"The current level of development of the EU capital market is significantly behind that of the USA. This means that European businesses, from start-ups and small businesses to large corporations, have less access to the financing they need to grow. In the longer term, this has a negative impact on EU economic growth and competitiveness. In order to change this situation, it is necessary to keep the development of the capital markets union high on the list of priorities of the EU agenda and to take concrete steps that increase the access of companies and residents to the capital markets and harmonize the regulatory environment," M. Liutvinskas said during the discussion.
According to the Vice-Minister, a developed single capital market would also contribute to the strategic goal of ensuring the EU's open strategic autonomy and would allow the mobilization of additional funds for important Community-level priorities, such as green and digital transformations.
In the discussion, the Vice-Minister also noted that EU-level solutions are needed for the single capital market, but national and regional initiatives also play an important role. For example, Lithuania is implementing a national capital market development plan and, together with Latvia and Estonia, is developing the Baltic Capital Market Initiative, which aims to harmonize part of the regulatory requirements and thus increase the attractiveness of the region for external investors.
