The Commission and the EBRD launch new financing facility for small and medium-sized enterprises in central and eastern Europe

As part of their joint effort to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in central and eastern Europe, the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have reached an agreement to establish a euro125 million SME Facility for the 10 central and eastern European countries that are candidates for European Union (EU) accession.