EU to consider new financing instruments - Szczurek

EU member states and the European Investment Bank will use the next one or two months to assess investment projects and consider whether any additional financial instrument is needed, Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek said after returning from a sitting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). “The Ecofin has recommended that EU member states and the EIB prepare a list of sensible investment projects,” Szczurek was quoted as saying by the Polish Press Agency. “Depending on that list and on how big it is, we must look over possible, existing mechanisms and instruments, which could be used to finance and implement those projects,” he added. “If they are insufficient, then we will consider new instruments, including the one that I have proposed. Earlier this month, Szczurek presented his idea of a European infrastructure investment fund, worth €700 billion. He presented the concept to other EU finance ministers at the Ecofin sitting.