Article 28

Participation under the Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis shall be open to public and private bodies established at national, regional or local level in the countries referred to in Article 18(1) and providing in those countries: microfinance for persons and micro-enterprises; and/or financing for social enterprises. The Commission shall ensure that the axis is accessible, without discrimination, to all public and private bodies in the Member States. In order to reach out to the final beneficiaries and create competitive, viable micro-enterprises, public and private bodies that carry out activities as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall cooperate closely with organisations, including civil society organisations, representing the interests of the final beneficiaries of microcredit and with organisations, in particular those supported by the ESF, and shall provide mentoring and training programmes for such final beneficiaries. In this context, a sufficient follow-up of beneficiaries shall be ensured both before and after the creation of the micro-enterprise. Public and private bodies that carry out activities as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall adhere to high standards concerning governance, management and customer protection in line with the principles of the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision and shall seek to prevent persons and undertakings from becoming over-indebted, for example, as a result of the granting of loans to them at high interest rates or on terms likely to result in their insolvency.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.