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.

欧盟(EU)官员表示，欧盟委员会(European Commission)主席让-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)将披露一个规模达到3150亿欧元的新计划，用于复苏欧洲经济。这一计划的启动资金为210亿欧元，将依靠金融工程调动大量私人投资。

这个暂时命名为欧洲战略投资基金(European Fund for Strategic Investment，简称EFSI)的基金是容克本月上任以来的第一个重大举措。那些处境艰难的欧盟国家已对它期待许久。最近几周，这些国家的经济增长预期已大幅下降。种种迹象表明，欧元区经济正陷入停滞。

EFSI将试图通过少量公共资金，以杠杆手段吸引大量私人资本。不过，在容克正式公布这一新的金融工具之前，它已在欧洲议会(European Parliament)和部分欧盟较弱经济体中引发了怨言。

欧盟委员会官员坚称，该项目建立在公共财政的稳健原则之上。部分人还以欧洲投资银行(European Investment Bank)作为这种方法的成功案例。目前，欧洲投资银行依赖的资本金基础相对较小，却筹集了大量私人基金，用于向全欧盟的大型基建项目投入资金。

在最新计划的启动资金中，160亿欧元将来自欧盟现有预算，50亿欧元将来自欧洲投资银行。根据计划，该资金将以保证金的形式，用来筹集私人基金，从而投资于总价值估计为3150亿欧元的较高风险项目。今后，欧盟政府将能把自身现金放入该基金，也就是说总体数字还有可能增加。

欧盟官员提醒说，该计划要等到周二欧盟委员会全部28名委员批准之后才算最后敲定。虽然官员们表示目前的暂定名称仍然是“欧洲战略投资基金”，但这一名称也可能会出现改动。目前，容克定于周三向欧洲议会介绍该计划。

译文仅供参考