Name: Subcommittee on Tax Matters Ordinary meeting EU Tax Symposium 2026
Uploaded: 2026-03-17T15:30:00+00:00

05:25 - 07:33

Speaker 1

A very good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being back at sixteen thirty-five as requested for the final panel, with a very interesting subject on how can taxation boost the savings and investments union. So let me call to the stage no. Yeah. I can actually call them to the stage already, because that way you can already take up your seats.

Martin Bresson, public affairs director of Invest Europe, and the three panelists, please join me on stage. And while you're taking a seat, for all of you, this is the final voting opportunity. So as you already learned this morning, every panel deserves a vote, because we need to know what you're thinking. So we will launch a final question, fifth and final vote. And that final question is, you will see, because now you're fully aware of how the system works.

The questions become longer and more complex, so that we need your full attention and focus before you say yes or no. Are tax incentives a cost-effective tool to motivate households to increase their participation in capital markets? Our tax incentives are a cost effective tool to motivate households to increase their participation in capital markets. The vote is open. Same system like you've done before.

Yes. And I see that everyone is well aware of how the system works by now. Hands in, red button, green one, or the white one to cast your vote. And I would say that the vote is closed. Please show us the results, the final results of today.

99 say yes, but 70 say no. So it's not that clear as with the other panel. So that means that there's a lot for you to debate on and maybe influence people's minds by the end of your panel discussion. The floor is yours, please, and to your panelists as well.

07:35 - 10:11

Speaker 2

Thank you very much for that. We're just about to kick off, and indeed, it is the last panel of the day. I don't know if we've saved the best for last. I'll leave that for you to judge. But we are in a tough spot to follow, two noble laureates and a very lively debate. Hat tip to Matthew Baldwin and the panelists from the panel just before us.

I'm just gonna briefly tee us up. So we're talking about the savings and investment union. And I think one of the key points here is that Europeans, they have no shortage of savings. Actually, European households are amongst the world's most diligent savers, but we struggle to channel those savings into the kind of investments that will drive growth, innovation, and jobs. Too many of those money remain in low risk, low return products, while many businesses, especially smaller and more innovative ones, find it hard to assess long-term capital.

That gap is at the very heart of the ambition to build a savings and investment union. And I know we've all mentioned Draghi a couple of times. I'm gonna mention it again. This is inspired by Draghi and the letter reports. And the idea is simple but powerful, make Europe's financial system work better for citizens and then for the economy, evidently.

So one of the key tools in this discussion is taxation and how taxation can, if at all, drive retail savers to invest more. Retail savers play a crucial role in financing the economy, mainly through deposits. But as I just mentioned, maybe those deposits are not the most effective way of driving growth forward. So the tax system being a factor, but it is still a highly fragmented different tax rules across member states for savings, for capital gains, investment products, makes it harder to invest cross border. They limit choice, they reduce competition, and they hold back the development of a truly European capital market.

So credit to the European Commission. A number of steps have already been taken, and we look to more, I think, with coming on Omniverse and the recent faster initiative to be mentioned. But key questions to explore today are exactly how far can the EU go in creating a more integrated investment landscape while respecting the national differences, and what role does taxation play in that? Those are the key questions. I'm not gonna answer them.