Disqualification of sole proprietorships

Subject: Disqualification of sole proprietorships

The criteria which the Commission has approved for providing financial assistance to companies hardest hit by the negative economic impact of more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic clearly discriminate against entrepreneurs who do not employ workers. As a result, many Polish companies have been deprived of any support. This applies, for example, to pilots providing air passenger transport services.

Could the Commission therefore answer the following questions:

1. The rule of law includes equality before the law. How does the Commission believe this applies if sole proprietorships are disqualified from receiving financial assistance in times of economic hardship owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it is precisely these micro business which are at most risk of bankruptcy?

2. Does the Commission intend to bring in measures to provide financial support to the self- employed, and if so what measures, with a particular focus on pilots working in passenger aviation?

Answer given by Ms Vestager on behalf of the European Commission

(8 April 2021)

1. The decision to grant state aid lies with the relevant Member State. The Commission adopted the Temporary Framewor k (1) in March 2020 and has revised it five times to-date to enable Member States to grant aid to undertakings, including self-employed persons, who suffered a liquidity shortage during the COVID-19 outbreak.

2. The Temporary Framework contains measures that specifically refer to self-employed individuals, such as aid in form of deferrals of tax and/or of social security contributions and aid for the income of self-employed individuals for whom the adoption of national measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak resulted in the suspension or reduction of their business activity. In any event, the Commission will continue to monitor the development of the outbreak and its economic impact and will adjust the Temporary Framework, if necessary, taking into account competition and economic considerations.

⋅1∙ Communication from the Commission — Temporary framework for state aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak (OJ C 91I,

20.3.2020, p. 1), as amended by Commission Communications C(2020) 2215 (OJ C 112I, 4.4.2020, p. 1), C(2020) 3156 (OJ C 164, 13.5.2020, p. 3), C(2020) 4509 (OJ C 218, 2.7.2020, p. 3), C(2020) 7127 (OJ C 340I, 13.10.2020, p. 1) and C(2021) 564 (OJ C 34, 1.2.2021, p. 6).