MNI BRIEF: EU Safe Asset Decision Beyond Scope Of CMU-Official
Any decision on a European safe asset will come after a major political agreement which is beyond the scope of the current towards a European Capital Markets Union, a senior European Union official said on Wednesday.
“The European safe asset is a relevant issue for the evolution of CMU, but it’s fundamentally an issue for one of the big, political-fiscal integration decisions that extend far beyond CMU,” the official said.
The slow-moving drive for CMU has moved more centre stage as concerns around Europe’s competitiveness have grown in the last 18 months and will be a major topic at the EU finance ministers’ meeting in Ghent on Friday and Saturday. (See MNI: France Backs Proposal For Joint EU Retail Bonds-Officials)
CMU will be a years-long project focused on improving long-term competitiveness and allowing companies to find the funding to innovate, the official said.