EK narės Maria Luís Albuquerque pranešimas finansų rinkų konferencijoje „Kapitalo rinkos konkurencingumui ir atsparumui“

"Check against delivery"

Good morning distinguished guests.

I want to thank the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance, dear Kristupas, the Bank of Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Banking Association for hosting us at this important event.

I am truly delighted to be here in Vilnius - in a part of Europe that so powerfully embodies our shared European values. Together with your Baltic neighbours, you have shown remarkable solidarity and moral clarity throughout this challenging times. 

As the EU's frontline states, you carry a heavier burden than most. Russia's war of aggression has deeply impacted your citizens and your outlook  - yet you continue to respond with strength, resilience, and compassion, especially towards the many Ukrainian citizens you have welcomed. Your example is an inspiration for all Europe.

Your resolve is a reminder that security does not rest on military power alone – it also depends on economic strength - the capacity to innovate, to invest, and to act decisively when the world changes

Russia's aggression goes on, and its ambitions remain clear. This makes our need for strategic investment — in security, innovation, and resilience — more urgent than ever.

Throughout my remarks, I want to address the imperative of strengthening Europe's financing ecosystem. I will highlight the example of the Baltic region – where integration and collaboration have delivered tangible results – and explain how we are advancing this same spirit across the European Union.

Capital markets support innovation and spur economic competitiveness – reinforcing Europe's resilience and our collective capacity to project influence in the world.

The Single Market demonstrates how integration amplifies our influence. A larger, more integrated economy gives Europe real weight — in setting global rules and standards, in trade negotiations, backed by 450 million consumers, and even as a non-military instrument through our sanctions policy.

We have to force Russia away from the battlefield and to the negotiating table – and that requires cutting off the financial means that sustain its war. Our 19^th sanctions package further tightens the economic vice on Russia's war machine.

This is the strongest sanctions package yet, directly targeting Russia's core revenue streams and war infrastructure. It imposes a total ban on Russian LNG and significantly broadens the clampdown on Moscow's shadow fleet, which now totals 557 vessels. This package also targets financial services - including the first-ever crypto restrictions, as well as services, and trade, while strengthening anti-circumvention tools to close loopholes.

Europe's lasting strength depends on the vigour of our economy and the pace of our innovation. These are the foundations of geopolitical influence — and they must be at the heart of our common agenda. This is the course we are charting. The Commission's Competitiveness Compass will guide our efforts to reignite growth and unlock the full potential of our greatest asset - the Single Market.

Building on this vision, the Savings and Investments Union strategy, which I presented earlier this year, sets out a clear roadmap: to channel savings into productive investment, to strengthen our capital markets, and to secure long-term competitiveness.

The start of this political cycle has made one thing clear: no economy in Europe — and indeed, none in the world — is immune to the consequences of growing geopolitical and economic volatility. This volatility is no longer the exception; it has become the backdrop of our time.

This is not a storm that will pass. It is a structural shift demanding a structural response. Europe must raise its competitiveness and productivity to transform uncertainty into renewed growth and confidence. To do so, we must summon political resolve from across our Union — to modernise our economic model, strengthen our investment capacity, and ensure Europe stands as a true peer among the world's leading economies.

This vision will resonate strongly here in the Baltic region, where the value of integration has long been understood. In partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, you were among the first to see how harmonised capital markets could unlock growth – an ambition formalised in the 2017 memorandum of understanding to deepen regional cooperation and overcome the constraints of scale.

In doing so, you created a single, more attractive pan-Baltic asset class.

That same logic now guides our work at the European level through the Savings and Investments Union — our effort to turn Europe's vast pool of private savings into a true engine for investment, innovation, and resilience across all Member States. You have achieved the consolidation of infrastructure through the merger of the central securities depositories of all three states into one single Nasdaq CSD, which demonstrates the highest degree of regional integration in EU markets. This is a remarkable achievement and shows the rest of Europe what can be achieved through vision and cooperation.

We aim to replicate this success at the EU level via our market integration package, which we will propose by the end of the year and will focus on removing barriers and facilitating consolidation of market infrastructure across Europe.  

The Baltics have raised their profile internationally, too, through the creation of the MSCI Baltic index, boosting the competitiveness of the region.

The venture capital and private equity scene in this part of Europe is dynamic, innovation-driven, and highly active.

And that is not by accident or coincidence, it is by design.

The success story of the Baltic financing ecosystem is a powerful testament to the value of shared purpose. Your success results from a collective, strategic vision.

And I was encouraged to see that you continue to be ambitious in this project, through your joint letter to the EBRD seeking new impetus to your existing cooperation.

