Brussels, 30/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 30 May, the European Commission and heads of international financial institutions signed three new cohesion policy joint initiatives to deliver more investment, growth and jobs to the regions, known as JASPERS, JEREMIE and JESSICA. The launch took the form of the signing of three memoranda of understanding between EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner, the President of the European Investment Bank Philippe Maystadt and, for JASPERS, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Jean Lemierre; for JEREMIE European Investment Fund (EIF) Chief Executive Francis Carpenter; and for JESSICA, Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) Governor Raphael Alomar.
In legal terms, the initiatives are foreseen by the new regulations for the Structural Funds which are now in the process of final adoption by the Council and the Parliament. Danuta Hubner told reporters they were an unprecedented change in the Commission's relations with financial institutions. The aim of the joint work, underway since 2005, is to ensure the EU's regional and cohesion policies are better able to cope with future challenges. Hence the new structure: JASPERS (Joint Assistance in Supporting Projects in European Regions) will help the national and regional authorities to prepare large infrastructure projects while JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) will improve access to finance for micro to medium-sized enterprises. - JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) aims to provide solutions to the financing of projects for urban renewal and development using a combination of grants and loans. On Tuesday, the Commissioner said that the enhanced involvement of the international financial institutions and the European financial sector would contribute additional financial and technical expertise, energy and human resources for more and better projects, more and better investments in undertakings, as well in public private partnerships and projects for sustainable urban development. It would also leverage additional loan capital from the international financial institutions, as well as private capital from European banks and investors, to complement scarce public resources, European and national, for more investments, growth and jobs.
The initiatives were presented by the Commissioner at a conference in November 2004 on funding jobs and growth in the enlarged EU and were examined by the December 2005 Bristol Council following public consultation on strategic EU guidelines for 2007-2013 (see EUROPE 9076, 9082 and 8985).