European Commission decision on extending Juncker fund too early

The European Court of Auditors is of the opinion that the European Commission’s decision on possible extension and expansion of the EFSI-fund, more widely known as the Juncker fund, was too early. The fund is to be a lever for at least 315 billion euros of public and private investments in Europe. The Commission now wants to extend the fund by two years, to 2020, and increase the amount of the loans to 500 billion euros.

European Parliament member Sander Loones agrees with the conclusion of the Court of Auditors: “As a complement to a strong reform programme and a comprehensive rafter of budget cuts, an investment policy must create growth and jobs. That was the logic behind the Juncker fund, but it’s only once its success has been proven that the project can be extended. That proof is currently either not there yet, or not weighty enough.” His colleague Anneleen Van Bossuyt also wants certain clarity on the effective success of EFSI before moving forward: “European resources should be applied as efficiently as possible. That is especially true for the EFSI fund, because the Commission seeks resources from successful European programmes for research and infrastructure to finance it.”

Ignoring its own advice

Nonetheless, the Commission still plans to ignore the opinion of the Court of Auditors and push through with the expansion of the Juncker fund anyway. Anneleen Van Bossuyt finds this to be, “a rather odd turn of events”. “Europe not only fails to take enough notice of what matters to citizens, but in its brashness also ignores the advice of its own auditing institutions.”