The European Commission published the second annual report which proves that the European Progress Microfinance Facility has been a successful tool to create jobs, particularly amongst groups with difficulties to raise finance from more traditional sources, by helping start-ups by micro-entrepreneurs.

The European Progress Microfinance Facility has proved to be a successful tool to create jobs, according to the second annual report on its implementation published by the European Commission. Through this Facility twenty microfinance providers throughout the European Union have received guarantees or funding (debt or equity) to facilitate their lending to would-be micro-entrepreneurs worth €170 million over the coming two to three years. For instance, the group of microcredit providers under Progress Microfinance counts since January 2012 with the first Spanish provider.

This Facility was launched in 2010 to help people who would otherwise have difficulties getting a loan to start or develop their own business by providing access to finance. The facility provides guarantees and funded instruments to microfinance intermediaries. The €203 million funding for the initiative comes from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the programming period 2010–13. Progress Microfinance provides loans of up to €25,000 and aims to generate a total loan volume of €500 million for 46,000 micro-borrowers across Europe until 2019.

The European Commission aims to continue microfinance support in the next financial period under the proposed Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI). The proposed instrument also covers capacity building for microfinance institutions. The new EU Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) was proposed by the Commission in October 2011 in the framework of the legislative package for cohesion policy for the period from 2014 until 2020.