Brunner: Strengthening the Capital Markets Union is a high priority for Europe
Austrian initiative with Croatia and Slovenia prompts reaction from the European Commission: Commission experts to come to Vienna for in-depth talks in autumn
In response to a joint letter from Finance Ministers Magnus Brunner, Marko Primorac (Croatia) and Klemen Boštjančič (Slovenia) on the further development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) in May, EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness emphasised the critical importance of CMU in promoting European economic growth. McGuinness announced further talks in the autumn to drive forward the development of European capital markets.
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner was delighted with the positive development and support from the Commissioner: "I am pleased that our relations with the Slovenian and Croatian finance ministers and the summit in Graz and recently in Salzburg are bearing fruit. I would also like to thank Commissioner McGuinness, who is responsible for the Capital Markets Union, for her consistently positive feedback. I especially very much support her bid to come to Vienna for a fact-finding mission. The aim must be to deepen our joint proposals and ideas for strengthening the Capital Markets Union. After all, a functioning capital markets union is key to strengthening European competitiveness. This must be our priority."
The Finance Minister also emphasised the need to keep and invest more European capital in Europe: "Capital in Europe is far too often held in savings accounts and not invested. The so-called Letta Report on the European single market, which was presented at the last ECOFIN in Brussels and discussed at the Salzburg Summit, shows that thousands of billions of euros are lying dormant in Europeans' savings accounts. Around 300 billion of this flows out of Europe every year - mostly into the US capital market. This means that the savings of Europeans promote innovation and jobs abroad. Our goal must therefore be to ensure that European capital stays in Europe and contributes to prosperity here. One solution to this is a strong capital markets union."
In the coming months, further discussions and initiatives are planned with the aim of further strengthening the European Capital Markets Union and thus promoting European competitiveness. The proposals and ideas that will be developed in the coming discussions should help Europe to emerge economically stronger from the current situation and find a sustainable path into the future.