European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said: "Developing stronger and deeper capital markets in the EU is more important than ever to allow funds to flow to our companies to the benefit of the real economy, growth and investment.

D. whereas the capital market in the Union remains fragmented; whereas the Capital Markets Union (CMU) potentially offers a valuable framework to safeguard equal access to finance for SMEs throughout the EU and to promote innovative venues for market-based funding; whereas specific shortages of credit to SMEs and micro enterprises derive also from economic instability and a lack of targeted solutions for the real economy; whereas the capital-market-based context in the United States is often cited, but fundamentally differs from the banking-based EU context, and should not ...[+++] be copied or used as a template; whereas the CMU is a chance to strengthen capital markets in the EU as a complement to banking-based finance; whereas in the US, following the financial crisis, bank lending to corporates has developed stronger than capital markets based financing;

D. whereas the capital market in the Union remains fragmented; whereas the Capital Markets Union (CMU) potentially offers a valuable framework to safeguard equal access to finance for SMEs throughout the EU and to promote innovative venues for market-based funding; whereas specific shortages of credit to SMEs and micro enterprises derive also from economic instability and a lack of targeted solutions for the real economy; whereas the capital-market-based context in the United States is often cited, but fundamentally differs from the banking-based EU context, and should no ...[+++]t be copied or used as a template; whereas the CMU is a chance to strengthen capital markets in the EU as a complement to banking-based finance; whereas in the US, following the financial crisis, bank lending to corporates has developed stronger than capital markets based financing;

5. Notes that a sound and robust CMU has to acknowledge the interdependencies with other financial sectors, explore additional market-based sources of funding for the real economy and be based first and foremost on well-established existing structures; stresses the need for a holistic view of EU financial services regulation in which the CMU contributes to complementing banking financing; calls for the CMU to reflect the perspective of consumers and investors, besides its orientation towards the financing of companies; to that end, the Commission should work closely with the ESRB, ESAs and National Competent Authorities to resolve any mismatches in approach that could risk undermining the objectives of the CMU; asks the Commission to use well-fu ...[+++]nctioning best practices in order to develop a capital market for the whole Union;

50. Emphasises that the legal and supervisory frameworks should play a fundamental role in avoiding excessive risk-taking and instability in financial markets; underlines that a strong CMU project needs to be accompanied by strong EU-wide and national supervision including adequate macroprudential instruments; believes that among possible options, a stronger role could be attributed to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in improving supervisory convergence;

12. Believes that while, for example, the US has recovered faster from the financial crisis than the EU, which is partly due to a more diversified financial system, the EU needs to build its own genuine version of a CMU, which may draw on the experiences from other parts of the world but not simply replicate them; stresses, however, that a sensible approach for the recognition of equal or similar standards of third countries needs to be developed in order to guarantee compatibility between European and international financial markets;