MNI BRIEF: EU Ministers Meet Funds In CMU Push

European Union finance ministers will consult with the Dutch state pension fund and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund in coming months as they try to revive momentum in slow-moving talks on Capital Markets Union by assembling proposals from the bloc’s biggest financial centres for channeling private savings into green and digital transitions, officials told MNI.

Eurogroup Chair Paschal Donohoe hopes big financial firms can propose national-level reforms, for discussion at the March 2024 Euro summit, without needing bloc-wide consensus. With European parliamentary elections due in June next year, any agreed measures would probably be implemented by the new Commission next autumn.

Talks in January could also touch on proposals for a European Safe Asset, which has met with German opposition, though so far the Capital Markets Union project has bogged down in areas such as convergence of insolvency law and withholding tax, despite officials’ growing awareness of the need to generate investment to keep up with Chinese state subsidies and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. (See MNI INTERVIEW2: Germany Must Balance Green Drive-Ex 'Wise Man')

In October the Eurogroup heard the perspectives of institutional investors and high-growth companies, including growth equity expert Zoe Fabian and online Swedish retailer Klarna.