The Polish duty presidency of the
EU said Tuesday that it welcomes a proposal by Italian Economy
Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to mobilize up to 200 billion euros
of private money to invest in boosting Europe's defence
capabilities.
The money would be generated over five years by EU member
countries setting up a 16-billion-euro common guarantee fund, so
the impact on State budgets would be limited.
"The Italian proposal was welcomed yesterday (Monday)," Polish
Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said at the end of the ECOFIN
meeting.
"Now it will have to be discussed with the European Commission
but, from the point of view of the EU presidency, the message is
that we need a strong Capital Markets Union to finance these new
needs".
Giorgetti told ECOFIN that the fund would optimize "the use of
national and European resources with the aim of conveying
private capital in a more effective manner, with contained
public expenditure".
Giorgetti told ECOFIN that Italy will to do its part to bolster
Europe's defence, but not by sacrificing health care and other
public services, according to a note issued by the economy
ministry.
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