The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is calling on EU Finance Ministers meeting tomorrow to back and boost an ambitious investment plan for Europe.
The Ministers are due to discuss the Juncker investment plan of €315bn over the next three years.
The ETUC strongly supports investment as a means to create demand, growth and jobs, and calls on Finance Ministers to
- support the investment initiative,
- boost the funds available for investment from national budgets, and
- ensure it goes to towards quality job-rich projects in countries most in need of economic stimulus.
In a letter sent last week to Finance Ministers, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the ETUC, warned “Our fear is that the plan, as currently conceived, will provide much less investment than is needed and that the investment it does provide will be directed towards those countries and projects that could most easily afford it without a European programme.”
In a recent resolution adopted by its Executive Committee the ETUC “welcomes the EU focus on investment” and “calls on EU institutions and Member States to support strong action on investment”.
Ségol also called for a swift deal with Greece “Greece’s debt burden is unbearable and must be relieved. EU policies towards Greece have created a disaster. It is not simply a Greek problem. A compromise has to be found.”
