Capital Market Union Action Plan: EBF High-Level Position

EBF advisor: Pauline Guerin
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Publication date: 15 February 2021

The EBF welcomes the five-year Capital Market Union (CMU) action plan published by the European Commission (EC) in September 2020. The EBF agrees with the EC that the development of the European Union’s (EU) financial markets is key to finance the green recovery and the digital transformation of the EU. While the EBF has always been an active supporter of EU capital markets, the health crisis and the economic recovery make the CMU project even more necessary than before. With a limited access to the UK since 1 January 2021, the EU needs to become autonomous and to offer competitive alternatives to corporates and investors.

While supporting most of the actions proposed in the action plan, the EBF would like to highlight the need for prioritisation and sequencing of the 16 actions identified by the EC. Furthermore, our members believe that certain actions are a prerequisite to pursuing others. We understand this action plan requires a pan-EU agreement on the whole scope (with no cherry-picking). Therefore, the responsive and timely behaviour of all interested stakeholders will ensure overall success and prevent unnecessary delays in the implementation of the long-awaited key milestones and be beneficial for the EU‘s economy and citizens.

The EBF would like to emphasise the need for a strong commitment from the EU Member States, as bold actions and reforms for deeper capital markets can only be taken with their support, as advocated by Markets4Europe, the cross-sectorial and EU wide campaign coordinated by the EBF.

For more information:

Pauline Guerin, Senior Policy Adviser, Financing Growth p.guerin@ebf.eu