European Initiatives

• The PROGRESS Microfinance Facility for Employment and Social Inclusion (EPMF)

Within the framework of the “Shared commitment for employment”, the European Commission decided on July 2009 to reallocate €100 million from the PROGRESS programme over 4 years (2010-2013) from the EU’s budget to create the PROGRESS Microfinance Facility for Employment and Social Inclusion (EPMF). This is expected to leverage more than €500 million, in a joint initiative with international financial institutions particularly the European Ivestment Bank (EIB) Group.

The new facility is aimed at supporting unemployed people with a business project find the necessary financial means to set up their own business through access to microcredit as well as financially supporting existing microenterprises in the context of the crisis.

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• The JASMINE initiative (Joint Action to support microfinance institutions in Europe)

In November 2007 DG Region launched the “European initiative for the development of microcredit in support of growth and employment”. It aims at providing effective support for the promotion of microcredit in the European Union and has four main objectives:

• Improving the legal and institutional environment in the Member States
• Further changing the climate in favour of entrepreneurship
• Promoting the spread of good practices
• Providing additional financial capital for new and non-bank MFIs

Download the official communication here

The JASMINE initiative (Joint Action to support microfinance institutions in Europe) is the operational outcome of the above mentioned initiative. The global objective of the JASMINE initiative is to support microfinance institutions improve the quality of their operations, to develop and become sustainable.

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• JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises)

In 2006, the European Commission and the European Investment Fund have set up a special credit facility focussing on SME creation and microfinance. This initiative  is part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). JEREMIE has gone through a two-year preparatory phase (2006/07) and has entered the operational phase. JEREMIE enables the regional and local ERDF managing authorities to transform parts of their budget, normally reserved to grants, into loan capital. The capital is then assigned to selected “potential financial intermediaries”, including microcredit institutions, authorised to disperse loans on the local level. Beside the necessary equity and guarantee assets, JEREMIE provides financial support to advisory and technical assistance activities.

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• The Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP)

In the field of SME promotion, the framework programme entitled Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) 2007-13  promotes in particular the creation of SME’s with high growth potential. It includes a specific support initiative for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in the EU - the 'Microcredit Guarantee Window' - managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) in cooperation with the Commission. The objective of the microcredit window is to encourage financial intermediaries to provide financing to microenterprises. It is accessible for every MFI, both private and public.