Emmanuel Macron said France wanted the EU to come up with €60bn-€80bn in cash as part of the overall plan – far more than is currently under consideration – to directly finance investments or provide equity capital for projects.
“I fear that [the plan] could end up being disappointing. I don’t have any evidence of that, but I am worried,” said Emmanuel Macron, France’s youthful economy minister and a key figure in President François Hollande’s efforts to fire up the country’s faltering economic performance.
“I am not pessimistic, but the natural tendency of a tired ecosystem is to under-deliver,” the former Rothschild banker told the Financial Times during a visit to London. “We can’t afford to under-deliver. The political and economic situation demands some sort of shock.”
“I’m convinced we need real money and we need to use it in an effective way,” he said.
He proposed a new independent entity to oversee what some are calling a “New Deal”. The overseer would increase the fund’s firepower by raising debt on the markets to fund investments in projects such as fibre optic networks and renewable energy. It would also set up panels of European experts to select projects after a competitive process.
Jean-Claude Juncker is in the midst of framing a €300bn investment programme for the next three years aimed at boosting growth through infrastructure and other projects.
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