows employers  to  temporarily introduce part-time 
work,  whilst  employees  are  paid  a  full-time  salary.  The  employer  receives  a  fixed-
amount  subsidy  for  the  employees’  non-worked  hours  and  is  conditional  on 
employee retention during the employer’s participation and for one additional month. 
The scheme is in force from 1 June 2020 to 31 December 2020. 

a  scheme  that  subsidised  the  payment  of  pension  and  disability  insurance 
contributions  (including contributions  for professional  pensions) for employees that 
remained  in  the  workplace.  The  measure  was  coupled  with  an  obligation  for  the 
employer to pay a monthly crisis allowance of EUR 200 to the working employees 
earning  a  wage  below  three  times  the  minimum  wage.  Only  for  the  part  of  the 
expenditure  related  to  the  employees  who  were  continuously  in  employment  up  to 
the latest available outturn data was requested by the authorities. The measure was in 
force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

a measure that provides financing of social security contributions for self-employed 
persons,  farmers  and  religious  workers.  The  measure  covers  all  social  security 
insurance contributions for the beneficiaries who were insured and could not perform 
their  economic  activity,  or  could  only  perform  part  of  that  activity,  during  the 
epidemic. The measure was in force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

EN 

1 

  EN 

(6) 

a basic income support for self-employed persons, farmers and religious workers that 
provided  support  of  EUR 350  in  March  and  of  EUR 700  in  April  and  May  for  the 
beneficiaries  who  were  insured  and  could  not  perform  their  economic  activity,  or 
could  only  perform  part  of  that  activity,  during  the  epidemic.  The  measure  was  in 
force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

Slovenia 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  Slovenia  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. 

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

EN 

2 

  EN 

• 

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. 

EN 

3 

  EN 

2020/0220 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION 

granting temporary support under Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to Slovenia 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, Slovenia 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 Slovenia 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, Slovenia was expected to have a general government deficit and debt 
of 7.2% and 83.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) respectively by the end of 2020, 
According  to  the  Commission’s  2020  Summer  interim  forecast,  Slovenia’s  GDP  is 
projected to decrease by 7.0% in 2020.  

The  COVID-19  outbreak  has  immobilised  a  substantial  part  of  the  labour  force  in 
Slovenia.  This  has  led  to  a  sudden  and  severe  increase  in  public  expenditure  by 
Slovenia  in  respect  of  short-time  work  schemes  and  similar  measures,  as  set  out  in 
recitals 4 to 9.  
The “Act on the Interim Measure of Partial Reimbursement of Wage Compensation”2 
and  the  “Act  Determining  the  Intervention  Measures  to  Contain  the  COVID-19 
Epidemic and Mitigate its Consequences for Citizens and the Economy”3, as they are 
referred to  in  Slovenia’s request  of 7 August  2020, introduced a wage compensation 
scheme  for  employees  who  did  not  work  (or  waited  for  work)  due  to  a  temporary 
incapacity of the employers to provide work for business reasons. The benefit payable 
under the scheme is  capped at  80% of the employees' average wage in  the last three 
months,  but  is  not  lower  than  the  minimum  wage  in  Slovenia,  and  is  conditional  on 
employee retention during the employer’s participation. The scheme was in force from 
13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. On the basis of “the Act Determining the Intervention 

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 159, 20.5.2020, p.1. 
(ZIUPPP), Official Gazette of RS 36/20 
(ZIUZEOP), Official Gazette of RS 49/20 

EN 

4 

  EN 

                                                 
(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

Measures  to  Mitigate  and  Remedy  the  Consequences  of  the  COVID-19  Epidemic”4, 
the  scheme  has  since  been  extended  from  1  June  2020  until  31  August  2020  with  a 
planned further extension until the end of September 2020. 

An  exemption  from  the  payment  of  social  security  insurance  contributions  for 
employees  benefitting  from  the  wage  compensation  scheme  was  introduced.  That 
scheme was also in force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

A  short-time  work  scheme  has  been  created  that  allows  employers  to  temporarily 
introduce part-time work, whilst employees are paid a full-time salary. The employer 
receives  a  fixed-amount  subsidy  for  the  employees’  non-worked  hours  and  is 
conditional  on  employee  retention  during  the  employer’s  participation  and  for  one 
additional month. The scheme is in force from 1 June 2020 to 31 December 2020. 

