Poland pledges EUR 8.0 bn to Juncker growth plan

(BRUSSELS) - Poland will commit 8.0 billion euros ($8.7 billion) as part of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's plan to boost economic growth, the EU said on Tuesday.

"I am very glad to receive the great news from Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek in person that Poland will contribute to the Investment Plan, the sixth country to do so," said European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen in a statement.

The EU's proposed 315 billion euro investment plan is a key project for Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister who took over the presidency of the European Commission in November.

The plan is intended to spur growth in Europe through an elaborate scheme involving the European Investment Bank and funds from the EU's budget so that it does not further strain national coffers.

The commitment from Poland -- plus France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain -- is a bitter-weet success for the Commission, which had originally hoped governments would contribute directly to the fund.

Instead, the contributions will be made only via national investment banks -- thereby guaranteeing that the funds will go towards domestic projects, a blow to the Juncker plan's original EU-wide spirit.

The contributions will be channelled through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the creation of which is currently being negotiated in the European Parliament.

Juncker's team hopes to have the EFSI operational by June but faces some resistance from European lawmakers angry that the funds are being, in their view, syphoned off from other projects.