Notice of implementation of the SME Guarantee Facility under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007-2013) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-09-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, financial instrument, guarantee, innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises

C 226/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

26.9.2007

Notice of implementation of the SME Guarantee Facility under the Competitiveness and Innovation
Framework Programme (2007-2013)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/C 226/02)

This notice is addressed to financial intermediaries for SMEs, such as banks and institutions operating guar-
antee schemes. It outlines a financial instrument, the SME Guarantee Facility that aims to improve the finan-
cial environment for SMEs by facilitating their access to debt and equity finance.

The SME Guarantee Facility is operated by the European Investment Fund (EIF) on behalf of the European
Commission under Decision No 1639/2006/EC of
the Council of
24 October 2006 on a Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007-2013).

the European Parliament and of

This programme is open to the Member States of the European Union and those Member States of the
European Free Trade Association (‘EFTA’) which are members of the European Economic Area (‘EEA’), acces-
sion countries and candidate countries benefiting from a relevant pre-accession strategy, countries of the
Western Balkans in accordance with the relevant framework agreements and any other country included in
the list of Participating Countries as published from time to time in the Official Journal.

The total indicative budgetary appropriations for the financial instruments under Competitiveness and Inno-
vation Framework Programme are EUR 1,1 billion and about half of this is foreseen for SME Guarantee
Facility for the period 2007-2013.

The Facility will provide counter-guarantees or, where appropriate, co-guarantees for guarantee schemes
operating in participating countries, as well as direct guarantees in the case of any other appropriate finan-
cial intermediary.

The following four windows are available under the Facility:

1. Guarantees for debt financing via loans or leasing to support SMEs with growth potential. Under this

window, the EIF issues partial guarantees (directly or indirectly) to cover portfolios of debt finance.

2. Guarantees for portfolios of micro-loans for very small enterprises with up to 9 employees, to encourage
financial institutions to play a greater role in the provision of loans of a smaller amount which involve
proportionally higher handling costs. Financial intermediaries may also receive grants in the form of tech-
nical support to partially offset the high administrative costs inherent in microcredit financing.

3. Guarantees to financial intermediaries to cover equity or quasi-equity investments in SMEs which involve
investment in seed capital and/or capital in the start-up phase, mezzanine financing and/or risk capital
operations.

4. Guarantees to support securitisation structures with a view to assisting financial institutions to mobilise
debt financing for SMEs, conditional upon an undertaking by the relevant financial intermediary to use a
significant part of the resources mobilised as a result of the securitisation transaction for new SME
financing.

Prospective financial intermediaries can obtain detailed information on the Facility from:

European Investment Fund
43, avenue J. F. Kennedy
L-2968 Luxembourg
E-mail: info@eif.org

or from the EIF's website at: www.eif.org

26.9.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 226/3

The contact details of all financial intermediaries with whom the EIF has signed a contract will be published
on the EIF's website in order to allow SMEs to make direct contact with these intermediaries.

intermediaries will be examined by the EIF on a continuous basis, within the
Proposals from financial
constraints of the available Community budget allocations. The EIF will endeavour to achieve an overall
geographic balance.