The European Parliament backed Wednesday a plan to allocate EUR5 billion to develop the European Union's energy and broadband networks over this year and 2010.
The assembly voted in favor of the plan, at a meeting in Strasbourg, France, in the last working week before elections in June. The 27 heads of state and government from the E.U. countries had agreed on the plan in March, but the parliament had to give the green light as well.
Almost EUR4 billion will be committed to energy projects, including gas and electricity grids, wind and carbon capture and storage projects, while another EUR1 billion will aim at boosting broadband connections in rural areas and financing agriculture.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso strongly wanted this commitment to show the E.U. is reacting to the current slowdown with actual money.
Wednesday's vote "allows us to get moving immediately on projects that will provide a welcome boost to the European economy and make a real contribution to giving Europe more energy security in the future," Barroso said in a statement.