Brussels, Oct. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The European Commission advocates the creation of savings accounts in the European Union (EU) that allow small investments, which do not yet exist in Portugal, calling them a "good alternative" to traditional term deposits because they offer higher returns.
In an interview with Portuguese journalists in Brussels, Portuguese European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque argued in favour of Brussels' new strategy to make citizens' savings more profitable, commenting that this type of account "is clearly a good alternative" to term deposits, for "people who think they will not need the money in the near future".
"We look at the statistics, even at the evolution of the Portuguese market, [...] the returns are higher," added the official responsible for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union.
"What we really want is for European citizens - including Portuguese citizens, of course - to have all these opportunities at their disposal," she said.
Advocating a new "investment culture" in the EU, Maria Luís Albuquerque urged countries such as Portugal to create Savings and Investment Accounts to "give people the opportunity to save for a longer term, with an increase in their knowledge and understanding of what it means to take a risk in order to obtain a higher return".
"We also recommend that member states monitor these tax incentive accounts," she pointed out.
Maria Luís Albuquerque said that there is more than €11 billion in deposits in the EU that are losing value, as the interest paid on them is less than inflation, which urgently need to be put to work.
The European Commission is therefore calling on countries to create Savings and Investment Accounts for unhindered and more flexible asset purchase and sale transactions in EU countries where they do not yet exist, such as Portugal.
These are accounts provided by authorised financial service providers, including online providers, which allow small investors to invest their savings in capital market instruments.
To encourage their use, these accounts often offer tax benefits.
These are financial instruments designed to store and generate low-risk returns on citizens' money by investing it in shares, bonds or funds.
The idea is that they should be simple and accessible accounts (already existing in countries such as Sweden and Germany and which should be adopted in others) that encourage citizens to invest part of their savings.
In Portugal, these accounts do not yet exist.
Other existing options are term deposits and traditional savings accounts (safe, but with low returns), savings certificates (issued by the State, with guaranteed capital and variable interest rates), Retirement Savings Plans - PPR (with tax benefits and a focus on retirement) and funds or shares for investors with greater risk tolerance.
Most Portuguese people maintain a conservative profile and invest in capital-guaranteed financial products.
The European Commission estimates that it will generate at least €1.2 billion in 10 years by encouraging EU citizens to invest their savings in productive investments, focusing on financial literacy and more accessible models.
With less than a fifth of European citizens having a high level of financial literacy, the strategy now proposed by the EU executive also calls on countries to run communication and awareness campaigns and to fund research in this area.
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