Seán Kelly secures EU support for proposals on new €650 billion fund

Seán Kelly MEP has secured the backing of the EU Parliament’s Industry Committee for the Invest EU Programme, on which the Ireland-South MEP is lead negotiator for the EPP Group. The new fund is expected to trigger more than €650 billion in additional investment across the EU over a seven-year period.

“The Industry Committee voted in favour of my proposals by 38 votes to 5,” Mr. Kelly said speaking from Strasbourg this week.

“As the only Irish member on the committee I was very pleased that my colleagues supported allocations of almost one-third of the fund to SMEs and 40 percent towards climate change measures.”

“InvestEU is designed to ensure better access to finance. Getting the necessary finance together to start a company, kick off an innovative project or build a key piece of infrastructure is one of the main obstacles for businesses today, and one of the key barriers to growth in Ireland and the EU.

“By backing loans and investments through a €38 billion EU guarantee, Invest EU will help to get money flowing and get important investments off the ground, and will bring €650 in additional investment in the EU by 2027. Prioritising small and medium businesses fosters digitisation, innovation and competition.

“We will also establish an advisory hub in every member state to facilitate access to the funds and offer first-hand advice to applicants.

“Importantly, we have ensured that there will be a geographical spread so that smaller countries like Ireland will not lose out to bigger member states.”

“It is very encouraging that my proposals have been overwhelmingly supported in Parliament. I look forward to these being delivered so that my constituents in Ireland South can avail of the excellent opportunities to be provided by Invest EU,” MEP Kelly said.