The European Commission welcomes the preliminary agreement on InvestEU, the proposed programme to boost private and public investment in Europe in the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027. This agreement between the European Parliament, Member States and the Commission is a crucial step towards the creation of the InvestEU programme, which will bring together under one roof the European Fund for Strategic Investments and 13 other EU financial instruments currently supporting investment in the EU, making the financing easier to access. President Jean-Claude Juncker said...
“Europe is in much better shape than it was a few years ago. Thanks to the Investment Plan for Europe we launched in late 2014, investment is back. But we can and must do more to boost jobs and growth. This is where InvestEU comes in. Building on the success of what we've already achieved, we will be able to use public funding to support strategically important projects across the EU. Today's agreement could not be more timely and means EU funds will be able to start delivering results on the ground sooner rather than later.” Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “InvestEU will be our flagship programme for a sustainable, resilient and competitive European economy. It will further boost investment in key areas like artificial intelligence, circular economy, climate action, as well as social inclusion and skills." A press release is available here. InvestEU builds on the success of the Juncker Plan, or Investment Plan for Europe. Latest figures from the European Investment Bank, the Commission's strategic partner on the Juncker Plan, show that by March 2019, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) had mobilised almost €390 billion of investments. Operations approved under EFSI so far represent a total financing volume of €72.5 billion in all 28 Member States. The EIB has approved 518 infrastructure projects supported by EFSI for €53.9 billion, while the European Investment Fund has approved 537 financing agreements for SMEs worth €18.6 billion. 929,000 small and medium companies will benefit from these agreements. 