Key takeaways
The European Commission (EC) has published a renewed policy strategy with a view to integrate European capital markets, the “Savings and Investments Union”, following the Capital Markets Union action plans and its efforts to create a Banking Union.
The policy strategy seeks to create an EU financial system that channels household savings to finance the activities of European priorities, in particular international competitiveness and the green, digital and social transitions. The strategy is divided in four strands of work, targeting actions towards citizens, businesses, markets and the centralisation of supervision.
The strategy will inform the EC’s actions throughout its 2025-2029 work programme - a mid-term review on the strategy will be published by Q2 2027.
The proposed policy-measures will affect almost all stakeholders in the financial sector.
On 19 March 2025, the European Commission (EC) published a communication titled "Savings and Investments Union – A Strategy to Foster Citizens’ Wealth and Economic Competitiveness in the EU" (SIU). In the press release, the EC also made available a Questions and Answers page (Q&As), a Factsheet and a dedicated site.
In this briefing, we explain the SIU, why it was adopted, its key features and the first actions taken by the EC to implement the SIU.
What is the SIU?
As the title suggests, the SIU is a policy strategy adopted by the EC. The strategy sets out legislative initiatives and non-legislative policy actions that the EC plans to implement, to improve the way that the financial system of the European Union (EU) channels household savings to productive investment by businesses. To this end, the strategy provides a framework that aligns all aspects of the EU financial system, which should create more and better financial opportunities for EU citizens and businesses.
The strategy is one of the priorities of the EC. Underlining its importance is the appointment of Maria Albuquerque by President Ursula von der Leyen as Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union. In the mission letter to Commissioner Albuquerque, Von der Leyen emphasised the strategy in order to ‘unlock the substantial amount of private investment’ needed for the green, digital and social transitions.
Why was it adopted?
At the heart of the SIU lies the political desire to mobilise private capital to support core EU priorities by making the EU’s single financial market deeper and more liquid. The idea of the SIU was introduced in the report by Enrico Letta titled “Much More than a Market – Speed, Security, Solidarity: Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU Citizens”. In this report, Letta proposed the creation of the SIU as a transformation of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project, which the institutions have not been able to complete. Therefore, the SIU draws on actions implemented under the two CMU Action Plans and actions to develop the Banking Union, but it differs from these strategies by taking a holistic approach, encompassing the entire EU financial system, according to the EC.
The EC, the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Council consider the SIU as a key strategy to mobilise private capital for multiple challenges faced by the EU, as documented in joint conclusions, policy proposals and meeting minutes. These plans envisage that the SIU supports the green, digital and social transitions, while boosting other priorities, in particular the EU’s competitiveness, open strategic autonomy, economic security and defense industry.
Key aspects
The SIU sets out initiatives and policy actions along four strands of work: (1) Citizens and Savings; (2) Investments and Financing; (3) Integration and Scale; (4) Efficient Supervision in the Single Market. In addition, it contains dedicated actions to enhance the integration and competitiveness...
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