'We're all Draghians': EU's Albuquerque calls to seize momentum for capital markets union

Europe can compete on the scale of the United States, provided it integrates its common market further and completes pending legislation urgently, European Union Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque said on Euronews' flagship interview programme The Europe Conversation.

Albuquerque conceded rival jurisdictions like the US have succeeded in attracting European capital and funding that would otherwise stay in the EU if rules were easier for companies and investors.

Still, she insisted that a new push to simplify regulation and integrate the single market from big finance to savers can reverse that.

"There is a lot of money in the world looking for a home right now. If we apply ourselves, we can make Europe the sweet spot," she told Euronews. "Whether you want to be regional, national or pan-European, you can find a home here."

Since her reelection last year, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made regaining competitiveness the centrepiece of her mandate, with a focus on cutting red tape, removing internal barriers in the European market and rolling back excessive regulation.

While critics argue the EU executive is undoing its own work and creating confusion through erratic policy, the Commission defends the drive for simplification as a strategic necessity to stay relevant in a world where competition is ruthless.

Still, Commissioner Albuquerque conceded that each year, the equivalent of €300 billion in European money exits the old continent for the US, where regulation is perceived as easier by investors and risk capital for companies is more accessible. "A part of that, if there were good investment opportunities, would stay here," she said.

The goal for the EU, she said, is to reverse that trend by building its own capital markets union.

"If we anchor expectations and we start delivering, I am convinced more money will consider coming to Europe," she said. "We still need market dynamism."

Getting the EU's capital markets union done

Discussions around it among the 27 member states have dragged on for close to a decade and delivered very little progress stemming from competing national interests, superseded regulation and different investment cultures among countries.

But the issue has risen to the upper echelons of European decision-making. Last October, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz threw his country's political weight behind it, calling for “deeper and more attractive European capital markets and for more consolidation in the markets infrastructure sector, ultimately benefitting European companies”.

Albuquerque echoed that call and suggested momentum has picked up, enough to seal a deal in 2026, even if obstacles remain. While technical, the issue is also highly political.

"It's possible to have a discussion and an agreement within one year," she told Euronews. "We need our co-legislators to share the same sense of urgency and level of ambition."

"It is a big package, but the challenge does not lie in the number of legislative pieces. It’s about the political willingness we have to put into it," she added.

According to Euronext, a pan-European market operator, greater integration of capital markets could unlock the full potential of the European Union’s €13 trillion in private savings. It would also boost financing for companies, which often quit Europe for Wall Street in search of expansion, as well as reduce regulatory and compliance costs.

'We are all Draghi' at the European Commission

Among supporters of this move is Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank, who penned an influential report published last year in which he argued internal barriers have an equally detrimental impact on the EU as external.

In this report, the Italian lamented the fact that the European "capital markets remain fragmented and flows of savings into capital markets are lower" compared to peers.

Albuquerque said the executive looks at the report at its "compass", and its recommendations are not lost on the Commission. "We are all Draghians," she said.

Getting the Draghi seal of approval matters, as his voice carries some of the most gravitas in Europe. His speeches are closely followed by heads of state, widely read in diplomatic circles in Brussels, the capitals and the European Commission.