Mutual funds hold the key to a genuine capital union in Europe

Summary:

Not a week goes by without policymakers of the European Union (EU) repeating the need for more capital markets financing in Europe. They argue that the huge costs of the green and digital transitions cannot be financed with state funds alone. They are correct — but that’s where it stops. Concrete proposals are lacking.

This is because those same policymakers defend national turfs. The Capital Markets Union, launched in 2015 to stimulate the creation of a pan-European market for investment and trading, remains an abstract notion. Although many harmonising measures have been adopted, market development remains very uneven across the continent and has not advanced at all in southern and eastern Europe.

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