Prime Highlights
- Six major European economies urged the EU to speed up capital market integration, saying deeper financial markets can strengthen growth and improve access to investment across the region.
- The countries also pushed for faster progress on Europe’s digital payments plans, including the rollout of a digital euro and the development of regional payment networks.
Key Facts
- Finance ministers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain asked EU institutions to reach an agreement by summer on proposals to improve financial market oversight.
- The initiative also supports the launch of the digital euro by the European Central Bank and aims to create payment systems that can compete with global providers such as Visa and Mastercard.
Background:
Europe’s six largest economies have urged the European Union to speed up the integration of its capital markets, calling it essential to strengthen economic growth and improve access to investment across the bloc. In a joint letter sent on Tuesday, the finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain called on EU institutions to reach an agreement by the summer on key proposals aimed at improving financial market oversight and operations.
The ministers said deeper and more integrated capital markets would strengthen Europe’s growth potential, improve economic independence, and create stronger support for financing major priorities. They stressed that making clear progress on the EU’s rebranded “Savings and Investment Union” has become an urgent necessity and pledged to move the initiative forward.
A central focus of the proposal is the Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP), a set of legislative measures introduced by the European Commission.
Capital markets help companies and governments raise money by selling assets like shares and bonds. However, different rules in EU countries have slowed the development of a single financial market. Officials now hope to reach agreements on most parts of the Savings and Investment Union legislation by June, although some technical differences among member states still remain.
The six countries also called for faster progress on Europe’s digital payments agenda. They support the development of new pan-European private payment networks that can compete with global players such as Visa and Mastercard, which currently dominate digital card transactions across the region.
In addition, the ministers urged lawmakers to accelerate work on the digital euro, a public electronic payment option issued by the European Central Bank. The proposed system would work along with cash and existing bank cards, giving people the option to make payments both online and offline.
EU lawmakers first planned to approve the digital euro by the end of 2026. However, delays in the lawmaking process mean the final timeline is still unclear.