Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The joint European resources for micro to medium enterprise is a joint initiative by the European Commission, European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund, which is intended to improve the access of SMEs to finance within the framework of the European regions. The initiative, which is known by the acronym, JEREMIE, is voluntary and is designed to enable European member states and regions to use part of their Structural Funds over the period 2007-13 to develop financial instruments that are specifically designed to support micro and small and medium enterprises.

The European Regional Development Fund is a Structural Fund for financing measures to promote development and structural adjustment of regions and the economic and social renovation of areas facing structural difficulties. Structural Funds generally provide financial assistance in the form of grants. Under JEREMIE, however, some of these grants can be transformed into financial products which can be focused at regional level.

In so far as Ireland is concerned, the framework for the next round of Structural Funds — the national strategic reference framework, NSRF 2007-13 — is being prepared and negotiated under the aegis of the Department of Finance. This will outline the strategy for allocating the available European Union funding through operational programmes. The proposal is that the ERDF funding available will be dispersed through two regional operational programmes managed by the respective regional authorities in the Border, midlands and west and south and east regions. Precise details of what these operational programmes will contain have not yet been developed. The possibility of using Structural Funds in line with the JEREMIE initiative will be considered in this context.

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