On October 19, Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, announced a proposal to raise €50 billion for projects in the transport, energy and telecom sectors in the European Union.
Called ‘Connecting Europe', the plan would fund €50 billion worth of investment from the EU's 2014-2020 budget to improve the EU's transport, energy and digital networks, as Mr. Barroso stated. "Today we are making a down payment for Europe's future growth and jobs," he added.
Under the plan, which still requires approval from EU member states and the European Parliament, €31.7 billion will be invested to upgrade Europe's transport infrastructure, €9.1 billion will be invested in trans-European infrastructure to meet the 'Europe 2020' energy and climate objectives, while €9.2 billion will be invested in support investment in fast broadband networks and pan-European digital services, Mr. Barroso said.