BETTER FINANCE (short name for the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users) is the public interest non-governmental organisation advocating and defending the interests of European citizens as financial services users at the European level to lawmakers and the public in order to promote research, information and training on investments, savings and personal finances. It is the one and only European-level organisation solely dedicated to the representation of individual investors, savers and other financial services users.

BETTER FINANCE membership has developed since its creation in 2009, and counts today 39 independent, national and international member organisations with a similar purpose from the European Union Member States as well as Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Lebanon and Cameroon.

BETTER FINANCE believes that the financial system exists to serve the real economy and citizens by ensuring the optimal allocation of capital and providing other financial services in the most efficient way. In order to restore trust in financial services, the current dominance of financial institutions over the real economy must be curbed and the primacy of a sustainable real economy promoted.

Key Priorities for 2024-2029 | Sustainable Value for Money: Reconciling Individuals, Enterprises & the Planet

Despite significant efforts, the EU Parliament and Commission must be more ambitious in addressing low participation in local capital markets, a threat to the financial well-being of EU citizens and the competitiveness of the EU economy. Since 2008, EU capital markets have diminished in significance compared to the United States.

Growing problems in national pension systems, particularly from underperforming and complex products, hinder the well-being of European citizens. To enhance competitiveness, EU capital markets need to be deeper, more integrated, and citizen-centric, requiring increased competition, market efficiency, integration, and better outcomes for investors.

To make EU capital markets more competitive and attractive for citizens and enterprises, a CMU that works for people, BETTER FINANCE has laid out 7 key priorities: