European Commission: Vice-President’s Dombrovskis speech at the Pensions Europe 2017 conference
Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, Speech at the Pensions Europe 2017 conference, “Security in an uncertain world: the role of pension schemes in 2017 and beyond”, Brussels, 6 June 2017.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s a pleasure to be here to conclude the Pensions Europe Conference 2017.
I would like to talk about our work to connect savers with investors, through our Capital Markets Union, which we are reviewing and accelerating today.
EU households have one of the highest savings rates worldwide: they save at least one out of every ten euros they earn.
But hardly any of these savings are being put to long-term productive use.
This is a wasted opportunity: savings held in bank deposits currently earn very low levels of interest, depriving savers of crucial revenue and our economy of much-needed investment.
Although our economy is recovering steadily now, the lack of long-term investment in business and infrastructure remains a drag on growth.
European start-ups and SMEs often struggle to get the funding they need to invest, innovate and grow.
The solution is to unlock Europe’s savings and put them to work.
That is why the European Commission launched an action plan for a Capital Markets Union in 2015.
It aims to create the right conditions for more funding to flow from Europe’s savers to Europe’s businesses – in all stages of their development.
To read the full speech, click here.