EU approves 1.3bn euros in aid for Danish self-employed

• The self-employed are hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.
• The EU executive, was working with all 27 EU governments to help alleviate the effects of the crisis.

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Wednesday it had approved a Danish scheme worth around 1.3 billion euros ($1.41 billion) to help compensate self-employed workers who are facing the economic shock of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Commission's anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager said the scheme was adopted under EU state aid rules to cover up to three-quarters of the loss of turnover of self-employed workers with as much as 3,000 euros per month, per person.

"The self-employed are hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The economic impact of the pandemic is severe," Vestager said in a statement, saying that the Commission, the EU executive, was working with all 27 EU governments to help alleviate the effects of the crisis.