For more than two years, since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), large corporations, own-account workers, and members of the free professions alike in Germany. In these unprecedented times, we know that enterprises and own-account workers still need help that is tailored to their specific needs.

To provide unbureaucratic aid, the Federal Government started within weeks a comprehensive plan with the following three packages of measures:

• Stimulus and Crisis relief Package to contain the crisis support economic activities (with grants, special credit lines, tax measures, guarantees as well as equity capital), German States and young families and cushion economic and social hardship;
• Future Package to promote Germany’s competitiveness in the green and digital transition and strengthen the health care system and the protection against pandemics;
• Measures in the European Union and other international fora to meet international obligations and to assume Germany’s international responsibility (esp. increasing humanitarian assistance in the context of the “Compact with Africa”-initiative). The plan was completed by additional State programmes. It was adapted and extended several times to respond to the ongoing situation and to special needs. Many measures were linked to lockdowns or losses in turnover that were caused by the pandemic so that the volume of support was reduced automatically when the situation started to improve. The European Commission backed these national measures by a Temporary Framework that ends at the end of June 2022. Then all the measures that were based on the Stimulus and Crisis relief Package will end.

The table gives an overview of the most important support measures for businesses provided by the Federal Government. A description of the ongoing measures can be found here.

Eligible companies and workers can apply for Bridging Assistance via ueberbrueckungshilfe-unternehmen.de.