The introduction in 2011 of an Allowance for Corporate Equity and its further extensions have almost completely eliminated the previous fiscal incentive for debt; this should stimulate firms’ raising of equity capital. Also, new stock market listings have increased, the volume of bond issues has gone up, including for medium-sized firms, and the number of mini- bond issuers has been rising.
Obviously a key goal of the CMU is to support and complement the Investment Plan for Europe. Business investment remains sluggish and weaker external and domestic demand is hampering a stronger recovery. Conclusions Due to the incompleteness of the European construction, the recent crises dramatically exposed the reversibility of even the major progress towards European financial integration made since the introduction of the euro.