The European Commission has issued social bonds comprising two bonds, €10 billion to be redeemed in October 2030 and €7 billion in 2040. The funds raised on attractive terms due to the strong interest generated will be transferred to the 17 beneficiary Member States in the form of loans.

The Commission has already proposed financial support under SURE to 17 Member States for a total of €87.8 billion to help them cover costs directly related to the financing of national short-time working programmes and similar measures in response to the pandemic.
The EU was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and is 0% risk weighed as an issuer (Basel III). The EU’s borrowings are direct and unconditional obligations of the EU, guaranteed by the EU Member States through the EU budget. The European Commission is empowered by the EU Treaty to borrow on the international capital markets, on behalf of the European Union.The EU borrows exclusively in Euros for on-lending in Euros to sovereign borrowers. The EU currently operates four loan programmes: The European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (“EFSM”), the Balance of Payments facility (“BoP”), the Macro-Financial Assistance (“MFA”) and the Support to mitigate Unemployment Risk in an Emergency (SURE), recently adopted by the Council on 19 May 2020. The bonds issued by the EU under SURE will benefit from a social bond label.