President Barroso and Vice-President Rehn welcome the European Parliament's final vote on Project Bonds

President Barroso and Vice-President Rehn have welcomed today's European Parliament vote on the European Commission proposal for a Project Bonds Initiative. The President said: "With the European Parliament’s final vote, the project bonds now become reality. €4.6bn will be available between now and the end of 2013 to finance concrete infrastructures for energy, transport and broadband. Together with the other elements of the Growth and Jobs Compact agreed by last week European Council, we have now concrete instruments to boost our economy and invest in our future.  It is very positive that Member States and Parliament have agreed on this key Commission’s proposal in less than 10 months. The Commission has proposed to extend this pilot phase for 2014-2020 with a €50bn budget."

Olli Rehn, European Commission Vice-President for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro added: "Project bonds are a concrete demonstration of how the European Union can deliver for its citizens. They show how scarce public resources can be used to unlock private investment and thereby mobilise projects of European importance that would otherwise not be launched because of current uncertainties."