Presented by the European Commission as the solution to finance EU priorities, the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) gathers a large range of measures and strategies to push EU citizens to massively invest in the EU financial market. Yet, the initiative fails to include any guardrails to channel additional investments toward these goals and not toward activities that are at odds with them. In fact, it is likely to mainly benefit large asset managers \u2013 including prominent US managers like Blackrock and Vanguard \u2013 that have some of the most climate harmful practices in the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>
In the end of 2025, the Brussels bubble is bustling with noise of the Saving and Investment Union (SIU). Formerly dubbed the \u201cCapital Market Union\u201d (CMU), the SIU\u2019s pitch is simple:\u00a0deepening\u00a0and unifying\u00a0EU financial markets\u00a0to bridge\u00a0the gap between household savings and productive investments.\u00a0According to the European Commission, this is crucial to bring\u00a0more funding toward\u00a0small and medium companies (SMEs), innovation,\u00a0climate\u00a0transition projects, and strategic EU goals\u00a0that\u00a0face\u00a0an estimated\u00a0\u20ac750\u2013800<\/span>\u202f<\/span>billion annual financing gap by 2030\u00a0(1).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Key\u00a0elements\u00a0of the SIU\u00a0include\u00a0harmonized market\u00a0supervision\u00a0(via\u00a0the\u00a0ESMA), streamlined regulation,\u00a0a push for the development of\u00a0pan\u00a0European\u00a0financial products and pensions\u00a0and savings and investment accounts,\u00a0a\u00a0revival of securitization, new\u00a0digital infrastructure\u00a0(like a shared ledger), a strategy for financial\u00a0literacy\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While covering a wide range of\u00a0issues, all these measures aim at driving EU citizens to increasingly invest their savings\u00a0in\u00a0financial markets.\u00a0One could legitimately question\u00a0that choice, but\u00a0even without going there,\u00a0it is doubtful the currently proposed SIU\u00a0can\u00a0deliver on its alleged\u00a0objectives.\u00a0On the contrary, it will\u00a0likely fail\u00a0to contribute to EU priorities and end up feeding the climate crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> Promoters of the SIU underline that the EU cannot reach its goals without a massive mobilization of private finance and that the proposed reform is needed for this to happen. Yet, the whole SIU package does not include any measure to channel funds toward EU priorities (2). Furthermore, most of the proposed changes would contribute to funding EU and non-EU companies, without any geographical distinction. Therefore, if the SIU will likely contribute to finance some activities related to EU priorities, it will also finance activities that are not aligned with them.<\/p>\n When it comes to climate change mitigation, the SIU\u2019s impact will extend to all sectors and companies, including those with the highest carbon footprints. For example:<\/p>\n The EU fund industry stands to benefit the most from the SIU proposal. This industry is highly concentrated, with the top 5 asset management companies making up 86% of the market in Italy, 84% in Denmark, 63% in Spain or 54% in Germany (5).<\/p>\n Furthermore, US based Blackrock and Vanguard have a major role in the sector and dwarf their European counterparts globally: they respectively have $ 11.5 trillion and $ 10 trillion of asset under management, compared to EUR 2.3 trillion for the largest EU asset manager Amundi. With financially attractive funds and low management cost, US asset managers and funds are likely to capture the new business generated by the SIU. The growing influence of non-EU asset managers already resulted in UCITS funds integrating less EU company shares – from 52% in 2008 to 32% in 2023 – and buying more US shares – from 19% to 48% (6). EU investment funds will therefore contribute less to the value of EU companies and more to US companies.<\/p>\n In this context, the SIU could not only fail to support the EU economy but could also have major negative impacts on climate and the environment. Indeed, the large asset managers that stand to benefit the most from the reforms are also the ones that have the worst impact on climate and the environment. An analysis of the climate practices of 30 major European and US asset managers published in December 2025 (7) reveals that:<\/p>\n If the SIU is to contribute to EU priorities, these priorities must be systematically embedded inside related proposals. This notably means ensuring that additional investment and freed-up capital is channeled toward sustainable activities, and that financial flows to unsustainable ones are progressively starved. Without such a change, the SIU initiative will turn the savings of Europeans into fuel for the climate crisis, inside and outside of the Union. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>No SIU mechanisms to fund \u201cEU priorities\u201d and the ecological transition<\/h2><\/span>
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The SIU as a gift to large asset managers, at the expense of climate<\/h2><\/span>
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