TOURISM LAW AND COMPETITION – A PORTUGUESE PERSPECTIVE 449 Investment Fund (“EIF”). Such guarantee allows the EIF to issue special guarantees to incentivise banks and other lenders to provide liquidity to SMEs and small mid-cap companies, for an estimated available financing of 8 billion euros88. On 28 April 2020, the European Commission adopted a banking package to facilitate bank lending to households and businesses89. This package includes an interpretative communication on the EU’s accounting and prudential frameworks and aims at “maximising the capacity of credit institutions to lend and absorb losses related to the Coronavirus pandemic, while still ensuring their continued resilience”. As referred above, the agreement reached on 21 July 2020, was of the utmost importance.The EU representatives agreed upon a recovery plan andmultiannual framework for 2021-2027 which foresees a global amount of 1.8 trillion euros to support modern policies and promote a sustainable and resilient recovery of Europe. This is without prejudice to the fact that its implementation requires a set of milestones which may take several months, while in the meantime it is anticipated that the economy continues to require swift support from Member States. As time goes by and new needs arise, more measures will most certainly be adopted, given the awareness of the importance of recovery for the future of the European Union itself. In this context, it is noticeable that the approach concerning competition rules, and especially as regards the state aid ones, seems to reflect an effort of adaptation in line with the economic reality within and outside the EU. Undoubtedly, this brings an increased challenge to the EU and its Member States when facing the economic impact of COVID-19, as well as to the third countries’ interventions in the respective economies, while complying with the rules of the European Union and the principle of prohibition of undue restrictions to competition. A most recent and important development has been made public in the context of the presentation of the European Semester Spring Package on 2 June 2021, which focuses on providing fiscal guidance to Member States, as they continue the process of gradually reopening their economies90. On the basis of the Commission’s Spring 2021 Economic Forecast, it has been decided that the 88 Press release available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_569. 89 Press release available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_740. 90
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