C rise of COVID-19 in the EU: Measures adopted and projections for the future
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 placed the world under several questions, from the health area, to the political and economic, since a microscopic being invisible to the naked eye was able to disrupt an entire production chain and globalized relationships in a matter of weeks and months. Looking under the economic spectrum, several markets suffered slumps that resulted in the closing of trades and a high number of unemployed. However, one region of the world managed to adopt measures to avoid such falls, having a clearer future in terms of economic stability, growth and investment possibilities: the European Union.
During the last pandemic months, several actions were taken by the European Central Bank and its Member States, in order to minimize the impacts caused, stimulate trade and guarantee security to the European economy. Among them, there is support for the recovery of tourism in the EU, which, due to the lockdown periods, was heavily affected and is an economic flagship for several nations and regions, such as Spain and Barcelona. This measure was applied through greater flexibility with the costs and expenses of the sector with reimbursements subsidized in part by governments, together with financing made by the European Central Bank and the States to provide greater liquidity to the economy for companies affected by the crisis, by through the Coronavirus Crisis Response Investment Initiative.
In addition, the bloc was also concerned with protecting workers and jobs from a financial support of more than 100 billion Euros to governments, called SURE (Temporary Investment to Support the Attenuation of Unemployment Risks in an Emergency Situation) to maintain active economic levels in companies and avoid mass disconnections in measures such as subsidizing part of the workers' wages. Furthermore, already thinking about the future, a program to support the employment of young people in the country was launched, guaranteeing them: training, internship and apprenticeship within 4 months after completing formal education or becoming unemployed, in order to train them more and integrate them into the labor market that will be expanded through investments by the European BC.
Finally, in addition to them, we see the investment applied to Small and Medium Enterprises, with the aforementioned liquidity released and also financing made by the Member States through the provision of credit, microfinance, guarantees and risk capital for more than 200 thousand companies with more than 9 billion Euros invested and invested. In addition to the industrial sector, investments were made in the agricultural and technological sector in the same way.
As a result of these policies, the European Commission forecasts growth of 4.2% in 2021 and 3% in 2020 in economic areas of the Euro region, compared to a drop of 7.8% in 2020. Meanwhile, unemployment is expected to rise by 7.7% in 2020 to 8.6% in 2021, but regressing to 8% in 2022.
In this way, it is possible to observe how the EU was able to react to one of the biggest economic crises in recent years, avoiding sudden falls in economic production sectors or unemployment, compared to other states, such as the USA, whose unemployment level was of approximately 3% to 14.7% in less than a month. Thus, it becomes a great place to invest in the coming years, due to the rapid economic recovery of the States and its population. In order to guide an investor to enter this market, an International Consultancy can help you, through in-depth research and studies that will provide greater guidance in this region under reconstruction. .
By Enzo Toledo on 12/15/2020
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