ROME-President Giorgio Napolitano welcomed Werner Hoyer, the President of the European Investment Bank and Vice President Dario Scannapieco to discuss the economic situation in Europe and Italy and the role of EIB’s recovery plan.

 Since the beginning of 2014, the EIB has financed projects totalling some 5 bn EUR, with a special focus on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and projects aimed at tackling youth unemployment.

 Last May, the EIB and CDP (Cassa depositi e prestiti) signed a new EUR 500 million agreement for supporting investment in Italy.

 Under the agreement, the EIB is providing CDP with a credit line of up to 500 million EUR that will be used – under the CDP’s “Plafond PMI” instrument – to finance, through Italian banks, projects promoted by SMEs and enterprise networks.

 Part of the funds will go to enterprise networks, free associations of companies aimed at boosting their members’ competitiveness and capacity for innovation – a concept introduced into Italian law in 2009 (enterprise network contract, law 33/2009).

 This initiative represents further practical application of the EIB and CDP’s joint action on the basis of a framework agreement designed to strengthen and develop cooperation in Italy in the financing of government services, state-owned companies, local bodies, business groupings and SMEs, which also provides for exchanges of officials between the two institutions.