In occasion of the relevant meetings held this morning with Sigmar Gabriel, Vice Chancellor of Germany and president of the SPD, the French finance minister Michel Sapin and the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, the president of the S&D Group underlined that Juncker's investment plan represents a good starting point but it needs to be reinforced by assuring member states more room for manoeuvre on investments.
"The next European Council will be crucial. We should take a further step forward from Juncker's plan to give member states more effective ways to manoeuvre in the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP):
1) Neutralisation of the national contribution to the European fund for strategic investments.
2) Neutralisation from the SGP of national contributions to the EU projects selected in the plan.
"The European Council could implement these two key measures without changing the Stability and Growth Pact.
"We also encourage institutional investors and national promotional banks to participate in the plan.
"The goal of the Socialists and Democrats' Group is to realise this great revolution, bearing in mind that nowadays a mere diligent accountant's approach would represent the best ally of populists and Eurosceptics across Europe. The EU cannot just be the pitch for an additional 0 battle. This would be blind and strategically wrong. Long term political strategy has to prevail.
"The European economy is one and as one can recover only if member states will have the possibility to concretely relaunch their economies, implementing at the same time effective and significant reforms."
