The Legal and Regulatory Aspects of the Free Movement of Capital – Towards the Capital Markets Union

The free movement of capital – as it is traditionally seen as the fourth freedom, after goods, workers and persons, services and establishment – is a long-standing objective of the European Union, a fundamental freedom at the heart of the single market. The paper summarizes the development of the free movement of capital by describing the provisions of the primary law sources and listing the prominent directives and regulations. The major challenges of the capital liberalization are demonstrated through the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, highlighting the different areas and judgments, legal principles. Finally, the situation of the Capital Market Union initiative and the Action plan are presented in details. The catching up is important for the non-euro zone states, since they could have experienced the disadvantages of the backlog in the case of the Bank Union, where the European Central Bank granted unlimited liquidity with favorable conditions for the euro-zone member banks after the financial crisis. Later even similar situation may occur on capital markets, and on the other hand, a boosting development can start. Whoever stays out, misses out