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On 22 April, the European Parliament’s Budgets Committee (BUDG) and Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) adopted with a broad majority their joint report on the proposal for a Regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). At several occasions we were told that the EFSI is supposed to serve as an economic and not a social tool. Nevertheless, we have closely been following the proceedings in Council and Parliament from the start as we consider even such a “purely economic” tool can generate both direct and indirect effects in the social field. Even if we really need a proper European social strategy that supports the investment in ambitious social policies, a social dimension of the EFSI would constitute already a step in the right direction.

Looking at the text voted by the joint committees, we are therefore pleased that it includes several elements in acknowledgment of the EFSI’s possible social impact, which are also reflecting our previously expressed concerns.

We particularly welcome the committees’ stand on ensuring investments are in line with Europe 2020 and the objective of inclusive growth, and enhance social cohesion. The report is also directly expanding the scope of investments to be funded to health, energy savings and sustainable urban development, and the social sector, and refers even explicitly to the 2013 Social Investment Package. In my reading of the report, this also implies that the EFSI’s Steering Board has to make sure that the investment guidelines include social preconditions to reflect these investment strands. These guidelines will be applied by the Fund’s Investment Committee, which should encompass also expertise with regards to social affairs, including the social and solidarity economy.

If the Parliament gets its way, a scoreboard of key performance indicators should be introduced to assess the impact of EFSI investments, including on the fulfulment of the Europe 2020 objectives. The Committees also want to see a public semi-annual report that covers an extended assessment, including of the contribution to achieving its investment objectives and of the impact of the investment operations on employment creation.

The outcome of the vote in the committees also gave the green light for starting the negotiations with the Council and Commission on 23 April. The aim of this “trialogue” is to find a compromise text on which the Parliament as a whole will then vote in June, so as to have the fund up and running by mid-2015, in line with the Commission’s plan. I am already curious to find out whether the Parliament’s social touch to the EFSI will be maintained and hope it will not be sacreficed during the negotiations.