Finance ministers from the EU’s six biggest economies, known as the E6, agreed on Friday, May 29, 2026, to support more centralized capital markets supervision as a key step toward deeper financial integration across the bloc. The ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands reached a common position on a European Commission proposal for joint capital markets supervision after meeting in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the issue. The push for financial market players to be supervised at a European Union rather than national level is part of the EU’s plan to redirect trillions of its citizens’ savings, now idling in bank deposits, into more productive investment in Europe and to boost the bloc’s competitiveness as it struggles with weak growth and fierce competition from the United States and China.
Under the agreement, supervision of significant market infrastructure would be gradually transferred to the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, in Paris. This covers trading platforms, central counterparties and central securities depositories that operate cross-border. The ministers said ESMA’s governance structure must be set up efficiently, with expertise, supervisory and market experience, and geographical balance playing a decisive role, while costs must be kept under control and accountability enforced. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said, “The fact that the EU’s six largest economies are prepared to leave national self-interest behind and move forward together is an important signal for the entire European Union”.
The issue of handing over local supervisory powers has been difficult due to vested national interests and opposition from Ireland and Luxembourg and initially Germany. However, the matter will be decided by qualified majority, requiring support from 15 out of the EU’s 27 countries representing 65% of the bloc’s population. With the backing of the E6, which represent 70% of the EU’s population, centralized supervision is now much more likely to happen. The finance ministers stressed they had found a balanced compromise that reflects their stance and may serve as a contribution for further discussions in the European Council.
The agreement is part of the broader Savings and Investments Union, which builds on the earlier Capital Markets Union project and aims to unlock more capital for the bloc’s businesses and provide better investments for EU citizens. The European Commission presented its plan to better integrate EU capital markets in December, and Klingbeil said he expects the package to be adopted at a European level by the end of 2026 with the approval of EU governments and the European Parliament. The E6 ministers said the proposals on market supervision and several other areas were aimed at contributing “to a genuine Savings and Investments Union” and that a capital markets union would be “a gamechanger to enable more investments in Europe — and for more jobs, for innovation and for growth”.
