Last week in , two EU initiatives sparked significant controversy and heated discussions on social networks. First, the European Commission presented the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030, which aims to enable member states to invest more rapidly and significantly in their sectors. Second, the Commission introduced its strategy for a savings and investment union. This strategy is designed to create more incentives for investment, allowing Europe-wide funds to be established, making it easier for citizens to invest their money in various sectors, including environmental, digital technology and defense.
Claim: Social media posts suggested these new plans threatened the private savings of European citizens. For example, one user on X wrote: “The European Commission plans to take €10 trillion of citizens’ savings for EU defense. This is economic suicide. *Get your money out of European banks. They’re going to take your money from your bank account.”
Multiple users on X have shared posts with identical wording (Examples 1, 2). Additionally, videos with alarming messages are circulating on YouTube and Telegram (Examples 1, 2): “The EU is reaching for our savings! Under the guise of ‘defense,’ billions of private funds are set to flow into the arms industry. Democracy is a thing of the past — now Brussels and Ursula von der Leyen are deciding what happens with our money. Forced investment for war?”
DW Fact check: False
Does the EU have direct access to savers’ private assets?
The Savings and Investment Union, unveiled on March 19, is the revival of a long-discussed vision known as the Capital Markets Union. “It is an effort to create a unified capital market for Europe, harmonize laws, eliminate borders, and establish common European investment opportunities,” Florian Heider, scientific director at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research in Frankfurt am Main, explained in an interview with DW.
Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Bank, says, “we have a significant need for investment in Europe that cannot be met by the state alone. Private investment is also essential. There is a substantial amount of savings in Europe sitting in bank accounts at low interest rates. The question is: Can’t this dormant cash be used for more productive economic investment?”
According to the EU, around €10 trillion ($10.1 trillion) is currently held in ordinary bank accounts across Europe. The EU aims to create incentives for citizens to invest their savings in the capital markets, for example, to secure savings for retirement. Additionally, small and medium-sized enterprises are to be given easier access to capital at the European level. However, what is intended as an offer has been perceived by some social media users as a form of expropriation.
“The money is yours. The only way for the state to access people’s money is through taxes,” says Heider. He views the EU’s initiative as an attempt to create more transparency and understanding of the financial markets: “You don’t know what the bank does with the money in your savings account. For instance, you don’t know which companies your bank lends money to,” he explains.”By investing in the capital market, you can choose exactly where you want to invest. The EU wants to give you more control, which is the opposite of expropriation.”
Can the EU invest savers’ money in defense?
Another accusation is that the EU would invest savers’ money in defense without their knowledge. Many X posts refer to a report by Russian news agency TASS. The original report from March 5 states at the beginning that, “the European Commission estimates the total level of unused savings of EU citizens at €10 trillion, and it intends to find ways to mobilize this money to finance its plans to militarize Europe and support the European military-industrial complex.”
The suggestion here is that the EU’s new Savings and Investment Union will take savers’ money for military purposes without their consent or knowledge.
“The headline in question is a clear example of Russian information manipulation. As clearly outlined by President von der Leyen, Commissioner Albuquerque and a wide variety of official EU Commission publications, EU citizens enjoy and will continue enjoying full freedom to invest based on their personal choices: they will always have total control of where they want to keep and allocate their money,” said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill in response to a DW inquiry.
In short, anyone who wants to invest in defense can do so. “But nobody can force savers to do something with their money that they don’t want to,” says Brzeski.
Stoking fears
Some claims on social media even advocate withdrawing money from the EU. According to Heider, such claims are deliberate disinformation. “The intention behind this is to weaken Europe. If the money is not in Europe, it benefits other countries, not Europe. Of course, you can invest in third countries. However, the advantage of the eurozone is that it is legally secure, offers deposit guarantees, and has no exchange rate risk,” he explained.
These advantages are also recognized by foreign investors and money is currently flowing into European markets. “We are observing a trend in the opposite direction. Capital is coming from the US to Europe, which is why European stock markets have performed so well in the last two to three weeks. Many investors have reallocated from the US to Europe,” Brzeski noted.
Based on the current legal system, the EU has no access to private savings accounts. On the contrary, a number EU regulations are designed to protect citizens’ savings. One example is the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which compensates investors in the event of bank failures.
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Edited by: Rachel Baig
The post Fact check: Does the EU want to “steal” private savings? appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
