On Tuesday 6 December, EU finance ministers approved the extension of the 'Juncker' investment plan on the basis of the compromise reached by their ambassadors to the EU last week (see EUROPE 11679).
The idea presented by the Commission in September is to double the firepower and duration of the 'Juncker' investment plan by attracting €630 billion in investments up to 2022. Due to the limits imposed by the multi-annual financial framework 2014-2020, the agreement reached by the member states, which will be negotiated with the European Parliament early next year, refers to an extension of the initiative by at least €500 billion in additional investments up to 2020, said the Slovak finance minister, Peter Kazimir, who is firmly of the opinion that the text of the Slovak Presidency of the Council not just improves the functioning of the 'Juncker' plan, but improves it substantially.
During the debate, a number of delegations stressed the need for a more in-depth assessment of this key initiative, in particular regarding the additional nature of the projects benefiting from a public guarantee under the EU Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial arm of the 'Juncker' plan. Germany regretted the fact that the assessments of the European Court of Auditors (see EUROPE 11666) and Ernst & Young (see EUROPE 11667) had not been sufficiently taken into account in the negotiations. The Netherlands and the Czech Republic were inclined to agree.
Spain and Croatia insisted that the 'Juncker' plan should support projects that would not necessarily get off the ground without the initiative, as the EFSI is not designed to replace regular investments from the European Investment Bank (EIB). "EFSI is not business as usual", said Werner Hoyer, the President of the EIB. The 'Juncker' plan has been instrumental in creating a vast range of new financial instruments and 60% of the project supported have been undertaken by new customers of the Bank.
Slovenia stressed the importance of the 'Juncker' plan benefiting all member states, particularly those with less-developed financial markets. The revision of the 'Juncker' plan is also supposed to improve the expert investment guidance in member states. In the conclusions they adopted, the ministers agree with the need to remove barriers to investment, particularly in the energy and digital sectors. The EIB has incidentally produced a report in this area.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen welcomed the work carried out by the Council. However, he observed that member states had watered down provisions aiming to prevent the projects supported by the 'Juncker' plan from promoting tax evasion, a point picked up on by France. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)