1.

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to her written question E-3898/02 (1). which already covers most of the period mentioned (since 2000). However, the following new elements have just become available: The European Investment Fund (EIF), the specialised subsidiary of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, has granted guarantees under the Community-funded ‘SME Guarantee Facility’ for loans to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) located in Portugal. The actual guarantee volumes amounted to EUR 75 348 in 2000, EUR 92 778 in 2001, EUR 10 599 891 in 2002 and EUR 6 057 502 in 2003, based on the amounts reported by the Portuguese intermediary SPGM to the EIF. Regarding the European Technology Facility (ETF) Start-up, an investment of EUR 5 000 000 was signed in December 2002 with a Portuguese generalist venture capital fund. This fund is focusing on high-growth innovative SMEs in Portugal (80 %) and Galicia (20 %) and has currently a total fund size of EUR 20 million. The ETF Start-up share is 25 %. The venture-capital fund started drawing down money in January 2003 with a view to investing in portfolio companies and has made one investment reported so far to the EIF for an amount of EUR 1 236 555. Regarding the ERDF contributions, the Commission can inform the Honourable Member that aid to SMEs is a key element in the current Community Support Framework (2000-2006), given that SMEs account for more than 90 % of the total businesses receiving aid. A. Thus in the operational programme for the economy, aids to SMEs account for around 50 % of the total public aids granted. The other operational programmes also provide for a set of initiatives to support SMEs, particularly including those provided for under Priority 3 of the regional programmes (a table showing the amounts allocated to supporting SMEs in terms of the contribution by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will be sent direct to the Honourable Member and the Parliament Secretariat). B. The European Employment Strategy (EES) defines a broad framework for the development of policies that support the creation of jobs throughout the Union. The Portuguese National Action Plan (NAP), which translates the priorities of the EES into national employment policies, has established a target of 70 % for the overall employment rate by 2010. The European Social Fund (ESF) is the main instrument for financing the Portuguese NAP, with a total of more than EUR 4,7 billion in the current Community Support Framework (CSF) III. Considering that more than 92 % of companies in Portugal have fewer than 20 staff, a substantial amount of ESF support is directed at this group of businesses. The recent evaluation of the EES for the period 1997-2002 shows that the net job-creation attributable to measures resulting from the implementation of the EES in Portugal was more than 20 000 new jobs, for the year 2001 alone. Although the ESF does not directly subsidise job-creation (except in the case of incentives for own-job-creation by the unemployed), it contributes to the creation of lasting jobs in the economy by supporting policies and measures that contribute to the establishment of a solid labour market with a qualified workforce. Direct measures supported by the ESF include: — Continuous vocational training — more than 400 000 people benefit from support each year; — Professional apprenticeships — more than 20 000 people benefit from this measure each year; — Vocational training schools — more than 30 000 young adults attend these schools each year; — Social Employment market — more than 30 000 people (most from disadvantaged social groups) are supported each year. The EES further contributes to job-creation by promoting the simplification of the legislative framework for the creation of new businesses and labour norms, increased employment for women through the provision of childcare facilities, promotion of active ageing, local employment initiatives, and enhancement of the quality and attractiveness of work. The Portuguese authorities also support projects to promote innovation by encouraging businesses and research and technological development bodies to form consortia through Measure 2.3 in the Science Programme and through the programme for the economy (PRIME), which contains still further budget lines for innovation projects such as stimulating the modernisation of businesses through innovation (SIME-Innovation), the IDEIA programme and Public Initiative Partnerships (PIP).