Speaking ahead of the European Commission’s presentation of an Action Plan for the Capital Market Union later today, Jonás Fernandez MEP, S&D spokesperson on economic and monetary affairs, said:

“The goal of the Capital Market Union must be to improve the availability of more stable and sustainable financing alternatives at lower costs to SMEs and citizens. At this moment in time, it can play an important role in relaunching the weakened post-COVID-19 economy, both by creating new jobs and offering new opportunities for savers and investors across borders, particularly in sustainable projects. 

“The 2008 financial crisis drove home the lesson that we must properly safeguard economic stability and tax-payers' money, minimise financial risk and adequately protect the interests of retail investors, pensioners and consumers. This is why we will continue to push for strong regulation of financial markets. The Capital Market Union must advance further in the implementation and enforcement of a genuine single rulebook for financial services in the internal market.  Adequate prudential standards and investor protection are non-negotiable. The push to release more capital to finance the economy must be properly balanced with the need to address risk exposure and safeguard economic stability and taxpayers' money.”

Alfred Sant, S&D MEP and shadow rapporteur for the INI report on "Further development of the Capital Markets Union", said:

“The development of the Capital Market Union goes hand in hand with the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union, and in particular with the completion of the Banking Union through the creation of a fully-fledged European Deposit Insurance Scheme and a credible backstop for the Single Resolution Fund. To ensure equal access to financing and to investment opportunities across the EU, the Capital Market Union must be complemented with counter-cyclical policy measures ensured through a mechanism of fiscal stabilisation."

“To make the Capital Market Union a success, it is essential to create the conditions for a change in investment culture. If small investors feel that there are safe and clear channels to invest their money on financial markets, this is where a true link can be created between savers’ money and our small and medium-sized companies, who need the funding to grow. To this end, we need EU-wide products and services, simpler rules, but also a more efficient supervision of the financial industry.”

Note to the editor:

The Capital Markets Union (CMU) was first launched in 2015 and is a plan to create a single market for capital. It aims at getting money – investments and savings – flowing across the EU so that it can benefit consumers, investors and companies, regardless of where they are located. The Commission has largely delivered on the individual actions announced in the 2015 CMU action plan and the 2017 mid-term review. The European Parliament and member states have so far agreed on 12 out of 13 legislative proposals put forward by the Commission. In addition, the Commission has completed a number of non-legislative measures to further the aims of the CMU. The Parliament report "Further development of the Capital Markets Union" will be adopted at the next plenary session.