European Commission publishes Fact Sheet Investment Plan for Europe

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is at the heart of the Investment Plan. EFSI's challenge is to break the vicious circle of under-confidence and under-investment, and to make use of liquidity held by financial institutions, corporations and individuals at a time when public resources are scarce. EFSI is being set up within the European Investment Bank (EIB).

On 28 May, just four and a half months after the Commission adopted the legislative proposal on 13 January, EU legislators reached a political agreement on the Regulation for European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). Member States unanimously endorsed it on 10 March and the European Parliament voted in committee on 20 April. Finance Ministers welcomed the agreement on the Regulation at the ECOFIN Council on 19 June, and the European Parliament voted through the Regulation at their plenary session on 24 June, allowing the EFSI to be operational by September as planned.

In line with the European Council conclusions of December 2014, which invited the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group to "start activities by using its own funds as of January 2015", the EIB has already announced several projects to be pre-financed in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe, in which it is the Commission's strategic partner.

Several counties will contribute to projects benefiting from finance by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). Britain is the ninth country to contribute to the Plan after Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria, even before the EFSI becomes operational.

For more information, see this factsheet.