The EU supports micro-enterprises and social enterprises through financial instruments offered by the InvestEU programme and by the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).

The objectives of the EU microfinance and social enterprise finance support are to promote job creation and social inclusion by:

• Increasing access to, and the availability of, microfinance for vulnerable groups who want to start-up or develop their micro-enterprises.
• Supporting the development of social enterprises, in particular by facilitating their access to finance.
• Building up the institutional capacity of microcredit providers and social enterprise finance providers through advisory support and technical assistance.

Micro-entrepreneurs or social enterprises interested in repayable finance can apply directly through the selected EU supported financial intermediaries.

Funding and technical assistance

InvestEU Fund

During the programming period 2021-2027, the InvestEU Fund will mobilise more than EUR 372 billion of public and private investment through an EU budget guarantee of EUR 26.2 billion.

This EU-backed guarantee is implemented through the InvestEU ‘implementing partners’ such as the EIB (European Investment Bank) Group, international financial institutions and national promotional banks.

About EUR 2.8 billion of the guarantee will be allocated to social investments and skills until 2027, including investments in microfinance and social enterprise finance.

More information on the financial products offered for microfinance and social enterprise finance can be found on the InvestEU implementing partners’ webpages: EIF and CEB.

In the case of microfinance institutions and banks, signing up to or endorsing respectively the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision is a prerequisite when benefitting from EU support under the InvestEU programme, as well as under the EaSI financial instruments.

Find out more about InvestEU on the InvestEU webpage and the Social Economy Gateway.

InvestEU Advisory Hub

The InvestEU Advisory Hub provides advisory support and technical assistance to project promoters and intermediaries. Support is available via a central entry point on the European Commission’s website here. 

Advisory support for microfinance and social enterprise finance providers is available through both the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Social Inclusive Finance Technical Assistance – SIFTA

The Social Inclusive Finance Technical Assistance (SIFTA) is a special strand under the InvestEU Advisory Hub that supports microfinance and social enterprise finance providers. It is building on the success of the EaSI Technical Assistance.

Through SIFTA and the main InvestEU advisory partner, European Investment Bank, the EU is providing targeted capacity building services for microfinance and social enterprise finance providers in many forms.

These include tailored trainings, workshops, peer-to-peer exchanges and study visits, as well as ratings, assessments and evaluations on the compliance of the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision.

Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship Axis of the EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation - EaSI (2014-2020)

The Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme was a financing instrument at EU level in the financing period 2014-2020 to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

Among the three EaSI financial instruments to support microfinance and social entrepreneurship, funding through the EaSI Funded Instrument is still available through the EIF website. EaSI Guarantee and EaSI Capacity Building instruments no longer accept new applications.

In the current period 2021 – 2027, the EaSI Programme 2014-2020 became a strand under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). EU financial instruments to support microfinance and social enterprise finance continue instead under the InvestEU programme.

EaSI Funded Instrument

The EaSI Funded Instrument is a loan fund of EUR 200 million. It provides senior and subordinated loans to microfinance institutions and social enterprise lenders to boost on-lending to micro-enterprises and social enterprises. 

The EaSI Funded instrument aims to improve access to finance for micro-enterprises, including the self-employed and those that employ vulnerable people, as well as for social enterprises in order to support job creation and social inclusion.

The loan fund is a partnership between the EU, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund. The European Investment Fund has been selected as the fund manager.

EaSI Guarantee

A total of 113 microfinance providers and social enterprise finance providers were supported under EaSI guarantee with an overall budget of EUR 130 million (EUR 90 million for microfinance and EUR 40 million for social enterprise finance).  

The EaSI Guarantee enabled microfinance providers and social enterprise finance providers to reach out to entrepreneurs they would not have been able to finance otherwise due to risk considerations.

The Commission selected the European Investment Fund as its entrusted entity to implement the EaSI Guarantee.

EaSI Capacity Building

The EaSI Capacity Building instrument, with an overall budget of EUR 45 million, aimed at building up the institutional capacity of selected financial intermediaries that had not yet reached sustainability or were in need of risk capital to sustain their growth and development. It covered equity and, in exceptional cases, loans.

The Commission selected the European Investment Fund as its entrusted entity to implement the EaSI Capacity Building Investments Window.

EaSI Technical Assistance (2014-2020)

The EaSI Technical Assistance offered support to public and private financial intermediaries active in the microfinance and social enterprise finance sectors in Europe.

The services covered a wide range of activities aimed at capacity building and fostering the exchange of good practices with an aim of enhancing access to finance and developing a sustainable European microfinance and social enterprise finance ecosystem.

These services included trainings tailored to the specific needs of intermediaries, peer-to-peer trainings, study visits and workshops, institutional assessments, investment readiness trainings, a dedicated Helpdesk, and – for microcredit providers - trainings and compliance evaluations on the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision.