European Finance Ministers give the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) until Friday 15 March to reach an agreement on the location of the secretariat of the InvestEU fund's investment committee, which after 2020 will build on the experience of the 'Juncker' investment plan (see EUROPE 12210/13).
We need an answer by Friday's meeting of Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper), Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said on Tuesday 12 March at the Ecofin Council.
Ireland, France and the Netherlands supported the Luxembourg approach of granting an additional period.
An investment committee will be established to review innovative and risky projects applying for support from the InvestEU Fund. It will be supported by a secretariat composed of independent experts.
Although they were close to an agreement on Monday evening, the European Commission and the EIB were unable to agree on the location of the secretariat. The Commission wants the secretariat to be based in its premises in Brussels, with the InvestEU programme expected to bring together 14 European financial instruments, some of which it has always managed directly. For the EIB, it is necessary to follow the model of the 'Juncker' plan, whose secretariat for the investment committee is based in its premises in Luxembourg.
A third mixed solution would also be on the table.
The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU needs a solution on this issue in order to be able to defend the Council's position in negotiations with the European Parliament, which advocates the location of the secretariat within the Commission.
The next interinstitutional trilogue negotiation session will take place on Wednesday 13 March. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)