Europe sees the microloan as a way to fight unemployment and poverty. The European Union has decided to spend 100 million euros to help entrepreneurs who come up with creative ideas. In the Netherlands, Princess Máxima opened the 40th Microfinance Support Centre this week.

The centre works together with the municipality to provide loans of up to 35,000 euros for starting entrepreneurs. They are often people on welfare and with a low level of education who come up with creative ideas. The companies will not have an enormous impact on a national level. However, they will provide their founders with self-respect and a sense of pride.

Oil slick
The 40th Microfinance Support Centre was opened in Hilversum by Princess Máxima. Most of the public came to see the Princess. Few had ever heard of microfinancing, despite the fact that Princess Máxima is the special advisor to the United Nations on universal access to financial services. The director of the Dutch Council for Microfinancing, Diederik Laman Trip, said during the opening of the Hilversum office that microfinance no longer resembles a hype, but a growing oil slick which is benefiting more and more creative entrepreneurs.

He says microloans are popular because the new entrepreneurs acquire confidence when they receive a loan, having one's own business gives them back their pride and, if all goes well, they will no longer be dependent on welfare. In the long run, everyone gains.

"Trust, pride and independence are the three cornerstones of a well-balanced society. Both in the world far away from Holland as well as in the Western society."

Fragmented
The Council for Microfinancing, of which Máxima is also a member, was set up in 2007 to bring microcredits to the attention of local and national government, banks and universities. The knowledge existed, but it was much too fragmented.

One hardly expects that microcredits would be a widespread practise in a wealthy country such as the Netherlands. However, here too banks would rather not grant loans for relatively small sums to people without collateral. The profit margins are small, while the risks are greater than usual. If a company goes bankrupt, the bank may end up losing its money.

Proud entrepreneurs
The Amsterdam businesswoman Lot Vermeer, who designs and sells toys, is not the type who would betray a lender's confidence. She has a thriving business. However, during the period between the creation of a design and its arrival at a shop she could use some financial support.

Onno de Graaf is now a world renown cocktail mixer who thinks up new combinations just about every day. He also started with a small loan.

Bookkeeping lesson
Those who receive microloans not only receive money, but also counselling and training. They must also meet certain obligations. Someone who makes a mess of his or her bookkeeping can expect a call from the creditor immediately.

The director of Hilversum's Microfinance Support Centre, Erik Friedeberg says the recipients are often enthusiastic entrepreneurs who work day and night, but sometimes forget certain tedious aspects, such as bookkeeping. Some hardly know the difference between essential factors such as debits and credits.

"They find it boring. They already have the idea that it is difficult and so they don't want to do it. So in the preliminary phase we offer training and counselling. After they begin we offer them a special online bookkeeping programme where they can log in and see the business results. This way they begin to enjoy it , especially since the training is at such an easy level."

Around 650 Dutch beginners have received a microloan so far. It is still too early to judge their success, but there have been no major problems. Despite the economic crisis. The Dutch Council of Microfinancing's director Laman Trip has high hopes for the future since the programme will undergo a major expansion.

"Our dreams are to have in about five years time 5000 micro entrepreneurs and with that we support 25 percent of the new entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. So we still have a lot to do."

The Netherlands is certainly not alone as far as ambitious plans are concerned. In the economically weaker Central European countries there is an explosive growth in the number of projects. France, Spain and Great Britain have also discovered the microloan.

New multinational
The oil spill has even reached the offices of the European Union. In the fight against unemployment and poverty, the EU hopes to provide 45,000 microloans in the next eight years, with a maximum of 25,000 euros per loan. A hundred million euros has been made available for the time being.

Such figures will hardly provide a boost to ailing economies. However, as Mr Laman Trip points out, all large companies started small. Time will tell which microloan will be the first to start a company which will one day become a multinational.