Enterprise and industry

Joint non-paper by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden (2021-04-28).

The government has previously presented a plan for how the advice and restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are to be adapted and removed. At a press conference on 7 September, the government announced that restrictions on attendance numbers at public gatherings and events are planned to be removed as of 29 September 2021.

The Government on instructed the Swedish Tax Agency and Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) to make preparations so that as of 1 April 2022, the Tax Agency can be the managing authority for Tillväxtverket’s currently responsibilities under the Act on aid in the event of short-time work.

The Government has decided to extend the government credit guarantee scheme, ‘Företagsakuten’, to support small- and medium-sized companies in financial difficulty due to the pandemic from 30 June to 30 September 2021.

The Government has today decided to extend turnover-based support to sole traders and trading partnerships with at least one physical person as a partner to cover the period March–June 2021. This support is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

The government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party have agreed on supporting SAS to access liquidity equivalent to SEK 1.5 billion. This support from the Swedish State is subject to the European Commission’s approval of the measures and corresponding support from the Danish State.

The situation for the travel industry remains serious. Earlier in the pandemic, travellers sometimes accepted replacement holidays instead of a refund when package tours were cancelled due to the outbreak. Many of these replacement holidays are now also being cancelled. The Government is therefore working on a proposal that will give package tour operators the option of taking government loans to refund money to travellers. The proposal is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

In the spring amending budget, the Government announced that the central government rental support scheme would be extended through the second quarter of 2021. Following an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party, the Government now intends to examine the conditions for extending the scheme through the third quarter of 2021.

To help businesses overcome the consequences of the pandemic, the Government will propose extending the turnover-based support for sole traders and trading partnerships in which at least one partner is a natural person to cover July, August and September 2021. The proposal is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.