Sleijpen: Savings and Investment Union key to Europe's future
Olaf Sleijpen, President of De Nederlandsche Bank, emphasized the critical role of the Savings and Investment Union for Europe's future. Speaking at a symposium in Nijmegen, he argued that well-functioning capital markets are essential for the continent's competitiveness and economic growth.
Europe's stuck vending machine
Olaf Sleijpen used the metaphor of a 'stuck vending machine' to describe Europe's fragmented capital markets, where money struggles to flow from savings into productive investments.
He highlighted obstacles such as 27 different insolvency regimes and national requirements for cross-border investment and supervision.
This fragmentation leads to missed opportunities for households to access better savings options and for businesses, especially scale-ups, to secure risk capital.
As a result, economic growth in Europe is lower than its potential.
Sleijpen noted that European households hold over 10 trillion euros in low-yield bank deposits, while over 30 percent of European unicorns have moved to the US since 2008 due to a lack of risk capital.
Unlocking capital for growth and resilience
Sleijpen strongly supports the European Commission's strategy on the Savings and Investment Union, welcoming initiatives to channel household savings into capital markets, such as pension reform and citizens' savings accounts.
He noted a 'coalition of the willing' among several countries, including the Netherlands, actively boosting retail investments.
The recent Market Integration Package, proposing harmonised supervision under ESMA, is also supported, advocating for stronger European-level oversight for cross-border market participants.
However, Sleijpen stressed that Member States must intensify efforts to remove remaining barriers, particularly in taxation and insolvency law.
Progress on the Banking Union, building on the Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance framework, is also deemed essential.