Poland's Ministry of Finance and EU financial services commissioner plan April ECOFIN debate in Warsaw on the Savings and Investments Union and regulatory simplification

Poland's Ministry of Finance reported on a meeting between Finance Minister Andrzej Domański and European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union Maria Luís Albuquerque focused on developing the EU financial market and strengthening the European economy. The discussion centred on simplifying the regulatory environment and mobilising more private capital through deeper capital markets and the Savings and Investments Union. Domański argued that capital markets need to better finance the real economy, including defence, energy and digital transformation, and linked the push to deepen the Savings and Investments Union to defence funding needs, referencing the European Commission President’s Re-Arm Europe Plan to mobilise close to EUR 800 billion for defence spending. He also called for deregulation and simplification of complex rules, citing excessive requirements as a driver of higher transaction costs and a constraint on market development. Albuquerque described the Savings and Investments Union as a way to help European firms access capital saved within Europe and pointed to market fragmentation as reducing the efficiency of capital raising, adding that deregulation across policy areas is one of the European Commission’s core goals. The European Commission is due to publish a communication on the Savings and Investments Union on 19 March. The minister and commissioner agreed that further steps will be discussed with EU finance ministers at an informal ECOFIN meeting in Warsaw in April, with Poland signalling it will seek to accelerate work during its Presidency of the Council of the EU.