Savings and Investments Union: What the Commission's Strategy Means for Savers and Pensions

The Commission frames the SIU around two numbers. EU households hold around €10 trillion in bank deposits, which are safe and accessible but usually earn less than capital market investments. At the same time, the Draghi report estimated the EU's additional investment needs at €750 to 800 billion a year by 2030, a figure the Commission says is further affected by increased defence spending. Unlike the earlier Capital Markets Union action plans, the SIU covers the banking sector as well as capital markets.

The four strands of work

• Citizens and savings: retail savers should have the opportunity, if they wish, to hold more of their savings in higher-yielding capital market instruments, including for retirement.
• Investment and financing: initiatives to improve the availability of capital for businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in critical sectors.
• Integration and scale: removing regulatory and supervisory barriers to cross-border market infrastructure, asset management and fund distribution.
• Efficient supervision: similar treatment for market participants wherever they are in the EU, through stronger convergence tools and a reallocation of supervisory competences between national and EU levels.

What it means for wealth management and pensions

For asset managers, platforms and pension providers, the citizens strand is the most direct. According to the Commission's questions and answers, it plans a European blueprint for savings and investments accounts based on existing national practice, including recommendations to Member States on their tax treatment, and work to strengthen supplementary pensions, including by promoting auto-enrolment. Financial literacy is a further priority. The Savings and Investments Union also matters for fund distribution, since the integration strand targets the barriers that make cross-border fund marketing and asset management operations more costly.

What happens next

The Communication is a strategy, not legislation. The Commission says its actions will be developed in dialogue with stakeholders, delivered through legislative and non-legislative measures and through steps taken by Member States themselves, with the most impactful actions prioritised in 2025. A mid-term review of progress is due in the second quarter of 2027. Firms should watch for the specific packages on accounts, pensions and supervision as they are tabled over the coming months.

Sources

• European Commission: Commission unveils Savings and Investments Union strategy to enhance financial opportunities for EU citizens and businesses
• European Commission: Communication on the Savings and Investments Union
• European Commission: Questions and answers on the Savings and Investments Union