Abstract
Microfinance instruments, in particular microcredit, play a key role in the implementation of the European strategies to support entrepreneurship, employment, social and financial inclusion.1,2 These instruments, in fact, can support start-ups through the provision of microloans characterised by simplified administrative procedures and absence of collateral requirements, offering to socially excluded and disadvantaged subjects an opportunity to ensure dignified living conditions for themselves and their households. The economic crisis that has hit the European economy in recent years resulted in high social costs that call for the adoption of specific measures to support the weakest segments of the population as well as effectively contribute to the economic recovery through the creation of new development opportunities. Today, individuals at risk are not just those outside the labour market due to disadvantaged conditions, but also other numerous subjects — young people, women, immigrants, off-workers, those ejected from the labour market — who, although in possession of professional skills, are unable to enter (or re-enter) the labour market due to a scarce demand for jobs by enterprises and the impossibility to access credit. In this context, the European Commission regards microcredit as a key instrument to fight unemployment and combat the new forms of poverty, to promote access to credit and, more generally, to financial services, a necessary condition to fully participate in the social and economic life of the community.
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Notes
Banque de France (2012), “Rapport annuel de l’observatoire de la microfinance”. Latest edition, Exercise 2012.
Banque de France (2011), “Colloque international sur la Microfinance”, July.
See, for example, Christine Poursat in “Dossier thématique: Diversification des produits”, Portail de la Microfinance, January 2014. See also Marc Labie, Carolina Laureti and Ariane Szafarz, “Flexible products in micro-finance: overcoming the demand-supply mismatch”, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB) Research Institute in Management Sciences, Working Paper no. 13/044, December 2013.
Marc Labie, Carolina Laureti and Ariane Szafarz, “Flexible products in micro-finance: overcoming the demand-supply mismatch”, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB) Research Institute in Management Sciences, Working Paper no. 13/044, December 2013.
Ruth Stewart et al. (2012), “Do micro-credit, micro-savings and microleasing serve as effective financial inclusion interventions enabling poor people, and especially women, to engage in meaningful economic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review of the evidence”. EPPI, Centre — The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre, http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/pdf/outputs/systematicReviews/Microcredit2012StewartReport.pdf.
Oxford Economics (2011), “The use of leasing amongst European SMEs”, Leaseurope, Brussels. Leaseurope, the European federation of leasing companies, represents 44 associations from 34 countries.
Housing policies are part of the policies for social services of general interest (SSGI). For a further elaboration on the concept of social housing, see European Commission (2010), Second biennial report on social services of general interest. Commission Staff Working Document, Brussels, 22 October 2010, SEC (2010) 1284 final.
The total forced evictions ordered in 2013 amount to 73,385. See Ministry of the Interior — School of the Administration of the Interior — General Statistics Office (2014), Forced evictions in Italy: performance of eviction procedures in residential buildings 2013, Statistics Notebook no. 1, Rome.
Social housing represents an integrated answer to sustainability. Today social housing involves around 25 million houses in Europe, half of which are characterised by energy consumption exceeding 150 kWh/m2/year. To promote energy requalification of these buildings means first of all reducing CO2 emissions as well as the poverty originating from high energy costs. In addition, these measures can also stimulate a more environmentally friendly and competitive economy. For further investigations on this issue, see Forcella D. (2012), European green microfinance: a first look, EMN Research 2013, Brussels.
For a more articulated discussion on meaning and general characteristics of the forms of social housing in Europe, see Cechodhas (2011), Housing Europe review 2012. The nuts and bolts of European and social housing systems, Brussels and EC (2013), Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Social housing in EU, Brussels.
See, for example, http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/?mtheme_portfolio=identifying-and-upgrading-in-ulaanbaatar, or Kihato M. (2013), State of housing: micro-finance in Africa, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, Housing Finance Information Network, Philadelphia, USA.
For a detailed reading, see Bank of Italy (2014), Consolidated act on banking and construction laws, updated version to Legislative Decree 4 March 2014, no. 53.
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© 2016 Alessandro Cardente, Perrine Lantoine, Fulvio Pellegrini, Giovanni Nicola Pes, Pasqualina Porretta, Paolo Rita and Fabrizio Santoboni
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Cardente, A. et al. (2016). Microfinance and Capacity Building in the EU Policy. In: Pes, G.N., Porretta, P. (eds) Microfinance, EU Structural Funds and Capacity Building for Managing Authorities. Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137536020_4
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