The EU summit during which was discussed EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker’s 315 billion euro investment plan, was particularly important for Greece, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said. Juncker’s package is ambitious and immediately feasible and we all welcomed it as a package with political symbolism and as an initiative which shows Europe’s turn from a period of recession into growth. He added that it marks EU’s transition to a new era, where development will play the leading role. Samaras also said that the triptych fiscal adjustment, structural reforms and investments would not be a proper triangle without the third part, the policy would not be correct and Europe would not be competitive in the future. Juncker’s package also marks the private sector’s added value, especially in areas where it could not and did not dare to invest. Unlike the NSRF, we are talking about loans and risk-taking by the EU for loans that otherwise would not be given. Recently, it has been estimated that since 2007 and until now, investments have been cut by 430 billion euros and the new job positions have slowed down. Competitiveness has been reduced and the advantages over the U.S. and the China have evaporated. Significant infrastructures, such as networks, research and innovation had been left behind. The Juncker package provides for a strategic investment fund which will offer guarantees and will finance the investments. It will fall within a more favorable framework, which will include the simplification of the EU legislation. Its implementation will start in March. As of January, however, funds will be given to projects that are ready. In Greece, the aim is to locate big mature public and private projects. Greece has been one of the first three countries that sent a list of such projects. It is important that money will not come from the structural funds or the cohesion fund. The summit also focused on the issue of tax avoidance and the exchange of passenger data. Moreover, it discussed the developments in Ukraine and on how each country will send humanitarian aid. Samaras finally said they were all interested in the developments in Greece. (source: ana-mpa)
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