€315bn EU investment plan may create 2.1m jobs

The European Commission’s €315bn investment plan to spur growth could create 2.1m net jobs, lowering the bloc’s jobless rate by 1% by 2018, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said yesterday.

But if the three-year plan, announced by Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in November, fails to attract and leverage private investment, it would create just 400,000 jobs, barely making a dent in the EU’s 23m unemployed, it said.

“If the plan is well designed, by contrast, the number could reach 2.1m new jobs by 2018. This would enable a reduction in unemployment in the European Union by 0.9%, almost a 1% lower unemployment rate by 2018. It’s a significant number,” Raymond Torres, director of the ILO’s research department, told a news briefing.