JEREMIE goes to aid of SMEs
The European Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Investment Fund (EIF) have launched JEREMIE, a joint initiative to improve access to finance by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in EU regions. JEREMIE, the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises initiative, will allow Member States and regions to use part of their Structural Fund allocations to fund small enterprises through specific financial instruments designed for SMEs. It will also give small businesses the chance to cut through red tape and readily access available funds. The scheme will not limit funding to SMEs, making it available to start-ups and other micro-enterprises through technical assistance and grants, as well as through venture capital and angel investments. JEREMIE is both and organisation and a process, and will have three distinct roles: - to improve conditions for business funding and development, through loans, equity, venture capital, and guarantees as well as organisational and technical assistance; - to enhance coordination at both national and regional levels, and efficiently manage public resources and the transfer of good practices; - to manage scarce public resources under EU programmes. The initiative will add loan capital to public grant finance. The scheme should eventually lead to long-term sustainability. This launch places JEREMIE into its preparatory phase of identifying funding gaps. The operational phase is expected to start in January 2007, when a fund holder will be elected to manage JEREMIE, and to issue calls for the distribution of funds. Francis Carpenter, the EIF's Chief Executive, said: 'JEREMIE is a 'tool-kit' to create financial products that are focused on redressing gaps in SME finance. I believe that it will provide an effective response to the range of demands made by the regional and local authorities. JEREMIE brings together the expertise of the different financial European institutions to use Community funding resourcefully to support SMEs.'