Portugal is the third EU country to benefit most from the Juncker Plan
Until last September, Portugal obtained EIB financing of around 2.6 billion euros since it was launched in 2015.
Portugal was the third country to benefit most from the Juncker Plan, in terms of mobilizing investment as a proportion of GDP. Until last September, Portugal obtained EIB financing of around 2.6 billion euros, with around 40 approved projects and agreements with SMEs, since it was launched in 2015. This volume is expected to mobilize a total amount of around 9.5 billion euros in investments with a total of more than 12,000 SMEs that should benefit from better access to investments.
According to data revealed by the European Commission, Portugal is the third Member State that has benefited most in terms of investments generated by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (ESI Fund, central pillar of the so-called Juncker Plan) as a proportion of GDP, only surpassed by Greece and Estonia and followed by Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland.
The Investment Plan for Europe, one of the key initiatives of the outgoing Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker, has had a positive impact on jobs and growth. Investments financed by the European Investment Bank Group, such as the support from the ESI Fund, produced an increase in EU GDP of around 0.9% and created 1.1 million new jobs, according to data revealed by Brussels.
By September 2019, the Juncker Plan had mobilized additional investments across the EU worth 433 billion euros, with the aim of reaching 500 billion euros in investments mobilized across the EU by the end of 2020.
The ESI Funds can be used to finance projects in a variety of areas, from the bioeconomy to the environment, energy, transport, digital, research and business. In addition to mobilizing significant investments, the Juncker Plan also supports project promoters and helps create a pipeline of quality projects in the EU.