The European Commission (EC) on March 19, 2025, adopted its communication on the "Savings and Investments Union: A Strategy to Foster Citizens' Wealth and Economic Competitiveness in the EU," which includes the following tax aspects:
- Actions to remove barriers to cross-border investments: The FASTER Directive is recognized as a significant step towards reducing administrative burdens and barriers to cross-border investment, but the EC acknowledges that additional obstacles remain due to differences in national tax procedures. For example, exploring a more harmonized EU approach to investment ownership and fund structures could be beneficial. To address these ongoing challenges, the EC commits to: (1) facilitating exchanges of best practices, (2) enforcing the free movement of capital and other EU freedoms, and (3) issuing non-binding recommendations to member states.
- Savings and investments account: The EC will develop a European blueprint for savings and investments accounts or products for retail investors based on existing national best practices, including recommendations to member states on the tax treatment for such investment accounts (by the third quarter of 2025).
- The debt bias: The EC acknowledges that the tax laws of multiple member states continue to favor debt financing and notes that its proposal to address this imbalance (i.e., the DEBRA proposal) has not been taken forward by the Council, nor have member states introduced comparable initiatives at the national level.
Read an April 2025 report prepared by the KPMG’s EU Tax Centre