Resumen de Europe's long-term capital: Insufficient funding for innovation

Nicolas Marques, Cecile Philippe

• Europe is economically falling behind, and without structural reforms it will be impossible to recover lost ground. Although the scale of Europe’s decline is widely acknowledged, and the importance of savings is frequently emphasised, the long-term savings gap is frequently underestimated. Europe suffers from two major deficits – underdeveloped retirement savings and low stock market capitalisation. While unifying markets is desirable, and financial and insurance regulations should be made more flexible to encourage investment equity, these approaches alone cannot compensate for the significant decline in European long-term capital investments. Only the widespread introduction of defined contribution pension funds in European countries where they are currently lacking will significantly enhance economic financing, improve pension value for money, and help reduce public deficits.