With the European Investment Bank and other financial institutions, a new EU microfinance facility for employment will be set up providing about 500 million euros in loans to promote the creation of small businesses.

The aim of the facility is to provide new opportunities for the unemployed and some of Europe's most disadvantaged groups to start their own businesses.

The proposal is based on 10 measures worked out at an employment summit in Prague on May 7.

The commission focused its proposal on three priorities.

First, to maintain employment, creating jobs and promoting mobility, including short-time working arrangements accompanied by financial support for training and income loss and creating the right environment for entrepreneurship, innovation and self-employment.

Second, to upgrade skills, matching labor market needs, including, upgrading skills at all levels to address the short-term employment impact of the crisis and to pave the way for a lower carbon, competitive, knowledge-based economy.

Third, to give young people opportunities, companies are called upon to provide at least 5 million traineeship places in 2009-2010 to students to develop their employability so that there are at least as many places available as before the crisis (around 2.3 million each year).

EU leaders are pressing the summit to approve the proposals so that immediate and quick actions can be taken to contain the rising momentum of unemployment.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wrote on Tuesday to heads of state and governments, calling for progress to be made on a number of key issues at the upcoming European Council, or the EU summit.

He urged member states to take tangible steps to keep people in employment, maintain viable jobs and help unemployed people back into work.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2009)