EIB and INTESA SANPAOLO provide €240 million to promote youth employment in SMEs, innovative start-ups and social projects

First loan agreement targeting youth employment signed in Italy.

EIB and INTESA SANPAOLO provide €240 million to promote youth employment in SMEs, innovative start-ups and social projects

With two different innovative financing operations,the European Investment Bank (EIB)andIntesa Sanpaoloare pumping €240million intoItaly’s productive fabric:

• A €120million credit lineto promote youth employment in SMEs and midcapsand to support the creation and development ofinnovativestart-ups

• A€120millionloanfor financing small and medium-scale investments in the social sector

The EIB and Intesa Sanpaolosigned today the first joint loan in Italy targeting the creation of new jobs for young people in small and medium-sized firms, midcaps and innovative start-ups.

This €120million operation comes seven months after theEuropean Council’s Brussels Summit on combating youthunemployment in June 2013. At that meeting,the EU’s Heads of State or Government called on the EIB, the EUs financing institution, to deploy “without delay” all instruments at its disposal to tackle the growing problem of unemployment – especially youth unemployment.The €120million EIB credit line will be channelled by Mediocredito Italiano, the corporate financing arm of the Intesa Sanpaolo group,to SMEs, midcapsandinnovativestart-ups in order to foster the creation ofnew jobsfor young people in the15 to 29age groupand promote the development of a new, more innovation-friendly entrepreneurial culture.

“I am particularly proud of this operation with Intesa Sanpaolo,the first ina series of loans with Italy’s banks under the EIB’s Jobs for Youth programme. Following the European Council’s request last June, which the Italian Government has vigorously driven forward, operations like this provide the best demonstration of the EU institutions’ capacity to provide a rapid and practical response to the social emergency that is the sky-high level of youth unemployment”, said EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco.

“We are delighted to be theEIB’s principal European partner in terms of both volume of businessand range of areas of support for Italian firms”said Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo. “Inparticular, with this agreement Intesa Sanpaolois making available facilities and resources that will enable our business fabric to regenerate by promoting youth employment and the creation and development of an innovation-friendly environment. In this way–he added–we aim to foster an innovative and dynamic economy that encourages talented young people to stay in our country, boosts productivity and restores profitability”.

SMEs (firms with up to250employees) andmidcaps (firms with between 250 and 3000employees) that meet at least one of the following criteria will be eligible for loans:

• they havehired at least oneworker(three in the case of midcaps)aged between15and29in the six months prior to the loan request or will do so in thefollowingsixmonths;

• they providevocational training programmesor internshipsfor young people;

• theywork togetherwith a school, technical college or universitytoemploy young people(e.g. in summer internships);

• they have an ownership structure in which the majority of the capital(over50%)is held by young people under29 years of age;

1. they comply with the provisions of Law 99 of 2013 on the promotion of youth employment.

Also eligible are innovative start-ups meeting certain requirements of section IX of Decree Law 179/2012, including:

1. they havebeenset up andtrading for no longer than48months;

2. the head quarters of the ir own business and the ir interests is in Italy;

3. theirsole or main business purpose is thedevelopment, production and sale of innovative high-tech products and services.

Also due for signature in the next few days is a €120million credit linefor financing investment by small and medium-sized firms in thehealth and education sectorsas well as other investments eligible under urban regeneration programmes.Banca Prossima– the group’snon-profitarm–will channel theEIB funds totherelevantproductive sectorsof the Italian economy.

Note to editor

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

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