The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financing institution, has made available EUR 245 million (FRF 1.6 billion)(1) to three French banking institutions in the form of global loans for funding small and medium-scale ventures in France and other EU countries. The final beneficiaries will be SMEs, local authorities and similar entities:

• EUR 100 million (FRF 656 million) have been advanced to CCF for financing ventures connected with agriculture, industry, the service sector, health, environmental protection, energy and international competitiveness. The funds will be deployed by CCF as well as by its banking and leasing subsidiaries.
• EUR 100 million (FRF 656 million) have gone to Crédit du Nord SA for supporting agricultural, industrial, service-sector, environmental protection and energy projects. The funds will be deployed by Crédit du Nord and its banking subsidiaries.
• EUR 45 million (FRF 295 million) have been channelled to Compagnie Financière du Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne (CFCMB) of the Crédit Mutuel Group for assisting schemes centred on agriculture, industry, the service sector, health, education, urban renewal, regional infrastructure, environmental protection and energy. The funds will be deployed by the local branches of Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne, du Sud-Ouest and du Massif Central as well as by the Banque du Crédit Mutuel pour l'Entreprise whose theatre of operations encompasses mainly assisted areas.

These loan agreements, tying in with EIB activity in favour of smaller scale capital investment, have been concluded with three longstanding EIB partners, each with a strong regional presence and in close touch with local economic players, especially SMEs.

Among other objectives, the EIB underpins investment by SMEs and local authorities through global loans made available to some 120 banks within the European Union. These loans are akin to lines of credit opened with partner financial intermediaries which deploy the proceeds in keeping with economic, technical and financial criteria agreed jointly with the EIB. Over the past five years, more than EUR 29 billion have been advanced by the EIB using this facility and have served notably to support in excess of 49 000 SMEs in the EU to the tune of EUR 11.6 billion; in France, during the same period, close on 28 000 SMEs have attracted EIB global loan allocations through the intermediary of French banks.Two of the above three global loans (CCF and CFCMB) also fall partly within the scope of the Amsterdam Special Action Programme (ASAP) introduced by the EIB in the second quarter of 1997 in response to the June 1997 European Council's resolution on growth and employment in Europe.

(1) EUR 1 = FRF 6.55957, GBP 0.705455.