Facebook will open three new centers in Europe to train people in digital skills and committed to training one million people over the next two years.

The company said it would open three 'community skills hubs' in Spain, Poland and Italy as well as investing 10 million euros ($12.2 million) in France through its artificial intelligence research facility.

"Small businesses are the heart of our economies and create the majority of new jobs all around the world. Through Community Boost EU, Facebook will work side by side with small businesses and startups to help them grow and hire. We're building additional programs to help people with the skills and resources they need to get jobs or put their own ideas into action," Facebook's Ciaran Quilty, VP, Small Businesses, EMEA, wrote in a blog post.

The community hubs will offer training in digital skills, media literacy and online safety to groups with limited access to technology, including old people, the young and refugees.

Facebook also committed to having trained one million people and business owners by 2020.

Facebook's move comes as EU states discuss proposals to raise the tax bill of multinationals after pressure from large states that accuse firms like Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook of slashing their tax bills by re-routing their EU profits to low-tax countries such as Luxembourg and Ireland.

Through its Community Boost EU program, Facebook said it would conduct in-person training for 100,000 small- and medium-sized businesses by 2020 and online training for 250,000 businesses.

Facebook has opened similar centers in countries such as Nigeria and Brazil.