By Frank VANDENBROUCKE, Professor at the University of Amsterdam*
The European Commission proposes a European support system for national short-time work schemes, labelled ‘SURE’ (temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency). SURE organizes support for ‘job insurance’ rather than unemployment insurance. However, it was presented as a kind of temporary and emergency implementation of a ‘European unemployment re-insurance system’. Unemployment re-insurance means that countries hit by a severe economic shock would receive temporary budgetary support to cope with increased spending on unemployment benefits and reduced government revenues.
Since the euro area crisis, unemployment re-insurance has been advocated by experts as an...
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