The meeting came about due to extensive criticism from The Left regarding the use of the "Future Fund". The opposition party believes the administration should stop investing into businesses that do not adhere to the country's environmental or human rights standards. The government has reportedly invested 0.6% of the fund into companies that are outside the scope of the Pension Compensation Fund.
Minister Gramegna thus elaborated on the particular issue, noting that the administration decided to apply more rigorous ethical standards when it comes to future investments. He also stressed that substantial progress had already been made in that area.
This statement was refuted by MP David Wagner (The Left), who believes that not enough is being done around environmental policies. Gramegna later announced that he would meet with Minister of Social Security Romain Schneider (LSAP) and Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development Carole Dieschbourg to map out a new and adapted set of criteria for future investments.
The Left would prefer to see a more proactive management strategy for the Future Fund, equal to that of the Pension Compensation Fund. However, since the former is much smaller in size than the latter, €385 million compared to €22 billion, the administration does not consider this to be worthwhile.
Meanwhile, MP Gille Roth (CSV) made the proposition that the fund could be used to make real estate investments. The idea was welcomed by Gramegna, who noted that this could in fact be a constructive path forwards.
The issue is now set to be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday.
