Maria Luís Albuquerque, EU Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, hosted a group of 15 young Europeans on 4 March, under the Youth Policy Dialogue initiative, for a conversation on the future of finance. The participants, who came from across the EU, and a variety of backgrounds, were the winners of a video competition. The event provided a platform for them to voice their ideas and concerns. It also gave Commissioner Albuquerque the opportunity to discuss the proposals and ideas presented by the participants in an immediate and face‑to‑face environment.
The first block of the discussion focused on saving, investing, and financial literacy. Participants highlighted the need to bring more Europeans, in particular young ones, into capital markets. Several proposed the creation of simple, digitally available EU‑wide investment products to make capital markets more accessible. Many of the participants highlighted the importance of enhancing financial literacy from an early age. One participant proposed leveraging digital tools such as gamification or collaboration with financial influencers to address this, while another suggested launching an EU initiative to equip teachers with better resources for financial education in schools.
In the second block on digital finance and innovation, participants emphasised that digital technologies in financial services should primarily serve the interests of users. For example, one participant suggested the creation of an EU‑wide aggregator of finance applications, allowing users to view all accounts and providers in one place. Another proposed fostering the use of asset tokenisation to make financial products more accessible to retail consumers.
The final block of the discussion focused on sustainable finance. Participants called upon the Commissioner to remain ambitious in channelling funds into the green transition. One participant called for a clear and well‑defined categorisation of green financial products, aligned with the EU taxonomy, to enhance transparency and prevent greenwashing. Addressing social considerations, another participant proposed designing sustainable finance policies that direct funds toward tackling youth employment.
Commissioner Albuquerque thanked the participants for sharing their perspectives, concerns and expectations. She concluded by emphasising her commitment to take the input into account, affirming that her team would start reviewing the suggestions more closely to assess how they could be integrated into ongoing and future initiatives.
Watch the recording of the Youth Policy Dialogue Event
Related links
Financial literacy
Digital finance
Sustainable finance
Youth Policy Dialogue initiative
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