BRUSSELS
European leaders have signed a three-year, €315 billion ($343 billion) investment program aimed at kick-starting the bloc’s economic growth.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer, and European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen signed the investment plan at the European Commission in Brussels.
"We need an investment plan of the type we have produced because there is a real problem when it comes to investments in EU," Juncker told a news conference at the signing ceremony.
The investment plan aims at mobilizing more private and public investment and at facilitating job growth and competitiveness by setting up a European Fund for Strategic Investments in the European Investment Bank to mobilize the €315 billion in new investments between 2015 and 2017.
"The plan we have developed with President Hoyer is going to be successful…I am convinced of that," Juncker said.
The European Commission estimates the plan has the potential to create 1 to 1.3 million new jobs in the coming years.
EU member states can contribute directly or via their national banks.
In February, Germany -- the EU’s largest economy -- announced it would contribute €8 billion to the investment plan while Spain announced the same month that it would contribute €1.5 billion.
