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The European Union wont repeat old mistakes that didnt work in the past to counter a worsening of the economic environment, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

The 28-member bloc will wait for the European Investment Bank and the European Commission to draw up a list of concrete investment projects by year-end and then decide how they can be financed, the minister told reporters before a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Luxembourg. The European Stability Mechanism, the currency blocs financial backstop, wont be tapped, he said.

We wont do this by using the capital stock of the ESM but, where appropriate, by a necessary increase in the capital of the EIB, Schaeuble said. We have plenty of options.

EIB chief Werner Hoyer said Sept. 13 in Milan that appropriate budgetary arrangements have to be made for the EUs development bank to play a bigger role in stimulating the regions economy. Hoyer said previously that the EIB is highly sensitive about maintaining its top credit rating, which is higher than that of most of its shareholders, the 28 EU countries.

Last week the International Monetary Fund cut its euro-area growth forecasts to 0.8 percent for 2014 and 1.3 percent next year. EU finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow will call on the EU to identify projects that could be realized in the short and medium term and lay the foundation for a credible and transparent pipeline of projects, according to a draft statement obtained by Bloomberg News.

We need more investment, primarily in the private sector, secondly also in the public sector, but not all of those have to be publicly funded, they can also be privately financed, Schaeuble said. Europe needs an improvement in the institutional environment and sustainable fiscal policy, he said.

Frances budget deficit will amount to 4.4 percent of the economy in 2014 and 4.3 percent in 2015, violating the EUs 3 percent limit both years, even as the government plans spending cuts of 21 billion euros ($27 billion) in 2015, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Oct. 1 in Paris. While EU treaties apply to all, Europe needs a debate about the proper monetary and budgetary policy mix to lift growth, he said Oct. 5.

Well wait for France to present its budget proposal and the structural reforms the government has announced. The commission will then give its verdict. These are the European rules, and the European rules, everybody says, are there to be respected, Schaeuble said. Im quite confident that a solution will be found in France.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Luxembourg at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net Zoe Schneeweiss, Patrick Henry

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Schaeuble Says EU Growth Boost May Require EIB Capital Increase