#Juncker proposes to double investment fund to create jobs

Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the Commission plans to double to €630 billion ($707bn) the capacity of its investment vehicle for Europe, and will launch a new €88bn scheme to help growth in Africa and the Middle East.

The idea behind the new fund for external investments is to create infrastructure and jobs that will reduce the incentive for people to head to Europe. In a chaotic wave of immigration last year, 1.3 million people reached the southern shores of the European Union, prompting bitter divisions over how to share responsibility for them.

"Today we are launching an ambitious investment plan for Africa and the neighborhood which has the potential to raise €44bn in investment. It can go up to €88bn if member states contribute," Juncker told lawmakers.

He also proposed to double the capacity and the duration of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), launched in 2015 with the aim of generating investments of at least €315bn euros by 2018, of which €116bn have been already raised.

The fund focuses mostly on infrastructure, energy, research and education. Some EU countries are still grappling with double-digit unemployment rates since the global financial crisis.

Juncker proposed to increase the level of investments generated by the fund to €500bn in 2020 and €630bn in 2022. "With member states contributing, we can get there even faster," he said.

The fund relies on private and national contributions to reach its targets. In its current form it uses €21bn of EU cash and guarantees to attract private investments for 15 times that amount.

($1 = €0.8912)