EU Capital Markets Union Progress Crawls Despite New Deals
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The EU has a longstanding goal to unify and expand its capital markets to ease financing for small businesses, but progress has been slow and piecemeal despite new proposals.
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Even senior EU financial officials like Mairead McGuinness admit member states are not fully committed to a unified single market for capital.
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Companies that can't get venture capital funding at home still often list overseas instead, like German shoemaker Birkenstock recently listing in New York.
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The "Cinderella of Europe" capital markets union has frustrated even MEPs writing new EU listing rules, with Alfred Sant calling the progress just a "crumb" unlikely to provide "lunch."
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Despite a new EU deal announced on listing rules to widen options for small business funding, overall political will for a truly unified EU capital market remains lacking.