Brussels, 14/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The opinions adopted by a number of European Parliament committees on Tuesday 14 April on the Juncker investment plan show that MEPs are not keen to set up a public guarantee based on the EU budget as soon as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) comes on stream after the summer break.
The European Parliament's industry committee has suggested a different EFSI financing methodology from the one recommended by the European Commission that the Ecofin Council has endorsed. Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Belgium) said: “Our alternative financing proposal for the EFSI guarantee fund was accepted today by the ITRE committee. In the alternative financing scheme, the contribution from the Union budget to the EU budget Guarantee Fund will be progressively authorised by Parliament and Council in the framework of the annual budgetary procedures, making use of all available margins and flexibility mechanisms.”
The European Commission wants to take €8 billion from the EU budget (including €3.3 bn from the Connecting Europe mechanism) to finance the EFSI Guarantee Fund (see EUROPE 11283). This is opposed by the European Parliament transport committee, which says that taking cash from Connecting Europe and the Horizon 2020 research programme should only be done as a last resort if the need is proven by demand and if the funding for the programmes in question is under-used, explained Dominique Riquet (ALDE, France), European Parliament co-rapporteur.
On the budget arm of the EFSI, the budgets and economic and monetary affairs committee will be adopting a joint report on Monday 20 April and will have the final say.
€5 billion for energy efficiency. The industry, transport and environment committees at the European Parliament say it is important to use the EFSI to actively promote social and environmental standards. In an opinion that the leading committees will have to take account of, the industry committee says the EFSI should provide €5 billion for programmes to boost energy efficiency. “We hope this can help to bridge the large investment gap of €70 billion a year on energy efficiency projects,” said Van Brempt.
The transport committee says the selection of projects for EFSI backing should follow the guidelines laid down in the regulations setting up the Connecting Europe mechanisms and the trans-European transport networks. The environment committee says sustainable infrastructure and transport and energy projects should be favoured, such as alternative fuels. The EFSI will also provide an opportunity to invest in innovative technology to meet the EU's climate and energy targets, added Miriam Dalli (S&D, Malta). (Mathieu Bion)