EPP Group wants Capital Markets Union to help financing of SMEs

Capital Markets Union must tackle dysfunctions of financing models which became apparent during crisis

“The EPP Group in the European Parliament wants the planned Capital Markets Union to give more financing options first of all to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)”, said Burkhard Balz MEP, EPP Group Spokesman in Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. "We are not issuing a blank cheque to the European Commission to go ahead with the plans. We want to be sure that SMEs can really benefit from it. It must improve the investment climate in Europe", Balz stressed.

Balz also called on drawing the lessons from the financial market crisis in 2007 and 2008. "One of the reasons of the crisis was dysfunctions and obstacles in capital market financing. The new Capital Markets Union must address this problem", Balz said.

In addition, Balz warned against trying to reduce financing models to Anglo-Saxon models alone. "EU standards must set clear rules for all different models of business financing", he stressed.