The plan is the cornerstone of European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker’s five-year agenda to jumpstart the EU’s moribund economy /AFP
STRASBOURG, November 26- European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled a huge 315-billion euro investment plan Wednesday to “kickstart” the stalling economy, saying it would show the world that Europe is back in business.
The eagerly awaited plan, the keystone of Juncker’s five year mandate, involves the EU setting up a 21 billion euro ($26 billion) fund with the aim of drawing in 15 times that amount in private investment.
Juncker hopes the proposal will boost desperately needed jobs and growth amid concerns that Europe’s failure to recover from the financial crisis is dragging the world economy down with it.
“Europe needs a kickstart and today the commission is providing the jump cable,” Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
“We need to send a message to Europe and to the rest of the world: Europe is back in business.”
The former Luxembourg prime minister said he had a vision of children in the Greek city of Thessaloniki going to a school filled with computers, and French drivers charging their electric cars by the side of a motorway.
