It remains unclear if the Juncker plan can deliver - Hoofdinhoud

​"The end of last year saw the unveiling of the long-awaited EU investment plan that is aimed to boost growth and jobs. The goal is a very important one but it remains unclear if the plan can deliver. Questions remain over how we will avoid a situation of privatising the profits and nationalising the losses. Furthermore, questions also remain over how projects will be identified and how bottom-up this process will be. For effective targeting of finances and identification of programmes, local and regional authorities must be fully consulted and involved in the process.

I would like to welcome strongly the aspect of the plan that focuses on cutting red tape. Red tape is a major bottleneck to growth and must be cut. In identifying these bottle necks, local and regional authorities must be given the opportunity to identify the burdens they see from implementing most of the decisions taken at the EU level."

Cllr Gordon Keymer (UK/ECR), President of the ECR Group