In a debate in the plenary session of the European Parliament, on Wednesday 11 March, MEPs called for the acceleration of work on deepening the integration of capital markets.
On behalf of the Christian Democrats, Markus Ferber (EPP, German) felt that the fragmentation of European markets was “a real disadvantage” for companies, which were forced to seek financing in London or New York. Mr Ferber called for tax and legal obstacles to cross-border investment to be removed, and for competition policy to be adapted to enable the emergence of “European champions”.
On behalf of the Social Democrats, Aurore Lalucq (S&D, French) denounced a situation where “our European savings are financing US growth”. Ms Lalucq called for integrated financial markets and a single European supervisory system to channel savings into the real economy and European industry.
On behalf of the ‘Patriots for Europe’, Enikő Győri (Hungarian) deemed the Commission’s progress insufficient since the presentation of its strategy on savings and investment (SIU). Ms Győri called for obstacles to investment to be removed, while respecting national competences, particularly in terms of supervision and taxation.
On behalf of the European Conservatives and Reformists, Giovanni Crosetto (Italian) supported the objective of greater integration of capital markets and defended a “pragmatic and gradual” approach. Mr Crosetto stressed the need to strengthen the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) while preserving the involvement of national authorities.
On behalf of the Renew Europe group, Anouk Van Brug (Dutch) deplored the fact that many European start-ups are leaving Europe due to a lack of funding to develop. Ms Van Brug called for regulatory divergences to be reduced.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA, Damian Boeselager (German) deemed the European Commission’s proposals to be insufficient and condemned the EU Member States’ obstructions. Mr Boeselager called for more investment in venture capital and for pension funds to be mobilised to support European innovation.
On behalf of The Left group, Catarina Martins (Portuguese) denounced the Commission’s proposals on pensions, which, according to the MEP, would expose pensioners to “the roulette wheel of the markets”, referring to a manoeuvre to “privatise public pension systems”. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)