Katainen says 300 bn euro investment gap slows growth-update

(ANSA) - Brussels, January 26 - Jyrki Katainen, economic vice-president for the European Commission, said Monday that "one reason for the absence growth in Europe is the lack of investment...a gap estimated at 300 billion euros a year".
    Katainen told the economic committee of the European Parliament that countries have chosen to protect some budget items at the expense of investments.
    Meanwhile, he said that the stability and growth pact did not have "a golden rule" for excluding spending on education and research from deficit figures.
    Earlier this month, the EC announced some additional flexibility could be applied by the commission in measuring certain kinds of investment spending and whether these would be included in calculating budget deficit ratios.
    Katainen told the parliament that for such flexibility to be used, "structural reforms must be approved by national parliaments" and not merely promised.