Juncker’s Investment Plan: direction and ambition are right, the implementation will be the test

Following the presentation by Mr Jean-Claude Juncker of the Commission’s ‘Investment Plan for Europe’, CEEP General Secretary, Valeria Ronzitti said:

The plan presented by the European Commission focuses on the key sectors for future growth in Europe. The EU will grow thanks to investments in fields such as energy, transport, broadband, healthcare and education.

 

The plan puts forward the right instrument. CEEP has been calling for a long time for such a ‘European Fund for Strategic Investments’. We welcome that the European Commission had the courage to propose it, and we hope that its efficiency will be high enough to make it a permanent instrument in the European governance.

 

The plan is accompanied by the right governance tools. The contributions by the Member States to the EFSI will not be counted in their ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ assessment.

 

But even if the plan presented is a step in the good direction, this can only take shape if each Member State commits to contributing to the guarantee scheme during the December Council meeting. Private investment can only flourish if based on sound public finances and re-launched public investments in infrastructures. Otherwise the plan will never create its extremely highly ambitious leverage effect and will only remain a 21 Billion € guarantee that the EC and EIB were able to put together.”