Brussels, 07/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - In early April, the government of Luxembourg announced its intention to put €80 million into the co-funding of projects to be supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in the framework of the Juncker plan.
The government supports the European initiative aiming to give a shot in the arm to investment, said the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, who said that his country would maintain an annual investment effort of 3.5% of GDP despite the budgetary consolidation effort, in other words “twice the European average”. He went on to say that every effort would be made to ensure that the Luxembourg contribution would help to support projects put forward by the country. The sectors of activity which would benefit from assistance are energy, environmental protection, transport and social infrastructure.
Luxembourg will mobilise a public investment bank, the Société nationale de crédit et d'investissement (SNCI). Germany (€8 billion via the KfW), Spain (€1.5 billion through the ICO), France (€8 billion through the CD and the Bpi) and Italy (€8 billion via the CDP) have also selected this contribution model (see EUROPE 11271).
With the EIB planning to start early financial support before the summer to projects selected in the framework of the Juncker plan, negotiations continue at the European Parliament on the draft joint report of the committees on economic and monetary affairs and budgets (see EUROPE 11283). As a budgetary authority, the EP is seeking a financial structure which would make it possible to take the EFSI's guarantee from the EU budget in such a way as to cut funding to as few Community programmes and financial mechanisms focusing on future sectors, such as research and infrastructure, as possible. (Mathieu Bion)