EU's von der Leyen: Big push on capital markets union expected before the summer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will make a "big push" towards a capital markets union, which experts says would free up funds to finance defence spending as well as digital and green transitions, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

"We need a deep and liquid functioning capital market for the whole European Union (...) We agreed that this is now the time really to push this topic forward and to make progress. So before the summer, we are expecting a big push forward on that topic", she said during a joint press conference with new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Discussions on a Capital Markets Union have been dragging on for a decade and made very slow progress because of entrenched national interests, different business and financial cultures, and regulations in European countries.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Hugh Lawson)