Spain will provide, through the Official Credit Institute (ICO), some 1,500 million euros for the co-financing of projects of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial pillar of the Juncker Plan.
The Investment Plan of the European Union, known as the Juncker Plan, aims to mobilize 315,000 million euros of additional investment in three years thanks to strong leverage. The aim is to compensate for the sharp drop in investment during the crisis and to prop up the recovery.
To finance the Plan, the European Fund for Strategic Investments will be created, which will be endowed with 21,000 million euros. The Fund will have the participation of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) and will be managed by the EIB itself. The EFSI seeks to finance projects that, due to their characteristics, could not be financed by the EIB, but which are of great interest due to their ability to drag the European economy.
An independent EFSI Investment Committee will select projects based on criteria of viability and economic attractiveness. The priorities are the financing of SMEs and strategic projects in key sectors such as transport, R & D & I, and energy.
The ICO will participate in the Juncker plan through the co-financing of projects of Spanish interest previously selected by the EFSI. He will also contribute his extensive technical experience and knowledge on the ground.
