Juncker’s investment plan [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski

The European Union is moving closer to creating a new investment fund, a flagship idea of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker aimed at bolstering economic growth and creating jobs.  On 10 March, EU finance ministers gave an initial go-ahead for the planned financial facility, called the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), by agreeing their position for negotiations on the proposal with the European Parliament (EP).

The Parliament discussed the EFSI plan on 12 March in Strasbourg, and is expected to ask for a bigger role in supervising the fund, it said in a statement. The EP is to vote on its report on the fund on 24 June or at the July plenary session at the latest, allowing for negotiations with EU governments to move full steam ahead.

According to the Commission’s proposal, the fund is to use 21 billion euros of EU seed money to mobilise 315-billion-euros investment in co-operation with private investors for infrastructural and other projects.

This note offers links to a selection of commentaries, studies and reports by some of the major international think tanks and research institutes, which analyse the merits of the proposal.

Commentaries:

The Juncker Commission Investment Plan – a communication campaign?

Egmont, December 23, 2014

Recovery for whom? The Juncker’s plan must not be a missed opportunity for gender equality in Europe

Foundation for Progressive European Studies (FEPS), March 3, 2015

High growth firms and job creation in Europe

Bruegel, December 18, 2014

 Juncker’s Investment Plan: a new deal for the EU?

European Policy Centre (EPC), December 17, 2014

 Public investment: a modest proposal

Centre for European Reform (CER), December 1, 2014

 The Juncker gambit

European Centre for International Political Economy, November 26, 2014

 The Juncker Plan: from €21 to €315 billion, through smoke and mirrors

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), November 27, 2014

Analyses:

The Juncker Plan – the vehicle for revived European ambition?

Robert Schuman Foundation, March 9, 2015

The Achilles’ heel of Juncker’s investment plan

Bruegel, December 8, 2014

Juncker’s investment plan: no risk – no return

Bruegel, November 28, 2014

 Related publications:

Rebuilding Europe’s common future

Peterson Institute for International Economics, December, 2014

Measuring Europe’s investment problem

Bruegel, November 24, 2014

Investment as the key to recovery in the euro area?

Centre for European Policy Studies, November 18, 2014

International investment in Europe: The canary in the coal mine?

Confrontations Europe, September 26, 2014

EPRS publications:

The economic potential of the ten-point Juncker Plan for growth without debt

European Added Value Unit, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), November 28, 2014

Read this At a glance on Juncker’s investment plan in PDF