MNI BRIEF: Portugal Costa Wants Permanent Econ Stability Tool

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called Wednesday for a joint permanent EU economic stability instrument. Speaking during at a high-level conference on the Recovery and Resilience Fund in the EU Parliament today, Costa noted the success of the EU’s SURE instrument, as one example, which had protected the jobs of 31 million workers during the Covid crisis.

Costa said SURE had been key to helping states face off domestic populist political pressures.

“Now we can look at making them structural and permanent to ensure we are investing together in key areas, like semiconductors, health, food and agriculture,” he added.