Third Covid support package to help fewer businesses, but stretch into summer of 2021: Report

The government plans to push billions more into a third support package for companies in trouble due to the coronavirus crisis. Fewer companies will be eligible for this new package, and subsidies will be less generous. But the support will run into at least the summer of 2021, sources from The Hague told AD and the Telegraaf.

With the new package, the government only wants to help companies that cannot yet survive without government support, such as companies in the catering industry or cultural sector.

The biggest change is with the NOW regulation, with which the government covers salaries for companies in trouble. Currently, the government pays 90 percent of salaries for companies that suffer at least a 20 percent loss of turnover. In the new package, only companies that suffer a 30 percent loss of turnover will qualify. And the percentage of the wage bill that the government covers will gradually be reduced from 90 percent to 60 percent.

The TOZO regulation, which is meant for self-employed persons in trouble, and the TVL scheme to help companies cover fixed expenses will also be extended, in less generous forms, according to the newspapers.

The new package is due to take effect on October 1. The expectation is that it will be officially presented next week. According to AD, the government is close to an agreement.

The first emergency package ran from March to June 1, costing the government between 10 and 20 billion euros, according to NOS. In the second package, another 13 billion euros was set aside to help entrepreneurs.