The leaders of the main European institutions - the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Parliament and the Eurogroup - insist that the creation of a capital market union in the European Union (EU) is essential for European competitiveness.

In an opinion piece published on Friday, March 10, in Diário de Notícias and quoted by the newspaper Negócios, Ursula von der Leyen, Christine Lagarde, Charles Michel and Paschal Donohoe consider that to accelerate the ecological and digital transition in the EU involves "gigantic financing needs and the lion's share will have to come from private capital".

"The role of public investment is to provide strategic guidance and create incentives for a massive influx of private capital, including - but not limited to - through the participation of the European Investment Bank Group and national development banks," they say.

Emphasizing that for 30 years "the single market has supported Europe's prosperity" and that economic and monetary union has been "an additional driver of market integration", the four European leaders admit that the EU has been "too slow" in one "essential element: the Capital Markets Union".

"Currently, the bulk of investment financing in Europe comes from banks. But banks alone cannot help the EU win the global investment race, especially compared to the US. In the EU, bank loans account for 75% of corporate borrowing and bond markets for 25 % - while in the US the opposite is true," they say.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that European companies have the financing opportunities they are looking for here in the EU. We need a Capital Markets Union that channels Europe's vast savings into tomorrow's engines of growth," they stress.

For this reason, von der Leyen, Lagarde, Michel and Donohoe argue that it is necessary to "overcome the current diversity of national frameworks and, in some cases, underdeveloped capital markets, in order to take full advantage of their potential". In this way, they believe, "the EU will be promoted as an investment destination and the euro will become an even more attractive currency".