We participated an event organised by ALDE, in the European Parliament on the 6th of January. At the conference the participants discussed different policy options to revive growth in the EU and how to overcome the so-called ‘investment gap’.
The overall aim of the conference was to assess whether the current policies are going to be successful to address the issue or additional measures are needed to be taken to relaunch the EU economy.
Consequently, during yesterday’s ALDE conference, the Polish Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek, the ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt and Vice President of the European Commission Jurky Katainen, agreed on what is needed to relaunch the European economy.
Europe should promote the Single Market and take decisive action on three fronts according to the speakers:
- Continued structural reforms and financial stability in the Member States
- 2015 should be the year that the EU will make decisive moves toward completing its digital, transport and energy markets
- A focus on leveraging private investments to close Europe’s 700 billion investment gap
Furthermore, Vice President Katainen, flagged up Europe’s lack of growth, private and public investments, supply and investments demand. He urged to take national action and find European solutions, by using the momentum and boosting confidence and trust, while encouraging growth and investments. That is the way the crisis can be tackled.
Additionally, Mateusz Szczurek encouraged all European countries to support the new European Fund for Strategic Investments by strengthening its capital base. It would help to broaden the scope of projects to be implemented and increase chances of closing the investment gap of around 5,5% of GDP.
By concluding, Guy Verhofstadt stressed out that the European Investment Plan will only work if the fund is interesting enough for private investors.
