S&D MEPs Udo Bullmann and Eider Gardizábal today called for a strong and efficient European fund for strategic investments to be set up in order to boost growth and job creation in Europe, during the presentation of the draft report in the European Parliament.
S&D MEP Udo Bullmann, member of the economic and monetary affairs committee and one of the European Parliament's lead negotiators said:
"The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is key to resolving the investment gap within the EU. Today, Europe is still investing less than before the financial crisis. We strongly support this new impetus from the Commission as a decisive step towards growth and jobs in the EU.
"However, in order to make the EFSI a success, technical adjustments are necessary. In particular, the EFSI should target projects with a higher risk profile. Only projects that would not have found financing from the markets or other sources should be considered eligible.
"This will ensure that high-quality projects such as investments in infrastructure, broadband, energy efficiency and in the small and medium-sized business sector — which can make a big difference in Europe — can be supported under this scheme.
"The governance structure of the EFSI also needs to be further strengthened to ensure better democratic accountability. The EU budget would make the largest contribution to the EFSI and the European Parliament, as co-legislator, needs to be appropriately involved in overseeing it in order to ensure the efficient use of EU resources."
S&D Group negotiator and spokesperson on the EU budget, Eider Gardiazábal, added:
"Financing the EU guarantee should not come at the expense of cutting funding for Horizon 2020 or the Connecting Europe facility.
"In order to cover the risks related to the EU guarantee, a fund should be established by gradual contributions from the EU budget.
"The funds would be progressively authorised by the Parliament and the Council through the annual budgetary procedure, making use of all means available under the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework.
"Europe needs a strong investment tool which works and revives the European economy."
