EU “Green Paper” on Capital Markets Union Published
As recently reported here, the European Commission is taking a hard look at barriers to economic growth in the EU. One of those barriers is the high cost of capital. As opposed to other economic zones, a greater share of EU firms (even rather large ones) finance expansion and other endeavors through bank debt. The rising cost of bank debt has put a crimp in growth. One possible remedy would be a Capital Markets Union covering the 28 Member States. The stated purpose of the CMU would be to “build a single market for capital from the bottom up, identifying barriers and knocking them down one by one, creating a sense of momentum and helping to spark a growing sense of confidence in investing in Europe’s future”. As a first step, the Commission has published a “Green Paper” on the subject and launched a three month consultative process to gain consensus on problems and solutions. The Commission has a CMU website with all the information you need to get informed on this initiative. We think there is an important role for XBRL to play in the reporting aspects of a CMU and we’ll be actively engaged in the consultative and subsequent phases. If you have a strong opinion or want to help, contact us.
