Launching a "seed capital" action
The European Commission, DG XXIII, has published a call for proposals on the launching of a "seed capital" action to improve the financial environment for SMEs. The Commission aims to encourage the creation of venture-capital funds designed to support businesses in the start-up phase and to finance business transfers. The call for proposals has been launched in the context of the Third Multiannual Programme for SMEs, and in response to a request from the Cardiff European Council in June 1998, to take steps to improve their financial environment. The companies often have major potential for job creation but at the same time often suffer from a weakness in their financial structure. The Commission therefore intends to develop financial engineering instruments that can rectify this situation and even generate considerable leverage, not only with regard to the volume of financial resources channelled towards SMEs, but also in terms of jobs created. For further information, please contact in writing: European Commission DG XXIII - Enterprise policy, distributive trades and tourism Unit B.3 Mr Rudy Aernoudt 200 rue de la Loi B-1049 Brussels Fax +32-2-2952154