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4.3.2. Funding from the European Union and Government 
To provide an efficient and sustainable use of Structural 
and Cohesion Fund, various new tools and initiatives created. 
Sound financial management of the instruments of cohesion 
policy can contribute to increasing public investment. To 
achieve this, the European Commission adopted some tools 
that help Member States and regions together with the 
European Investment Bank, the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Council of 
Europe Development Bank (CEB) to implement various 
sources of financing. The JEREMIE initiative (Joint 
European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises - Joint 
European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) 
allows the EU Member States, through the National and 
Regional Managing Authorities, the opportunity to use part 
of the aid received from the EU Structural funds in order to 
strengthen corporate financing in the form of investments in 
equity, loans or guarantees to SMEs, via a recirculating 
holding Fund, which has umbrella fund, that includes several 
sub-funds. This initiative was developed by the European 
Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF), which 
is a partnership of public and private sector with the tripartite 
shareholder structure to include the European Investment 
Bank (in percentage 61.9%), the European Union, 
represented by the European Commission (by 30%) and 25 
financial institutions from 15 EU Member States, (8.1%). 
The JEREMIE, due to its structure (umbrella fund), does not 
grant finance to SMEs directly, but through financial 
intermediaries, to whom this Fund offers financial products 
targeted at SMEs, such as guarantees, co-guarantees and 
counter-guarantees for shareholdings equity, (micro) loans, 
securitization, venture capital, co-invests with business 
angels, investment and technology transfer institutions. 
Intermediaries provide SMEs (who are the ultimate 
beneficiaries) loans and equity participation. Before signing 
the JEREMIE Funding Agreement between the EIF and 
national or regional authority of an EU Member State, the 
Portfolio Fund prepares the investment strategy. The national 
or regional contractor transfer to a bank account the 
JEREMIE funds and, finally, at the invitation of interest, 
financial intermediaries are being selected. 
The JEREMIE is General Entrepreneurship loans that 
finance SMEs in Greece given by the cooperating banks 
(National Bank and Eurobank) and co-financed with funds 
from the European Regional Development Fund through the 
NSRF and own resources of partner banks. Businesses will 
receive JEREMIE loan will pay only interest for 50% of the 
loan contributed to the bank's equity, and the remaining 50% 
of the loan that is contributed through the JEREMIE 
initiative is interest-free. Eligible for funding are investment 
projects and investments in working capital, both for 
purposes of creating a new business or expanding an existing 
business, but rather for purposes of development and 
expansion of business activities. These loans finance 
investment projects for the acquisition of tangible and 
intangible fixed assets, working capital allocated to the 
development and expansion of business activities, working 
capital allocated to create a new business or expanding an 
existing business. The loans can be of up to EUR 500,000, 
while each business can participate in the program more than 
once, provided that the total amount of loans to be granted 
will not exceed 500,000 euros. Interest will be paid for 50% 
of the loan (the amount that is granted by the bank), and the 
remaining 50% of the loan is contributed by the JEREMIE 

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45 
Evangelia Fragouli and Nikolaos Giannakovitis: Entrepreneurship and Financial Crisis: A Critical Investigation of
Entrepreneurship Prospects and Opportunities That Lie Behind the Financial Crisis 
initiative.