An expert report commissioned by the French Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) group calls for a revision of European fiscal rules to “isolate certain long-term public investments in public spending in order that they are not constrained by budget balance rules”, as well as “the debt associated with these investments”.
According to these experts, the European taxonomy, a classification system designed to guide investments towards economic activities considered environmentally sustainable (see EUROPE 12882/1), “could be used as an instrument for identifying some of these investments”. It could also guide non-State public and private investment through incentive schemes.
The group of experts, led by Jacques Attali, also mentions the capacity of the European Union’s programmes, known as the ‘blending facility’, to increase the knock-on effect of public spending by combining resources (subsidies, European funds, direct financing from Member States and the private sector). These programmes are useful for the realisation of social and/or digital infrastructure and in the field of basic research.
To facilitate the absorption of funds, the experts recommend developing the technical assistance available to project leaders.
The issue of long-term investments was the subject of a specific conference held by the CDC group on Tuesday 1 February, in the framework of the French Presidency of the EU Council.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/74 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)