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A number of EU bodies give help and funding to SMEs and startups, for example the EIB borrows money on capital markets and lends it on favourable terms to a number of parties, including SMEs and startups through their role as shareholder in the EIF, which provides funding to such enterprises through venture capital and risk finance instruments. Other EIF products include venture capital and micro-financing for SMEs, particularly new and innovative companies, and guarantees for financial institutions, to cover loans to SMEs.
Furthermore, [[Fusion for Europe Energy (F4E)]] provides help in the form of grants and procurement contracts for small and medium-sized businesses in the area of research into fusion energy. This is an example of a body set up specifically to provide easier access to development funds in a specific form of sustainable energy – in this case fusion. However, there are few other bodies that provide aid in other forms of energy such as solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy, for instance. Another example, however, is the [[Clean Sky 2]] programme, which partners with SMEs involved in aeronautics in order to reduce aircraft emissions by developing innovative technologies to cut CO2 and other greenhouse gases and reduce noise.
===Development of SMEs===
