Unlike Americans, Europeans do not take risks. If they did, the 10 trillion euros that are “parked” in bank accounts – which corresponds to more than a third of the size of the American economy – could be invested in the stock market. This would give companies liquidity and allow them to spend on public interest projects.

And all of the above would stress the European economy which is drowning, he comments Politico.

Breaking down the barriers to allow all this to happen may be the last chance European governments have to save the old continent from sliding into an economic abyss. They are part of what the European Union calls a capital markets union—a boring name for a complicated plan that includes some pretty incomprehensible ideas—but which could be game-changing.

The EU has long negotiated the single market, the notion that citizens, goods and money should be able to move freely across the bloc as it does in United States.

In reality, however, it has failed to live up to this expectation, especially with regard to the circulation of money, and the economic consequences of this are now evident.

The Capital Markets Union is an attempt to remedy this.

No wonder, then, that the scheme has strong supporters. “We cannot postpone these investments,” French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this year. And according to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyenher new 5-year term will become “investment time”, which will begin with “completing our capital markets union”.

And it’s not hard to see why such a bold vision is needed. The European economy is increasingly lagging behind the US and China. The industry is in recession. Its startups are smaller and less successful than their overseas competitors.

A piggy bank for pensions

So the 10 trillion euros of savings of Europeans looks very attractive. And while it’s only part of the capital markets union idea, it’s a big part nonetheless.

As a first step, France has called for the creation of a common savings product across the EU. The aim would be to get European depositors out of low-interest bank products and into shares, helping companies grow.

Pensions are also an obvious target.

There are a few exceptions such as the Netherlands and Sweden, but in much of Europe pensions are paid by the government and financed through taxation. In contrast, the US has the 401(k), a private tax-incentivized account for investing money that pays out once people retire.

“If you really want to stimulate the European economy and provide stable and long-term funding, looking to pension savings is a very obvious choice,” said Michiel Horck, senior adviser at PGGM Investments, a Dutch pension manager that manages a €243 billion portfolio. euro.

The differences can be seen in the statistics. In the US, nearly 60% of households own stocks, directly or indirectly through their pensions. In France this figure is around 18%. The figures in Germany are similar to France.

The value of all companies on Europe’s stock exchanges, as a percentage of GDP, is half that of the US, according to a Commission report.

And venture capital in Europe is 1/20 the size of that in the US.

What is the capital market? A munitions factory, a wind farm and an AI startup are very different. But they have one thing in common: They need money to get up and running.

That’s where capital markets come in.

Ideally, the capital markets union would connect the 27 different markets across the EU, allowing investment to spread across borders and find more capital, which would help fund European industry to become more competitive.

As Europe’s economic recession begins to look more like a permanent situation, some things are beginning to change.

EU heads of government agreed in April to “relaunch” debt securitizations, long politically toxic in Europe due to its role in the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Finance ministers also agreed in May to work to “deepen” national capital markets by increasing attractive investment opportunities, which would not require EU-level legislation.

There is a feeling that the time has come. On the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers in July, Germany’s Christian Lindner heard it when he raised questions about France’s massive debt, but his face really lit up when POLITICO asked him about capital markets integration.

It is “one of our top priorities,” he said. “This is much more important than looking at the public debt.”

And amid a sometimes rocky relationship between the EU’s most powerful governments, it’s an issue Paris and Berlin seem to agree on.