President Lebrun: "Flexible application of Growth and Stability Pact is a key step to deliver jobs and restart Europe"

"The European Commission has taken into account the European Committee of the Regions' call and opened a new phase to boost investment in Europe "

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Michel Lebrun, has warmly welcomed the European Commission’s legislative proposals to establish the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and accompanying Communication on how to apply flexibility within Growth and Stability Pact rules. "This is a first response to the urgent need to restart public investment across Europe. We endorse the proposal to exempt Member States' contribution to the EFSI from deficit calculations under the Stability and Growth Pact. The broader application of the 'investment clause' will significantly help mobilise national and regional investment and facilitate the full implementation of growth-enhancing measures, including EU regional policy programmes".

The Committee of the Regions has long called for wider flexibility in the application of the Growth and Stability Pact in order to allow EU national, regional and local authorities to reverse the dramatic drop in public investment. In this perspective, according to President Lebrun, the Commission's Communication adopted on 13 January represents, "a turning point since it opens the way to a growth-friendly application of Europe's legal framework in order to catch up its pressing need of more public investment ".

Referring to the proposed European Fund for Strategic Investments, the President stressed, "Regions and cities will be crucial for the delivery of strategic projects. Therefore the European Committee of the Regions will work closely together with both the European Parliament and Council, as well as the European Investment Bank, to improve the Fund governance and enforce its territorial dimension. Furthermore, the possible overlaps between EFSI and ESIF must be avoided. We will request further clarification on how these investment funds are complementary, including on the use of financial instruments. "

CoR First Vice-President Catiuscia Marini i, CoR rapporteur on a recent opinion on the quality of public investment, added, "The future Fund must support investments in areas such as public transport, energy efficiency and broadband projects in rural areas which are profitable in the long run, instead of targeting only those projects that are highly profitable straight away".

Next steps : The CoR is expected to adopt in April an opinion on the new legislative proposals on EFSI, based on the resolution " For an Investment Plan for Europe" adopted in December 2014.