Brussels, 24/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On the night from Tuesday 25 to Wednesday 26 November, the European Commission will simultaneously adopt its investment plan and its opinion on the draft budgets of the member states (EUROPE 11202).
The agenda includes the Commission's “investment plan” and its assessment of the “draft budgets 2015 for the eurozone countries”, Mina Andreeva, spokesperson to the European institution, announced on Monday 24 November. She anticipates “long debates at the College, which could go on until Wednesday morning”. The Commissioners will examine these dossiers on the basis of the preparatory discussions which took place over the weekend at the level of the Commissioners' heads of cabinet.
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will present the investment plan on the morning of Wednesday 26 November, at the plenary session of the European Parliament. This plan will be funded on the basis of Community budget and EIB capacity, as it was announced in Strasbourg on Wednesday that the president of the Luxembourg-based bank, Werner Hoyer, will also be attending the meeting. The aim of this plan is to create a strong leverage effect, in order to attract as many private investors as possible. The question of how the public funding linked to the investment plan will be taken into account in the calculation of the deficit has caught the attention of many.
On Friday 28 November, Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis (euro), Pierre Moscovici (economic affairs) and Marianne Thyssen (social dialogue) will unveil the European institution's opinion on the draft national budgets for 2015. At the same time, they will present the 2015 growth review, which marks the start of a new budgetary cycle of the 'European Semester', the regular report on macro-economic imbalances and the assessment of the '2 pack' and '6 pack' legislative packages which revised the Stability and Growth Pact. (MB)