Up to €25bn in finance for SMEs mobilised

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, has announced that SMEs in Europe will soon have the opportunity to access up to €25bn of additional finance supported by the EU Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME).

The programme will allow financial institutions throughout Europe to provide enhanced access to finance to up to 330,000 SMEs.

Tajani said: “It is evident that public support continues to play a crucial role in enhancing access to finance for SMEs. Indeed, the existing EU support measures have facilitated SME survival, development and success across the EU. Even more importantly, the new EU financing initiatives for SMEs will continue in the future. We expect that the new COSME financial instruments will be finalised before the summer break. This agreement is an excellent example of how the EU can support small companies to finance their investments in order to grow and create jobs.”

COSME mobilises loans and equity investments to SMEs in Europe. The COSME programme will fund guarantees and counter-guarantees to financial institutions to help them provide more loans and lease finance mainly up to €150,000 to SMEs. This facility will also include securitisation of SME debt finance portfolios. The COSME programme will also invest in equity funds that provide risk capital to SMEs mainly in the expansion and growth stages.

The COSME programme builds on the success of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007-2013) which helped to mobilise more than €16bn of loans and €2.8bn of venture capital to over 311,000 SMEs in Europe.