The European Commission will unveil an action plan in March designed to deepen the European Union's single market, which serves some 450 million consumers, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
Speaking after a meeting with EU leaders focused on economic competitiveness, von der Leyen said the package aims to move forward on a number of fronts, including the capital markets union, which the Commission sees as a mechanism to more productively invest approximately c10 trillion in savings that are currently parked in bank accounts.
Von der Leyen set a concrete near-term target for the Savings and Investment Union: "We agreed that we want to be done with phase one of the Savings and Investment Union, that includes market integration, supervision and securitization by June," she said. The plan described by the Commission president groups market integration, supervisory arrangements and securitization under the initial phase.
At the same time, von der Leyen acknowledged potential difficulties in securing agreement among all 27 EU member states. She said the Commission is prepared to pursue a narrower path if necessary, invoking a provision that would allow a subset of member states to move ahead more quickly. "If there is not sufficient progress by then, we will consider enhanced cooperation, that is that at least 9 Member States if they want to move forward faster," she explained.
Beyond the capital markets agenda, the Commission intends to curb what it described as "gold plating" - the practice in which national authorities add extra conditions when transposing EU directives into domestic law. The move targets variation in implementation across the bloc that can hinder the single market's functioning.
Von der Leyen also said the Commission will adjust merger guidelines to accommodate the creation of companies that can compete on a global scale, and that European purchase preference will be permitted in strategic sectors, allowing member states to favour European suppliers in designated areas.
Finally, the Commission will present options by March on possible changes to power market design, signaling that electricity market rules are under active review as part of the broader competitiveness agenda.
The March action plan is intended as an integrated package addressing market integration, investment mobilization, implementation consistency and sector-specific measures. How quickly member states coalesce around the Commission's proposals will determine whether the agenda advances across the whole EU or through a smaller coalition of willing countries.