For  employees  that  remained  in  the  workplace,  the  authorities  introduced  a  scheme 
that  subsidised  the  payment  of  pension  and  disability  insurance  contributions 
(including contributions for professional pensions). The measure was coupled with an 
obligation  for  the  employer  to  pay  a  monthly  crisis  allowance  of  EUR 200  to  the 
working  employees  earning  a  wage  below  three  times  the  minimum  wage.  Only  the 
part  of  the  expenditure  related  to  the  employees  who  were  continuously  in 
employment  up  to  the  latest  available  outturn  data  was  requested  by  the  authorities. 
The measure was in force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

A measure has been introduced that provides financing of social security contributions 
for  self-employed  persons,  farmers  and  religious  workers.  The  measure  covers  all 
social  security  insurance  contributions  for  the  beneficiaries  who  were  insured  and 
could not perform their economic activity, or could only perform part of that activity, 
during the epidemic. The measure was in force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

Finally,  a  basic  income  support  for  self-employed  persons,  farmers  and  religious 
workers was introduced that provided support of EUR 350 in March and of EUR 700 
in April and May for the beneficiaries who were insured and could not perform their 
economic  activity,  or  could  only  perform  part  of  that  activity,  during  the  epidemic. 
The measure was in force from 13 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. 

(10)  Slovenia fulfils the conditions for requesting financial assistance set out in Article 3 of 
Regulation  (EU)  2020/672.  Slovenia  has  provided  the  Commission  with  appropriate 
evidence that the actual and planned public expenditure has increased by EUR  1 203 
670 000 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 the new measures cover a significant proportion of undertakings and 
of  the  labour  force  in  Slovenia.  Slovenia  intends  to  finance  EUR  90  000  000  of  the 
increased amount of expenditure through Union funds. 

(11)  The Commission has consulted Slovenia and verified the sudden and severe increase 
in  the  actual  and  planned  public  expenditure  directly  related  to  short-time  work 
schemes  and  similar  measures  referred  to  in  the  request  of  7  August  2020,  in 
accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672.  

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

4  (Intervention  Law),  Zakon  o  interventnih  ukrepih  za  omilitev  in  odpravo  posledic  epidemije  COVID-19 

(ZIUOOPE), adopted on 30. 5. 2020, Official Gazette No 80/20 

EN 

5 

  EN 

                                                 
(13)  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. 

(14)  Slovenia 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 Slovenia has implemented that expenditure. 

(15)  The  decision  to  provide  financial  assistance  has  been  taken  taking  into  account 
existing  and  expected  needs  of  Slovenia,  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:  

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

Article 1 

Article 2 

1. The Union shall make available to Slovenia a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 1 113 
670 000. The loan shall have a maximum average maturity of 15 years. 

2. 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.  

3. The Union financial assistance shall be made available by the Commission to Slovenia 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.  

4. 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.  

5. Slovenia 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.  

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

Slovenia may finance the following measures:  

Article 3  

(1) 

a wage compensation scheme, as provided for by Articles 7 and 8 of the Act on the 
Interim Measure of Partial Reimbursement of Wage Compensation and Articles 21 – 
32  of  the  Act  Determining  the  Intervention  Measures  to  Contain  the  COVID-19 
Epidemic and Mitigate its Consequences for Citizens and the Economy (as amended) 

EN 

6 

  EN 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

and  as  extended  by  Articles  24  -  34  of  the  Act  Determining  the  Intervention 
Measures to Mitigate and Remedy the Consequences of the COVID-19 Epidemic;  

an  exemption  from  the  payment  of  social  security  insurance  contributions  for 
workers benefiting from the wage compensation scheme, as provided for by Articles 
21-32 of the Act  Determining the  Intervention Measures to Contain the COVID-19 
Epidemic and Mitigate its Consequences for Citizens and the Economy; 

a short-time work scheme subsidising temporary part-time employment, as provided 
for by Articles 11 - 23 of the Act Determining the Intervention Measures to Mitigate 
and Remedy the Consequences of the COVID-19 Epidemic; 

the  payment  of  pension  and  disability  insurance  contributions  for  workers  and  of  a 
monthly crisis allowance, as provided for by Article 33 of the Act Determining the 
Intervention  Measures  to  Contain  the  COVID-19  Epidemic  and  Mitigate  its 
Consequences  for  Citizens  and  the  Economy,  for  the  part  of  expenditure  related  to 
companies  that  reduce  or  suspend  working  time  or  when  the  employees  were 
continuously in employment; 

the financing of social security contributions for self-employed persons, farmers and 
religious  workers,  as  provided  for  by  Article  38  of  the  Act  Determining  the 
Intervention  Measures  to  Contain  the  COVID-19  Epidemic  and  Mitigate  its 
Consequences for Citizens and the Economy; 

a basic income support for self-employed persons, farmers and religious workers, as 
provided  for  by  Article  34  of  the  Act  Determining  the  Intervention  Measures  to 
Contain the COVID-19 Epidemic and Mitigate its Consequences for Citizens and the 
Economy. 

Slovenia 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 Republic of Slovenia. 

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 

EN 

7 

  EN