The Council of the European Union (EU) has adopted legislation to quickly mobilize the EU budget to tackle the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. One act amends the rules of the Structural and Investment Funds, while the other extends the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund, the institution’s press service said.

Given the urgency of the situation, the two legislations will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 31 and enter into force on April 1, 2020, the Communication adds.

The Coronavirus Investment Initiative will give the Member States access to 37 billion EUR in cohesion funds to strengthen health systems, as well as to support small and medium-sized enterprises, short-term work schemes and community-based services.

A total of 8 billion EUR of the total amount will be provided by unspent advance financing in 2019 under the Structural Funds. The new measure allows Member States to spend resources to mitigate the effects of a pandemic rather than returning it to the EU budget. Another 29 billion EUR will be paid at an early stage of amounts that would otherwise be due later this year.

The funds will be made available from February 1, 2020, to cover the costs already incurred to save lives and protect citizens.

Member States will also have more flexibility to make transfers between cohesion policy programs in order to reallocate resources where needed.

The Council also modified the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund to include in addition to natural disasters and public health emergencies. This will help the Member States and acceding countries meet the immediate needs of humans during a coronavirus pandemic.