European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque expressed optimism about reaching a deal on the Capital Markets Union within a year, emphasizing the need for political will among co-legislators. The EU aims to enhance its capital markets to attract international investors and prevent capital flight to the US. Former ECB chief Mario Draghi highlighted the importance of removing internal barriers to strengthen the EU's single market, which remains incomplete. Albuquerque acknowledged challenges like gold-plating that complicate business for European companies and called for decisive action to eliminate fragmentation.