Your motivation in 2017 - the drive to dismantle barriers, achieve scale, and create barrier-free capital markets - is the very same, crucial motivation we champion today at the EU level. The development of deep and liquid capital markets at the EU level requires this same spirit of collective action.

Your collaborative efforts will experience a multiplier effect if they are undertaken in support of the broader EU-level measures.

Our collective horizon always extends further than any individual one – a message that I take into every meeting I have with Member States.

As policymakers, our role is not to create demand or dictate where private investors should allocate their capital. That is, and should remain, the job of the market.

What we can do is make it easier for those investments to happen, by removing barriers, improving regulatory clarity, and creating an environment where good ideas can find the funding they deserve.

Europe does not lack innovation or ambition. We have brilliant entrepreneurs, also here in the Baltics, where a remarkable number of unicorns have emerged, proving that talent and creativity are not in short supply. What we need is to better connect these innovators with the right investors.

Building stronger and more integrated capital markets across Europe will help companies grow beyond national borders, attract long-term investment, and scale sustainably.

The Savings and Investments Union is designed to bring more liquidity into our markets, strengthening the entire investment ecosystem and unlocking Europe's growth potential.

Under the strategy, we are working to assertively remove fragmentation, simplify regulatory burdens, and bring further harmonisation that makes investing across Europe more straightforward.

In practice, this means more opportunities for citizens to manage their money and avoid financial stress, be it through financial literacy programmes or through purpose driven savings and investments accounts, which incentivise citizens to invest in the economy, and to directly benefit from its growth.

Essentially, through the Savings and Investment Union we are working to put in place the systems that enable success in Europe – allowing markets to decide on their own terms, where resources are best allocated. This includes strategic areas such as defence, Artificial Intelligence, semiconductors, and the broader green and digital transitions.

Our task, therefore, is to set citizens and businesses up for success - and then have the confidence to step back and let them thrive.

One avenue to pursue is through our pension system, which is, by definition, a powerful and consistent long-term investor into our economy.

Robust pension systems are essential to the long-term social and economic wellbeing of our societies. As populations age and demographic pressures intensify, the importance of ensuring reliable income security in retirement continues to grow.

Pension systems are first and foremost about providing adequate retirement income, so that citizens can move into this phase of life with dignity and stability.

However, pension funds also play a foundational role in financing our economies. Across the world we see a clear pattern: countries with well-developed supplementary pensions also have deeper capital markets which, in turn, translate into more equity financing for companies.

In the coming days, we will adopt a package on supplementary pensions. Our goal is simple: help people build more secure and diversified retirement incomes, while providing more financing to the economy.

To achieve this, we will make it easier for citizens to understand and track their pension savings, and we will encourage wider participation in pension schemes through auto-enrolment. When we mobilise the long-term savings of Europeans, everyone wins - pensioners, businesses, and the economy.

I would like to mention that the SIU is not a strategy to benefit the largest Member States. In a truly integrated market, no Member State is peripheral. Every market, large or small, is part of Europe's growth engine.

Smaller markets, as the bigger ones, will be vital entry points into the wider European ecosystem. The goal is ensuring that all markets are fully connected to the broader system. That is where the real opportunity lies.

For local businesses, this means direct access to a much bigger playing field and pool of capital, while staying local.

In this process, everyone gains from a more efficient, more attractive European market for capital.

Yes, the transition may bring some costs, and some players may find that business models built on small scale or limited competition are no longer viable. But the benefits will follow, and once they do, they reinforce one another, compounding over time and making each next step easier and more rewarding.

As Commissioner for Financial Services, I am spending a great deal of my time visiting Member States to explain the vision behind the SIU project and to build support for it across Europe.

Creating a truly European financial ecosystem would be a transformative step, comparable in scale and impact to the establishment of the Single Market itself, with all the benefits it has brought to citizens and businesses alike. But to reach that goal, we need genuine political commitment. Too often, longstanding national preferences and protectionist reflexes continue to hold back our collective progress.

The success of the Baltic countries shows what can be achieved when markets are open, and scale is embraced. It provides a powerful example that I often highlight in my discussions across Europe - proof that integration, ambition, and openness can translate directly into economic success.

In closing, and before moving on to our panel discussion, I would like to leave you with a simple reminder: in Europe, our greatest progress has always come when we move forward together. The Single Market - once our ambition - is now our foundation.

I encourage all of you in the room today to reflect upon the benefits that a unified and truly European market for capital could bring - to your work, your businesses, and your daily lives. Keep the Savings and Investments Union on your agenda, and let's continue working together to drive momentum.

I will continue to move forward with optimism, and with a vision of a stronger, more self-reliant Europe. And I trust I can count on your support to make this vision a reality.

Thank you.