How will Europe's cohesion policy funds be used to combat COVID-19?

The 355 billion euro structural and cohesion funds make up the bulk of the European Union’s funding, and seek to reduce regional income disparities across the bloc.

54 billion euros of that has recently been redistributed to address the coronavirus crisis.

The money will go towards healthcare spending, like masks or hospital equipment, short-term employment schemes, and even to companies so that they can pay staff.

But this isn’t fresh money. It is made up of either unused reserves that would otherwise go back into the EU budget or cash that is simply being shared earlier than planned.