The European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, presented today to the European Parliament the €315 bn ”investment plan for Europe”, the cornerstone of its five-year agenda to revive growth and jobs through investment and convince private investors to spend again in Europe. Annonced as a ”groundbreaking investment plan” ”offering hope to millions of Europeans” by Mr. Junker, it has been criticised by many for not not providing new money but rather relying on financial engineering based on the re-organisation of existing funds as €21 billion of public money will be used to lift fifteen times as much in capital.
It is hoped that the European Fund for Strategic Investment will be set up and operational by mid-2015, with the aim of creating 1.3 million new jobs over the next three years.
More information:
Text of the speech by Jean-Claude Juncker on the € 315 billion Investment Plan
Financial Times: How Juncker plans to unleash investment in Europe
EU Observer: Juncker’s plan: Making €60bn worth five times more