Eight years on from the global financial crisis, Europe’s economy is still recovering.  However, economic uncertainty has led to a great number of entrepreneurial initiatives and has provoked the establishment of new, innovative, collaborative methods supported by digital evolution.

Through the abolishment of physical borders between the Member States and through digitalization, Europe’s citizens are more connected than ever. However, in order to remain a competitive and attractive place for investment, Europe has to look at new ways to deliver growth and jobs, including supporting companies’ access to capital market finance to grow their businesses.

As representatives of SMEs and market participants, we recommend the European Commission to give priority to the following aspects, while implementing a pragmatic approach to build a Capital Markets Union by 2019:

• Develop innovative, diverse and resilient capital markets to stimulate growth 
• Diversify funding sources by fostering an equity culture in Europe 
• Support the development of a healthy pan-European financial ecosystem and better awareness of companies
  on financing distribution networks across Europe.

Our member Smartangels.fr, today in Paris, is personally handing the joint declaration to Commissioner Hill.

The undersigned organizations are ready and willing to collaborate with the Commission services and to participate actively in the consultation process, in order to help provide the relevant data for analysis and impact assessments, that will allow EU policymakers to design, adopt and implement the key measures, which will constitute the pillars of the Capital Market Union.