Speaking at a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, Barroso supported the idea of "project bonds" as a new source of finance for major EU investments, dismissing an alternative plan for eurobonds, recently relaunched by a joint initiative from Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker and Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti.

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Major infrastructure projects, such as railways or pipelines, need a complex mix of capital to get off the ground. The promoters of a project usually invest their own money, use bank loans and issue bonds to raise sufficient financial resources.

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To address the lack of risk-takers, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the financial arm of the European Union, could replace private investors and buy bonds itself. This is indeed what Barroso refers to as project bonds.