Recent weeks have seen a flurry of online activity surrounding two new EU initiatives: the European Defence – Readiness 2030 White Paper and the strategy for a Savings and Investment Union. While the EU Commission touts these initiatives as beneficial for member states and individual citizens, social media platforms have been rife with claims that they represent a threat to personal savings.

The European Commission's White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030 aims to bolster the defense capabilities of member states by facilitating more rapid and substantial investment in their defense sectors. Simultaneously, the Savings and Investment Union strategy seeks to create incentives for investment, encouraging the establishment of Europe-wide funds. This would, in theory, allow citizens to invest in various sectors, including environmental projects, digital technology, and even defense. EU Commission President von der Leyen has stated that these initiatives will offer households “more and safer opportunities to invest in capital markets and increase their wealth.”

However, these initiatives have been met with skepticism and alarm online. Social media posts have suggested that the EU plans to seize private savings to fund its defense agenda. One user on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that the European Commission intends to take €10 trillion of citizens' savings for EU defense, which they deemed “economic suicide,” urging people to withdraw their money from European banks. Similar messages have been echoed across multiple X accounts, and videos circulating on YouTube and Telegram warn that the EU is attempting to access citizens' savings under the guise of defense, diverting billions of private funds into the arms industry.

These claims are unfounded. According to DW Fact check, the EU does not have direct access to savers' private assets. The Savings and Investment Union is a revival of the Capital Markets Union, aiming to create a unified capital market for Europe by harmonizing laws, eliminating borders, and establishing common European investment opportunities. Florian Heider, scientific director at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research in Frankfurt am Main, clarified that the initiative seeks to create more transparency and understanding of financial markets, giving individuals more control over their investments.

Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Bank, emphasizes the necessity of private investment to supplement state funding in Europe. With approximately €10 trillion sitting in ordinary bank accounts across Europe, the EU aims to incentivize citizens to invest these savings in capital markets, potentially securing their retirement funds and providing small and medium-sized enterprises with easier access to capital. This initiative is intended as an opportunity, not a form of expropriation. As Heider points out, the state can only access people's money through taxes, and the EU's goal is to empower individuals with more control over their investments.

The accusation that the EU intends to invest savers' money in defense without their consent is also false. Many social media posts cite a report by Russian news agency TASS, which suggests that the EU plans to mobilize unused savings to finance its militarization plans and support the European military-industrial complex. However, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill has refuted these claims, stating that EU citizens will continue to have full freedom to invest based on their personal choices and will always have total control over how they allocate their money. While individuals can choose to invest in defense, nobody can force them to do so against their will.

Some social media posts even advocate for withdrawing money from the EU, which Heider identifies as deliberate disinformation aimed at weakening Europe. Capital leaving Europe would benefit other countries, while the eurozone offers legal security, deposit guarantees, and no exchange rate risk. In fact, there is a trend of capital flowing from the US to Europe, boosting European stock markets.

The EU operates under a legal system that protects citizens' savings. Numerous EU regulations, such as the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, are designed to compensate investors in the event of bank failures. The claims circulating on social media are, therefore, misleading and untrue.