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The ESM euro rescue package is Europe's answer to the euro crisis.

It is intended to be a financial safety net for the member states and ensure their funding even in times of crisis.

For this he even got new skills last year.

In the future it should play a central role if states start to falter again and rescue programs have to be put together.

But in the Corona crisis, the deepest economic crisis in the history of the EU, the mini-monetary fund only plays a minor role.

Financially tight states are calling for EU aid - but from other sources.

This is once again confirmed by the EU Commission's response to a request from FDP MEP Moritz Körner.

The ESM's pandemic aid is ready and can still be accessed until the end of 2022, it says.

Corona aid other than the ESM is in great demand

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All euro countries met the necessary criteria for the aid.

“You can therefore apply for assistance at any time,” the answer said.

But: "So far, no member state of the euro area has shown strong interest."

There is an explanation for this: In Rome, Madrid and Athens, the ESM, whose programs were monitored and implemented during the euro crisis by the troika made up of the European Central Bank (ECB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission, is the epitome of a loss of sovereignty and guiding through the rich northerners.

The ESM aid may be slow-moving;

This does not apply to other corona aid.

In April 2020, after a three-day video conference, the EU finance ministers agreed on a provisional aid package for companies, employees and countries that could potentially be financially overwhelmed.

This included the 240 billion euros in ESM emergency loans that are available but not used.

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The other crisis aid in the package, on the other hand, is very popular.

For example, SURE, worth a good 90 billion euros, with which the EU Commission supports short-time working programs in the member states.

The authority has been very successful in collecting money from the financial markets.

"By the end of March 2021, the six social bond issues had been completed and a total of EUR 75.5 billion had been paid out to 17 Member States," write the Commission officials.

The program is so successful that the Commission asked the member states in March to top it up by 3.7 billion euros because of the second wave of pandemics.

Mind you, the SURE aid is also a - low-interest - loan that has to be repaid by the Member States.

"We are overwhelmed by the demand for funds from the EGF"

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The third component of the first EU Corona aid is also in demand: loans secured by the European Investment Bank (EIB), especially for small and medium-sized companies.

Since October, the Bank of the EU has approved financing of 11.7 billion euros from the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), almost half of the available 25 billion euros.

Leverage mobilized 93.3 billion euros in loans in 22 EU countries.

"We are overwhelmed by the demand for funds from the EGF," EIB President Werner Hoyer told a small group of journalists last week.

"That shows that there is a demand for a safety net."

But not after those of the ESM.

That calls into question the future role of the institution, says FDP politician Körner.

“The German short-time work model is an export hit, while ESM-Hilfen has remained slow-moving.

Political fear of being put on the curb by Brussels when it comes to budgetary policy is obviously still great.

This also raises questions about what the future of the ESM should look like as a whole. "

ESM boss Klaus Regling, however, reacts calmly to such doubts: It is crucial that the help is available.

"While no country has yet requested this line of credit, its very existence has calmed the markets," Regling said recently.

In fact, even highly indebted EU countries currently have no problem getting money on the markets.

It was only last week that investors virtually ripped new bonds out of Greece's hands.

In addition to the ESM, which holds a large part of the Greek debt, another institution is responsible for this: the European Central Bank.

Their bond purchase programs and ultra-loose monetary policy are currently Europe's real rescue packages.