This year marks 25 years since Deutsche Börse Group went public — a milestone that transformed not only the company itself, but also Europe’s financial landscape. Over a quarter of a century, Deutsche Börse has become a cornerstone of European market infrastructure, connecting savings with opportunity, and helping Europe’s economy grow in scale, sophistication and confidence. 

For too long we have been a continent of savers in search of markets, and markets in search of scale. Our strength lies not only in our productivity and innovation, but also in the vast pool of savings that Europeans have built over generations. Yet too often, we fail to mobilise this resource — it remains in deposits rather than invested in our future.

Capital markets are the circulatory system of modern economies. They connect those who save with those who innovate, turning potential into progress. For Europe, deep and integrated capital markets are more than a financial necessity — they are a strategic imperative. They underpin competitiveness, resilience, and the ability to act autonomously in an uncertain world. They give us the means to fund both traditional and innovative companies of all sizes, as well as public policy priorities.

Turning the Equation Around

In the United States, in China, and increasingly across Asia, capital markets channel domestic and international investment efficiently into productive assets. In Europe, fragmentation and inefficiency still weigh us down. Entrepreneurs often look abroad for funding that should be found at home, while citizens see their savings safe but static, earning far less than they could if invested in capital markets.

If we want to secure Europe’s long-term prosperity, we must turn this equation around. The savings of Europeans should power Europe’s transformation in a sustainable, digital and innovative economy. Our goal is not to imitate other models, but to build one that reflects Europe’s values — combining competitiveness with fairness, performance with prudence, and innovation with trust.

At the heart of this effort lies the need to boost equity financing. Too many European companies rely overwhelmingly on debt, leaving them vulnerable to shocks and limiting their ability to grow. This excessive reliance on debt, mostly bank debt collateralised by real estate, hinders productivity growth and contributes to other economic imbalances. And the lack of alternatives excludes newcomers, with promising innovative business models with higher risk profiles and no real estate assets to back the loans. Stronger equity markets would allow all classes of firms to scale, innovate, and compete globally.

Here, financial infrastructures — such as Deutsche Börse and other major European exchanges — have a vital role to play – deepening liquidity, lowering costs, and modernising trading and clearing systems to connect Europe’s entrepreneurs with long-term investors and global capital.

Depth, Efficiency, Transparency

This is the essence of my vision for Europe’s capital markets: a system that connects investors to companies in a partnership for growth; that competes globally on depth, efficiency and transparency; and that strengthens the European Union’s capacity to shape its destiny.

The Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy, launched by the European Commission in March 2025, is our roadmap to make this vision real. It translates ambition into action, ensuring that Europe’s vast pool of private savings works for Europe’s growth.

We want to create the right opportunities and incentives for households to earn better returns on their savings, to encourage the development of supplementary pensions, and to support the scaling up of pension-fund investment strategies. We need companies to have easy access to whatever funding instrument is best suited to their needs. And we need to see emerging in Europe the investment projects that attract domestic and foreign money. For all this to happen, the regulatory and supervisory framework must simultaneously guarantee financial stability and stimulate growth.

All the initiatives under the SIU strategy are essential building blocks of a true financial single market. The competitiveness challenges we face can only be addressed at the scale of the European Union, and we can no longer afford to be constrained by the false idea that national and European interests are in conflict. We are strong only when we act together — no Member State is large enough to succeed on its own.
Implementing the SIU strategy will inevitably disrupt the status quo — because meaningful change to Europe’s financial ecosystem requires it. The political momentum behind this agenda is encouraging, and reflects a growing recognition that Europe is falling behind the trends shaping the future, putting both our economic resilience and our strategic autonomy at risk.

The Imperative of Change

We know that business models protected from competition, or unable to adapt to a rapidly evolving world, will struggle in the years ahead. But we also know that without change, we will not create the conditions for those who are innovative and ambitious — the firms and entrepreneurs who can help Europe compete on equal terms with our global counterparts.

To turn this agenda into reality, the SIU provides a clear framework for action. Its strength lies in a coherent approach built around three mutually reinforcing pillars.

First, empowering citizens. Investing remains too complex for many Europeans. Through our blueprint for EU Savings and Investment Accounts and a strengthened financial literacy strategy, we are making investing, simpler, safer and mor accessible for everyone.

Second, mobilising investment. Europe’s firms - from start-ups to SMEs and large companies - need diversified sources of finance. The SIU supports the revival of securitisation markets, facilitates long-term equity investment by institutional investors and aligns private and public funding with common objectives.

Third, integrating and building trust. Fragmented national rules still divide Europe’s single market for capital. The SIU will identify and remove barriers to cross-border investment and promote supervisory convergence. Integration without trust is hollow; trust without integration is fragile. Together they will make Europe a truly global investment destination.

A Clear Course

Our goal is simple: to ensure that European innovators and businesses can access the funding they need, quickly, flexibly and at low costs. A stronger savings and investments ecosystem will fund innovation, shield our economies from shocks and secure our competitiveness.

The direction is clear. Europe has the talent, the capital, and the ideas — what we need now is the scale and unity to match them. That means turning vision into action, and potential into performance.

As Deutsche Börse celebrates 25 years, its success reminds us that ambition and integration are not abstract goals — they are the foundations of progress. The same spirit that built one of the world’s leading market infrastructures must now guide Europe as a whole: to deepen its markets, strengthen its competitiveness, and embrace innovation with confidence. I trust that in the next 25 years Deutsche Börse will continue to support the vision of a stronger, more dynamic, and globally confident Europe, capable of shaping its own future on the global stage.

Maria Luís Albuquerque is European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings & Investments Union.