European Commission consults on Capital Markets Union - Green Paper

18 February 2015

The Commission launched a three-month consultation round, known as a Green Paper, the outcome of which will shape an Action Plan to help unlock non-bank funding so that start-ups can thrive and larger companies can expand further.

The CMU is a long-term project that will require sustained effort over many years although early progress can also be made in some areas in the coming months.

European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness said: "Capital Markets Union is the first structural initiative that the Commission puts forward under the investment plan. It will contribute to ensuring that the investment plan is more than a one-off push and has a durable positive impact on economic conditions in Europe."

“The direction we need to take is clear: to build a single market for capital from the bottom up, identifying barriers and knocking them down one by one. Capital Markets Union is about unlocking liquidity that is abundant, but currently frozen, and putting it to work in support of Europe's businesses, and particularly SMEs,” said EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill, responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. “The free flow of capital was one of the fundamental principles on which the EU was built. More than fifty years on from the Treaty of Rome, let us seize that opportunity to turn that vision into reality.”

Full press release

Green Paper

Q&A on Green Paper

EBF and Insurance Europe commented on Green Paper on Capital Markets Union

AFME commented on launch of Green Paper on capital markets union

FRC, IASB: Statements in response to the EC’s Green Paper on a Capital Markets Union

ACCA welcomes the publication of the Green Paper on CMU

CEPS: Which union for Europe’s capital markets?


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