THE EUROPEAN UNION'S RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS STEMMING FROM COVID-19

This paper offers an initial examination of the various measures adopted by the EU, beginning with those designed to provide financial support for the actions undertaken by Member States, and to continue those aimed at keeping the internal market working, especially with regard to the free movement of people and goods. Likewise, it provides' an introduction to the financial instruments' the EU has proposed to help the economic recovery Under this rubric, it refers to the non-conventional measures adopted by the European Central Bank, the instruments agreed by the Eurogroup at its meeting on 9 April which, basically are: the European,Stability Mechanism credit line, the SURE programme (very closely linked to funding the ERTE [temporary lay-off] and equivalent measures) and the European Investment Bank loans. Finally it looks at the proposal for the European Recovery Fund (Next Generation EU), as an instrument to be developed and implemented in the next budgetary cycle, which spans the years 2021-2027.