12/18/2014

Rail link to port of Bilbao is to be star project in Spain for Juncker Plan

Improvements to the rail link to the port of Bilbao comprise the main project on the list submitted by Spain for European funding under the Juncker Plan. This plan (also known as the Juncker Fund) is an initiative put forward by the President of the European Commission to mobilise €300 billion in funding for strategic transport, energy and telecommunications projects. This does not, however, mean that the EU will be providing the entire funding directly: €16 billion will come from the EU budget and €5 billion from the European Investment Bank. These two organisations are to act as a lever for setting the scheme in motion. The rest will take the form of borrowing (up to €60 billion) and private investment (to make up the total of €300 billion).