The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation to identify key barriers, including tax issues, that hinder the integration of capital markets across the EU. The consultation is part of the European Commission’s Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy, aimed at improving how the EU financial system channels savings into productive investments.
Implementation of the savings and investments union (SIU) strategy, as presented in the Commission Communication of 19 March 2025, is a top priority of the Commission. The SIU will be a key enabler of wider efforts to boost competitiveness in the EU economy by improving the way the EU financial system mobilises savings for productive investment, thereby creating more and better financial opportunities for citizens and businesses.
The development and integration of EU capital markets should be a market-driven process, but various barriers to that market-driven process must first be removed. Despite the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks and the existence of financial services passports, the persistent fragmentation due to these barriers is limiting the potential benefits of the EU’s single market.
Financial-market participants cannot fully benefit from scale economies and improved operational efficiency, or are not adequately incentivised to facilitate cross-border investments, which raises costs and restricts the choice of financial services available to businesses and citizens. By delivering better and cheaper financial services, the SIU will be a key element in boosting economic competitiveness.
As a swift action is required under the savings and investments union strategy to untap the EU’s enormous potential and give it the means to secure its economic future, this consultation must be completed within eight weeks. It is acknowledged that this consultation is extensive, and to the extent that not all questions will be relevant to all stakeholders, respondents are invited to reply only to those questions that are most relevant to them.
The European Commission seeks to gather stakeholder feedback through this consultation, focusing on strategies to address barriers to market integration. Participants are invited to share their insights via a detailed questionnaire, organised into the following sections:
1. Simplification and burden reduction
The focus of this targeted consultation is to remove barriers to enhance the integration of the EU capital markets and to support their modernisation. By doing so, it will contribute to simplify the framework of EU capital markets and support the Commission’s initiative to make Europe faster and simpler. This section seeks stakeholders’ view on general questions regarding simplification and burden reduction of the EU regulatory framework in the trade, post-trade and asset management and funds sectors.
2. TradingÂ
This section seeks stakeholders’ feedback in the trading space on the nature of barriers to integration, modernisation and digitalisation of liquidity pools and on several issues that can be grouped into two key objectives/areas, as well as their interplay: barriers to cross-border operations in the trading space and barriers to liquidity aggregation and deepening. Respondents are asked to provide concrete examples to support answers provided, and, where possible, quantitative and qualitative information.
3. Post-trading
Issues with respect to post trading identified to date fall into three main areas:
- barriers to cross-border settlement;
- barriers to the application of new technology and new market practices;
- unharmonised and inefficient market practices and application of law, as well as disproportionate compliance costs. This consultation aims to further specify the above barriers, as well as understand current market practices and costs borne by market participants, be they fees or other compliance costs.
This section seeks feedback on possible measures, legislative or non-legislative, to achieve a more integrated, modern post-trading infrastructures. Respondents are asked to provide concrete examples to support answers provided, and, where possible, quantitative and qualitative information.
4. Horizontal barriers to trading and post-trading infrastructuresÂ
This section seeks feedback on horizontal barriers to trading and post-trading infrastructures in four main areas: EPTF, cross-border operational synergies between entities, issuance, and innovation. Respondents are asked to provide concrete examples to support answers provided, and, where possible, quantitative and qualitative information.
5. Asset management and funds
Despite Directive 2009/65/EU relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferrable securities (UCITSD) and the Directive 2011/61/EU on alternative investment fund managers (AIFMD) enabling funds to be marketed across the EU through a relatively simple notification procedure, national barriers, divergent practices, and regulatory complexities often impede efficient and scalable operations, thereby impacting costs and accessibility for EU citizens
This section seeks to:
- identify obstacles experienced by EU funds and asset managers to accessing the single market;
- gather stakeholder insights on barriers and experiences in managing cross-border investment funds;
- explore the effectiveness of existing authorisation and passport systems;
- and explore possibilities for simplifying current requirements.
Questions in the final section are dedicated to, among other things, the enhancement of supervisory and governance models, supervisory convergence and potential new supervisory tools.
Stakeholders input on operational challenges, passporting/marketing of investment funds, national supervisory practices and other barriers more generally are welcome. Stakeholders are encouraged to share quantitative data and practical evidence to support positions.
The targeted consultation seeks feedback from financial institutions and other capital participants, national supervisors, national ministries, the European Supervisory Authorities, EU institutions, non-governmental organisations, think tanks, consumers, users of financial services and academics.
Recognising the comprehensive nature of this consultation, it has been decided to divide it into six key topics: simplification, trading, post trading, horizontal barriers to trading and post-trading, asset management and funds and supervision. This approach aims to streamline the response process and ensure each aspect is thoroughly addressed, thereby making it more manageable for respondents to engage with and contribute their insights effectively.
All interested stakeholders are invited to reply by 10 June 2025 at the latest to the online questionnaire.
