Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European leaders are to ask the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to examine, “as a matter of urgency”, the forthcoming proposal of the European Commission to extend beyond 2018 the term of the Juncker investment plan, at the summit of Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June.
The Commission is planning to table proposals in the very near future on what happens next with the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial arm of the Juncker plan, which should be examined “urgently” by the EP and the Council, according to draft conclusions of the summit dated Monday 20 June and of which EUROPE has had sight. The European Council should also take into account the fact that the European plan, which is designed to draw down €315 billion in additional investments between 2015 and 2018, has already produced “concrete results”. Furthermore, it represents a crucial stage in the use of the scarce budgetary resources. The EFSI provides a public guarantee backed by the budgets of the EU and the EIB, to absorb any initial losses made by a project supported by the 'Juncker' plan.
Last week, the Ecofin Council submitted to the European Council its positive assessment of the implementation of the European investment plan, which has passed the €100 billion in private investments mark after one year of existence (EUROPE 11576). Certain member states and many members of the European Parliament are nonetheless calling for an evaluation of the Juncker plan, for instance to make sure that the projects supported would not have got off the ground without the European initiative. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)