20,000 micro-enterprises will get access to loans worth €237 million under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).
Today, the European Investment Fund (EIF), which manages the EaSI
guarantee on behalf of the European Commission, and six microfinance
institutions are signing guarantee agreements that will open up access
to finance for microenterprises. The European Commission will contribute
with €17 million to the guarantees signed today, which are expected to
result in microloans worth €237 million.
Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, said: "I
congratulate the six microcredit providers from France, Ireland, Italy,
the Netherlands, Romania and Spain which are signing their guarantee
agreements - easing access to finance for new microenterprises.
Microfinance is an essential instrument to promote
entrepreneurship and fight against social and financial exclusion. The
Juncker Commission is committed to creating growth and jobs and today we
are delivering concretely on this priority."
EIF Chief Executive,Pier Luigi Gilibert said: “I
am delighted to be signing our first microfinance agreements only a few
months after the EaSI Guarantee was launched. €237 million provides a
boost to the microfinance sectors and will help to support disadvantaged
micro-entrepreneurs, many of which were previously unemployed. I am
also pleased that we are concluding agreements with these institutions
today, many of whom have successfully deployed EU microfinance support
in recent years. We also expect to sign similar transactions in the
coming months.”
The six guarantee agreements target
those who...
wish to start or further develop their own micro-enterprises,
in particular people who have difficulties in entering the job market
or in accessing finance.
These first deals, enabling loans
contracts to micro-enterprises, will be signed between the EIF and
Qredits Microfinanciering (The Netherlands), Association pour le Droit à
l'Initiative Economique (France), Microfinance Ireland (Ireland),
PerMicro (Italy), Laboral Kutxa/ Caja Laboral Popular (Spain) and
Nextebank (Romania), covering six countries and only 5 months after the launch of the EaSI initiative.
In
total, the EaSI Guarantee of €96 million is expected to provide a
leverage of more than €500 million in loans over the 2014-2020 period in
order to promote jobs and growth in Europe for the next 15 years,
unlocking a total of 30,800 microloans and 1,000 loans to social
enterprises. The €96 million guarantee for microfinance or social
finance providers is managed by the EIF on behalf of the European
Commission.
The EIF will not provide direct financial support
to enterprises but will implement the facility through local financial
intermediaries, such as microfinance, social finance and guarantee
institutions, as well as banks active across the EU-28 and additional
countries participating in the EaSI programme[1]. These intermediaries will deal with interested parties directly to provide support under the EaSI Guarantee.
About the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation
Under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation
(EaSI), the European Commission supports microfinance and social
entrepreneurship finance with an overall envelope of €193 million for
the period 2014-2020. Out of this, €96 million will be used as a
guarantee for loans. The aim is to increase access to microfinance, i.e.
loans of up to €25 000, in particular for vulnerable persons and
micro-enterprises. In addition, for the first time, the European
Commission will also support social enterprises through investments of
up to €500 000. The microfinance and social entrepreneurship support
will be first implemented through the EaSI Guarantee, which will enable
microcredit providers and social enterprise investors to reach out to
entrepreneurs that would not have been able to gain finance otherwise
due to risk considerations. The European Commission has selected the EIF
to implement the EaSI Guarantee.
About the European Investment Fund
The
European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank
group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and
medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The
EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and
microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment.
In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation,
research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.
EIF’s total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over 8.8
billion euro at the end of 2014. With investments in over 500 funds,
the EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the
scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage
segments. The EIF’s guarantees loan portfolio totalled over €5.6 billion
in over 350 operations at end 2014, positioning it as a major European
SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.
[1] Countries which have the possibility to take part are EEA countries, in accordance with the EEA Agreement, and EFTA countries; EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries, in line with the framework agreements concluded with them.
