The EU Capital Markets Union (CMU) was a plan to create a Single Market for capital. The aim was to get money - investments and savings - flowing across the EU to benefit consumers, investors and companies, regardless of where they were located and turn savers into investors. 

A first Green Paper on CMU was published in 2015, followed by various follow-up measures, a key one being the 2020 CMU Action Plan setting out 16 legislative and non-legislative measures, including actions of importance for intermediaries, such as increasing the quality of financial advice and an assessment and review of the rules related to inducements, investment advice and information disclosure. Regarding the latter, in May 2023, the Commission published a Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) aimed at focusing on the interests of individual investors, looking in parallel at IDD (IBIPs chapter), MiFID II and PRIIPs (see annual report articles specifically on these EU texts).

The current European Commission (2024-2029) led by Ursula von der Leyen, wants to put new life into the CMU, transforming it into a Savings and Investments Union (SIU).