歐盟推出3150億歐元復甦計劃
Jean-Claude Juncker will unveil a new 315bn plan to resuscitate Europe’s economy that will be built on 21bn in EU seed money and rely heavily on financial engineering to mobilise private investment, according to EU officials.
The plan, tentatively named the European fund for Strategic Investment, is the first major initiative from Mr Juncker since taking office this month and has been eagerly anticipated in struggling EU countries that have seen growth projections slashed in recent weeks amid signs the bloc is stagnating economically.
The EFSI will seek to leverage small amounts of public money to attract large amounts of private capital. That approach has already caused grumbling in the European Parliament and some weaker EU economies even before the new vehicle has been formally unveiled by the new European Commission president.
Commission officials insist the programme is built on sound principles of public finance. As a model, some cite the European Investment Bank, which relies on a relatively small capital base to raise private funds that are, in turn, invested in large infrastructure projects across the EU.
The seed money will include 16bn from the EU’s existing budget and 5bn from the EIB. It will come in the form of guarantees and will be used to raise private funding that will be invested in higher-risk projects worth an estimated 315bn, according to the plans. EU governments will be able to put their own cash into the fund, meaning the headline figure could rise.
Officials cautioned that the plan would not be finalised until the full, 28-member commission endorses it on Tuesday. The name “EFSI” could also be tweaked, though officials said it remains the current working title. It is scheduled to be presented by Mr Juncker to the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The EU budget funds would come from several sources, including the “connecting Europe facility” – a 30bn pot currently used to build infrastructure across national borders – and Horizon 2020, the EU’s 80bn research and development programme. EU budget reserves would fill out any remaining needs.
歐盟(EU)官員表示，歐盟委員會(European Commission)主席讓-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)將披露一個規模達到3150億歐元的新計劃，用於復甦歐洲經濟。這一計劃的啓動資金爲210億歐元，將依靠金融工程調動大量私人投資。
這個暫時命名爲歐洲戰略投資基金(European Fund for Strategic Investment，簡稱EFSI)的基金是容克本月上任以來的第一個重大舉措。那些處境艱難的歐盟國家已對它期待許久。最近幾周，這些國家的經濟增長預期已大幅下降。種種跡象表明，歐元區經濟正陷入停滯。
EFSI將試圖通過少量公共資金，以槓桿手段吸引大量私人資本。不過，在容克正式公佈這一新的金融工具之前，它已在歐洲議會(European Parliament)和部分歐盟較弱經濟體中引發了怨言。
歐盟委員會官員堅稱，該項目建立在公共財政的穩健原則之上。部分人還以歐洲投資銀行(European Investment Bank)作爲這種方法的成功案例。目前，歐洲投資銀行依賴的資本金基礎相對較小，卻籌集了大量私人基金，用於向全歐盟的大型基建項目投入資金。
在最新計劃的啓動資金中，160億歐元將來自歐盟現有預算，50億歐元將來自歐洲投資銀行。根據計劃，該資金將以保證金的形式，用來籌集私人基金，從而投資於總價值估計爲3150億歐元的較高風險項目。今後，歐盟政府將能把自身現金放入該基金，也就是說總體數字還有可能增加。
歐盟官員提醒說，該計劃要等到週二歐盟委員會全部28名委員批准之後纔算最後敲定。雖然官員們表示目前的暫定名稱仍然是“歐洲戰略投資基金”，但這一名稱也可能會出現改動。目前，容克定於週三向歐洲議會介紹該計劃。
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