The EU wants to mobilise up to €300bn of spending on infrastructure and other projects for a Global Gateway plan to respond to China’s influential Belt and Road Initiative.
The European Commission’s draft proposals, seen by the Financial Times, suggest that the EU’s ambitions will rely heavily on leveraging private sector spending as well as public investment, while co-opting spending from EU member states.
The €300bn, to be invested by 2027, would include resources from the EU, member states, European financial institutions and national development banks. It would also “seek to mobilise private sector finance and expertise and support access to sustainable finance”, according to the document. The commission will set out the plans on Wednesday.