A lack of both public and private investment continues to drag European economic growth down, MEP Alfred Sant has said. 

Speaking at the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Dr Sant argued that the reason sometimes posited for the lack of private investment - that structural balances within the eurozone inhibited investment and eventually consumption - didn't quite cut it. 

"In the past, investment in this suboptimal context was stronger than it is now," he said. "Could we at least try to reach those past levels, since experience shows they are reachable?”

Public investment across the EU remained well behind that in the US, he said, arguing that private investment often followed its public counterpart, as business confidence grew. 

He said that although some analysts were saying that problems SMEs were facing were due to reduced demand, his own feedback suggested limited bank credit was still the key concern. 

"The problem is still the rigidity of bank credit, which in Europe, no matter what we say and wish about a capital markets union, remains the most important avenue to project financing available to SMEs,” Dr Sant said. 

Dr Sant, who serves as an S&D rapporteur on the European Semester Cycle, tabled a report on Commission recommendations to EU member states. The report, titled European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities", will be finalised in September, with the EP expected to vote on its adoption on 11 October.