The €315bn Plan To 'Kick Start' Euro Growth

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has announced a €315bn investment plan to "kick start" the continent's flatlining economy.

Details of how the European Fund for Strategic Investment would work were outlined as the European Central Bank (ECB) was tipped to provide additional support through a programme of quantitative easing in the coming months.

Mr Juncker told the EU Parliament in Strasbourg: "Europe needs a kick start and today the Commission is providing the jump cable."

At the centre of his proposal is the provision of €21bn in so-called 'seed' money from EU institutions, designed to spark private sector investment.

He estimated that for every euro invested by the EU, it would generate €15 and said the money would benefit education, transport, the digital economy and the environment.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) was to be the "prime mover" in delivering the seed money for investments, cash that Mr Juncker said would not have materialised otherwise amid low inflation, high unemployment and a stagnation in economic growth.

A number of Europe's biggest economies are in trouble - with Germany narrowly avoiding recession, Italy's output remaining in reverse gear and France flat.

In contrast to the euro area's woes, growth in the UK economy during the third quarter was confirmed at 0.7% on Wednesday, with annual output 3% higher.

The investment fund's intentions of support for Britain remain unclear but Mr Juncker said that EU and EIB officials, with input from member states, were drawing up a list of potential projects, with the fund set to be operational by mid 2015.

Mr Juncker added: "We need to send a message to Europe and to the rest of the world: Europe is back in business."

European stock markets have risen since China cut key interest rates last week and ECB president Mario Draghi gave his strongest hint yet that more aggressive asset purchases were on the way - expected in the New Year.

Member states have also been urged to put more of an emphasis on growth versus austerity in a bid to support recovery while remaining under tight budget constraints.