Europe's Largest Economies Push to Shape the Future of Capital Markets: The E6 Joint Position on MISP
The Finance Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain — informally known as the "E6" — have issued a joint position paper addressed to the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU and Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, calling for a pragmatic and ambitious path forward on the EU's Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP).
What is MISP and where does it stand?
Proposed by the European Commission on 4 December 2025, MISP is the legislative cornerstone of the EU's Savings and Investments Union (SIU) agenda. It comprises three legislative proposals — a Master Regulation, a Master Directive and a new Settlement Finality Regulation — spanning the full breadth of EU capital markets law, from trading and post-trade infrastructure to asset management and crypto-assets. For a comprehensive analysis of the package's structure, key provisions and expected legislative timeline, please refer to our client briefing on Unlocking EU Financial Market Potential on Market Infrastructure Reforms and ESMA's Supervisory Expansion, published in December 2025.
Council Working Party discussions began in mid-December 2025 and have continued through early 2026. With the Cypriot Presidency at the helm, Council negotiations are now entering a more decisive phase — and the E6 letter arrives at exactly this moment, aiming to inject political momentum and outline areas for compromise for the rest of the Member States.
Six priorities, one message: Move fast, stay balanced
The E6, in line with their previous political stance on the integration of EU capital markets, calls for an ambitious way forward. They frame deeper capital market integration as an economic and geopolitical necessity for European sovereignty. Their joint paper identifies six priority areas where they believe a constructive compromise is within reach:
- Cross-border fund distribution: harmonise distribution rules further while replacing the Commission's proposed periodic review mechanisms with lighter, more flexible supervisory colleges involving NCAs and ESMA.
- Equity market transparency:strengthen pre- and post-trade transparency obligations for Systematic Internalisers and review waiver regimes to level the playing field between banks and trading venues.
- Market infrastructure supervision:accept in principle the transfer of significant CCPs, CSDs and Pan-European Market Operators (PEMO) to direct ESMA supervision, but insist on a phased transitional period during which ESMA operates alongside NCAs until it has built the required operational and institutional capacity.
- Crypto-asset markets:endorse a differentiated ESMA supervision model for significant CASPs under MiCAR, while expanding EBA oversight to cover stablecoins issued under multi-issuance models.
- Innovative financial technologies:back a permanent, expanded DLT Pilot Regime and call for swift deployment of tokenisation, including MiCA-compliant E-Money Tokens for settlement, with ESMA equipped with an explicit innovation mandate.
- ESMA governance reform:demand clearer delineation of responsibilities between ESMA and NCAs, merit-based Executive Board composition, robust budgetary controls and fair fee structures.
Why this matters
The E6 joint position is more than a political signal, it represents the six largest capital market jurisdictions in the EU speaking with a single voice at a critical juncture in the legislative process. Their willingness to accept expanded ESMA supervision, provided it comes with a well-structured transition, may prove decisive for unlocking a Council general approach.
As our Client Briefing highlights, the political negotiations to finalise the agreement are expected to be particularly controversial on precisely this question of EU- versus national-level supervision — making the E6's readiness to compromise on the institutional question all the more significant. That said, the discussion also has another political dimension, and this is the question of when ESMA should receive enhanced powers, as this could potentially be another point of division among Member States beyond good intentions
The monthly meeting of Economy and Financial Ministers (ECOFIN) taking place in Luxembourg on 12 June will be a key date to see a potential agreement at Council level. Any agreement should be supported by a qualified majority of Member States i.e. 15 countries representing at least 65 percent of the EU population.
With trilogues between the Council and the European Parliament not expected to begin before the respective Council and Parliament positions are agreed, meaning that market implementation will potentially not be landing before 2027–2029, the E6 members are clearly trying to keep up the political momentum.
The letter, building on a prior joint statement from 11 March 2026 on advancing the SIU, signals that the E6 are prepared to accelerate — and that the Irish Presidency, which will take over from Cyprus on June 1st, has strong political backing to push for a deal.
