Despite recent progress, EU  financial markets remain fragmented, relatively small and less competitive. This represents a missed opportunity to realise economies of scale and improve efficiency. To address these shortcomings, the European Union is advancing the Savings and Investment Union by implementing the new Market Integration Package. However, as the EU intensifies its efforts, the central question is whether the new market integration package will deliver tangible benefits for Europe’s retail investors and savers. 

For a thorough examination of this issue, BETTER FINANCE is hosting an international conference: 

Integrating Europe’s Capital Markets: Delivering for Retail Investors 

Date: 6 May 2026 | Time: 12:00 – 17:30 | Location: Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi 155, Brussels (Hybrid event)

Bringing together the viewpoints of policymakers, civil society, and the industry, the conference will examine whether current reforms will translate into lower investment costs, better execution, greater transparency, and genuinely accessible cross-border investment opportunities for European citizens.

The conference will feature a keynote speech by Maria Luís Albuquerque, European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union

During her intervention, Commissioner Albuquerque will address the strategic direction of Europe’s capital markets integration and its implications for competitiveness, investor trust, and long-term economic resilience. Her intervention will also examine how ongoing EU reforms aim to strengthen both public and private markets, improve access to investment opportunities, and ensure that Europe’s financial system better serves the needs of retail investors and savers.

Furthermore, as European capital markets shift, with fewer companies remaining publicly listed and private markets expanding rapidly, the conference will assess the decline in public listings, the evolving role of private markets and their implications for retail investors, market transparency, and long-term capital formation. 

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Check the programme for more information 

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Programme

12:00 – 13:00 | Registration & Networking Lunch

13:00 – 13:05 | Welcome & Opening Remarks

Retail investors at the heart of EU market integration

From policy ambition to real-world outcomes

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Aleksandra Mączyńska, Managing Director, BETTER FINANCE

13:05 – 13:20 | Keynote Speech

Setting the scene – the European Commission perspective

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Tatyana Panova, Head of the Securities Markets Unit, DG FISMA, European Commission

13:20 – 14:30 | Panel 1: Market Integration in Practice

• Moderator:

Nicolas Véron, Senior Fellow, Bruegel and Peterson Institute for International Economics

Panellists:

• Eglantine Desautel, CEO, EuroCTP
• Henrik Husman, President of Nasdaq Helsinki & Head of European Equities
• Martin Molko, Research and Policy Officer, BETTER FINANCE
• Tatyana Panova, Head of the Securities Markets Unit, DG FISMA

Evert van Walsum, Head of Investor Protection and Sustainable Finance Department, European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA

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Focus: Will the EU Market Integration Package deliver better execution, lower costs, and improved cross-border access for retail investors?

Market integration, beyond infrastructure: what’s in it for retail investors?

Data access, comparability, best execution in a fragmented market

Competition between trading models & implications for transparency

Supervisory convergence and enforcement

Can Europe deliver genuinely pan-EU investment products?

14:30 – 14:50 | Coffee Break

14:50 – 16:00 | Panel 2: Listed or Private? Rebalancing Europe’s Capital Markets

Moderator:

Jella Benner-Heinacher, Vice-President of BETTER FINANCE

Panellists:

Delphine de Chaisemartin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AFG

Olivier Fines, Head of Advocacy and Policy Research, EMEA, CFA Institute

Jakub Michalik, Chief Policy Officer & Member of the Executive Committee, Euronext

more speakers to be announced soon!

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Focus: Implications of delistings & private-market expansion for retail and long-term investors

• Why are European companies leaving public markets?
• Are listing rules part of the problem or solution?
• Democratisation of private markets: opportunity or mis-selling risk?
• Fees, liquidity, valuation, conflicts in retail access
• Safeguards & regulatory consistency across markets

16:00 – 16:20 | Keynote Address

Maria Luís Albuquerque, European Commissioner

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Market integration, competitiveness & investor trust
Future role of public & private markets in Europe
Ensuring EU reforms work for retail investors & savers

16:20 – 16:30 | Closing Remarks

Aleksandra Mączyńska, Managing Director, BETTER FINANCE

16:30 – 17:30 | Networking Reception

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Fill the form below to attend the conference.