Early on Thursday morning after a long night of discussions, EU legislators successfully concluded negotiations on the Regulation for a European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the core of the Investment Plan for Europe. This means that the Fund will become operational and start financing projects at the end of the summer. The European Commission, represented last night by Vice-Presidents Georgieva and Katainen, acted as an honest broker and facilitator throughout the negotiations with the European Parliament and the Council. During last night's trilogue, the co-legislators agreed upon the final outstanding issues, including in particular the budgetary allocations to the EFSI guarantee fund, keeping to the ambitious timetable set out in January...
Vice-President Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: "I'm very pleased that we reached an agreement this morning with co-legislators for EFSI. We are counting on Parliament and Council to give the final approval in June so we can have EFSI up and running in Autumn. And what's most important is to start boosting investment, jobs and growth in Europe."
Vice-President Georgieva, responsible for Budget and Human Resources, who also represented the Commission in the negotiations, said: "I am very happy and satisfied we reached a deal on EFSI after many hours of negotiation. This is an investment plan - underpinned by the EU budget - that benefits European people and businesses, supporting much needed growth and jobs. Let's get to work and implement this plan as quickly as possible".