The EU’s retail investment strategy, designed to empower individual savers, boost their participation in capital markets and channel private wealth into the broader European economy, has advanced despite concerns that key conditions for their approval had not been properly addressed.
Member states such as Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg had made their approval of the strategy conditional on the fulfilment of a joint catalogue of demands made of eight key points.
These included adjustments to the rules on inducements, changes to the “value for money” framework and measures aimed at avoiding additional bureaucracy.
However, according to the countries’ standpoint, the Council of the EU either failed to incorporate these points or did so only inadequately during discussions on the proposal.
EU confirms retail investment strategy, Efama welcomes move
Despite these concerns, the retail investment strategy was not rejected by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (COREPER), the primary preparatory body of the Council of the EU.
Thomas Richter, CEO of the German Investment Funds Association BVI, said: “The council has not lived up to its commitment on simplification and the reduction of bureaucracy and missed the opportunity to set the necessary limits for the European Commission. Instead, it is now pushing ahead with a framework that offers minimal added value for savers while imposing a significant burden on providers. The Council is standing by as poor regulation is being created in the EU.”
