EU finance
ministers have approved the details of the bloc's huge investment plan, which
is meant to revive the 28 member states' economies. But only few nations have
so far pledged contributions.
Deutsche Welle, 10 March 2015
EU finance
ministers on Tuesday agreed on the details of a 315 billion-euro ($388 billion)
investment plan to help get the bloc's economies back on their feet. Pending
final approval by the European Parliament, the first projects now look likely
to start by the end of the year.
"The
plan is the answer we need to confront the main handicap of the European
economy: the lack of investment," EU Economics Commissioner Pierre
Moscovici said in a statement, adding that investment levels in the bloc had
fallen by 15 to 20 percent since 2008.
A 21
billion-euro guarantee fund would now be set up, the ministers confirmed, with
a view to encouraging private investors to back projects that were currently
considered too risky.
Careful
selection process
But
financial pledges have been slow to come in. Germany and France, the eurozone's
two largest economies, had earlier pledged 8 billion euros each in project
co-financing, while Spain had said it would make 1.5 billion euros available
for the fund.
On Tuesday,
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced on Twitter that his country would
also contribute 8 billion euros.
Italia contribuirà a Piano @JunckerEU con iniziativa di Cassa Depositi e Prestiti per 8 miliardi di euro @PCPadoan #lavoltabuona #crescita
— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) 10 maart 2015
The finance
ministers made it clear that projects would be selected according to their
commercial viability and the added values they would provide to the EU.
Member
states have already put forward some 2,000 proposals, ranging from social
housing projects to school refurbishments and motorway expansion.
hg/cjc (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
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