Brussels, 27/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 23 January, with Christine Lagarde, the French minister for the economy at their side, the Société Générale and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement to grant a credit line of €300 million to fund French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This operation is part of the €30bn support plan (€15bn of which is for 2008-09) launched by the EIB to assist European SMEs, and boosted by the French Presidency of the EU during the Ecofin Council on 12 September last. As the agreement was signed, Christine Lagarde explained that it was “vital for the economy that SMEs could continue to access the finance needed for their business and development”. She also pointed out that three weeks after the September Ecofin, “the first loans were granted in France and the agreement signed today demonstrates the commitment of the EIB and the Société Générale to support SMEs”. The loans granted by the EIB complement the mechanisms implemented at a national level in the SME support and recovery plans. In a press release published last Friday, the EIB pointed out that four months after the Ecofin meeting on 12 September, it granted €1.5bn in credit lines to SMEs through investment banks in France in 2008, out of a total of €8.5bn for the whole of the European Union. This represents an increase of more than 60% on EIB support for SMEs in 2007. The six French banking establishments with which the EIB signed a “new generation” credit line are BNP Paribas (€300 million), Crédit Agricole (€100 million), OSEO (€160 million), the Arkea group (€120 million), Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (€110 million) and Société Générale (€300 million). (O.L./transl.rh)