Luxembourg, 14/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a EUR 60 million loan to Banque du Développement des PME (BDPME) via its subsidiary CEPME (Crédit d'Equipement des PME) for funding fledgling micro-enterprises in France. The EIB, the European Union's financing institution, will thereby be contributing to the Business Start-up Loans (PCEs) programme launched by the French public authorities, which is managed by BDPME and the banking network in association with the aid and support structures in this field. Business Start-up Loans (PCEs) - launched in 2000 at the Enterprise Creation Forum - are a financing product for the initiators of “small-scale” projects (costing less than EUR 45 000) and take the form of five-year loans of between EUR 2 000 and EUR 7 000, which do not require a guarantee or personal security from the head of the business but have to be accompanied by a bank loan of between two and three times the PCE. The PCE operation is backed by public guarantee funds. Since it was set up, CEPME has provided PCE finance amounting to approximately EUR 290 million as at mid-2004 to some 45 500 micro-enterprises, thereby contributing to the creation of more than 51 000 jobs. These fledgling projects represent a total investment of more than EUR 1 077 million and are located throughout France (for details of PCEs, go to http://www.bdpme.fr/website/bdpme.nsf ).