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"I'm totally against putting up a stimulus programme," he said, arguing it would be just a 'straw fire' and that at the end of the day the money would be gone and nothing lasting would come out of it.
German Economy Minister Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor in Angela Merkel's right-left coalition, added that Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker needs to come up with a "list of projects" that could be used to promote European unity, similar to spending to promote German unity after the end of the Cold War.
There would then be enough investors who would join in, said Gabriel. He said that European integration would not ultimately fail over the question of "do we have enough money," he said - the more important issue was getting the right framework.
Juncker last week announced a 300 billion-euro plan he hopes will boost investment without adding to public debt, by leveraging private-sector cash with a 21 billion-euro fund to be managed by the European Investment Bank.