COVID-19: Fourth meeting of Joint COVID-19 Monitoring Committee held on Wednesday 15 April

A fourth meeting of the Joint COVID-19 Monitoring Committee was held on Wednesday 15 April at the Ministry of State.

The Prince’s Government discussed with members of the National Council the decisions that have been taken and are still to be taken in view of the health crisis and the resulting social and economic impact.

Discussions covered the health situation and the supply of medical equipment in the Principality. In consultation with the National Council, the Prince’s Government confirmed its decision to purchase all of the reusable fabric masks produced by the company Bettina, whose premises are in Monaco. This represents a total of 80,000 masks per month. The masks are certified by the Military Health Service, which is part of the French Ministry of Armed Forces.

Information was also provided on the procurement of serological tests.

The members of the Government and National Council representatives also exchanged views on additional measures to support businesses and safeguard jobs, which have been hard hit by the health crisis. The Government’s aim is to keep adapting measures as the situation evolves. The following measures were agreed through consultation:

1. With regard to the Guarantee Fund, for any cash flow loan/overdraft facility application amounting to less than €50,000, lending institutions can, following completion of their internal procedures, release the funds requested by their customers without seeking prior agreement from the Guarantee Fund.
The Guarantee Fund will continue to receive all files relating to loans granted by banks, which it will review and record. Where appropriate, it will also provide banks with any comments it may have.

2. The income threshold establishing the eligibility of self-employed workers operating as sole traders for payment of the Exceptional Minimum Income is now set at €12,000 per year and €3,000 per quarter, thereby increasing the number of people likely to benefit from this measure.

3. The support initially offered to small businesses (SBS) is now extended to companies registered in the Trade and Industry Register, with the exception of foreign companies, which have annual gross turnover of under €1.5 million and have, since 1 March, experienced a drop in monthly activity of at least 50% compared with the same period last year. To make things easier for businesses, applications for Business Support (BS) will be based primarily on a sworn declaration by the company’s legal or duly authorised representative. This will entitle companies to payments in April, May and June (for March, April and May) of direct state support in the amount of €5,000 per month. Details of the procedures and required documents will be provided on the Public Service for Businesses website. Within the next few days, all applications for support will be made online via the same site.

4. In the interests of fairness for those operating as sole traders, additional support in the amount of €3,200 will be paid to recipients of the Exceptional Minimum Income for March, April and May 2020. The total monthly support paid to each recipient will thus be €5,000.

All of these measures, both new and improved, are the result of discussions between the Government and National Council during meetings of the Joint COVID-19 Monitoring Committee, and illustrate the determination of all to come together so that from an economic and financial point of view, everything is done to ensure that no one is left behind.

Safeguarding jobs is the best guarantee of a quick and effective economic recovery once the health crisis has passed.

With this in mind, in relation to the strengthened provisions for total temporary layoff, it was noted that the first payments had been made to employers on 13 April. These will be stepped up over the next few days.

In terms of legislation, the Prince’s Government noted that it would shortly submit a bill including the provisions in Government’s bill No. 249 prohibiting unfair dismissals, making teleworking mandatory for jobs wherever possible and introducing other measures relating to the COVID-19 crisis.

Finally, the draft amended budget for 2020, which will be submitted for a vote by the National Council on Tuesday 21 April, was discussed, as was the scope of a one-off bonus of €1,000 for the most exposed workers.

The next meeting of the Joint Committee will be held on 23 April.