23/01/2024 (Agence Europe) – Halfway through its programme, the ‘InvestEU’ is “a European success story”, said the European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, on Tuesday 23 January (see EUROPE 12618/21). He noted that 90% of the €26 billion guarantee based on the European Union budget had been committed to cover any losses on investment projects supported under the programme. And the 170 investment projects already authorised should mobilise an estimated €225 billion in investments in key areas for Europe’s future: battery technology, hydrogen-based steel manufacturing, fibre-to-home networks and social and affordable housing. Looking beyond 2027, “there is a strong case to be made for another pan-European programme based on a budgetary guarantee to mobilise private investments in strategic areas”, stressed Mr Gentiloni. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)