Capital Markets Union: A Critical Approach

Based on the Green Paper prepared by the European Commission in February 2015, this note aims at contributing to the public debate about the proposed creation of a Capital Markets Union (CMU) until 2019, seen as essential to unlock finance for growth in Europe. Starting from an overview of the current stage of development of the European capital markets, we discuss the relevance of the project, framing it in the process of deepening the European project. We then present the European Commission’s proposal and outline the challenges that, in our view, the Commission needs to tackle in order to ensure the success of the project. Finally, we explore the potential impact that the Capital Markets Union may have for an European country like Portugal.