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EU to push forward Juncker investment plan

Xinhua, February 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Union finance ministers on Feb. 17 will move forward with Juncker's investment plan to allocate at least 315 billion euros (about 359 billion U.S. dollars) of additional investments in strategic projects at the EU level.

The investment plan, announced last July, will be tabled at nexyt Tuesday's meeting with a discussion about the plan's progress and a proposal to establish a European fund for strategic investments.

The vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Philippe de Fontaine Vive, told online news site EurActiv that the EIB's board of governors would give its recommendations for the execution of the plan at the meeting.

"Next it will be up to the finance ministers to develop the plan to suit the member states. It will then be passed to the European Parliament to complete the trialogue," he said.

"We are already starting work on some projects. The EIB will begin by funding projects with its own money, and these will be transferred to the Fund for Strategic Investments as soon as possible," he added.

The European Commission published a list of around 2,000 potential projects across the member states worth some 1.3 trillion euros of potential investments last December.

"But this list is not finalised; the plan will last for three years, and if a company comes up with an innovative patent in late 2015 and needs funding in 2016, we will be there," the EIB vice-president said. Enditem