What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

9. Encourages the Member States to implement educational initiatives appropriate to all stages of life, to foster lifelong learning; understands that these initiatives should be aligned with important milestones in life, such as completing specific levels of formal education, getting on the property ladder or nearing retirement, in order to maximise the impact of such initiatives;

10. Underlines the importance of safeguarding the principles of independence and transparency when promoting measures or initiatives in the field of financial education;

11. Proposes the creation of a European Framework of Advanced Financial Skills for adults, as an extension to the existing joint framework, with modules on personal financial planning, comparing products, risk and diversification, and sustainable investment, using national learning platforms;

12. Exhorts the Member States to incentivise, through adequate policy measures, workplace-based financial education, lifelong learning and financial well-being programmes to improve informed decision-making, in particular with regard to pensions, medium- and long-term saving and investing, supplementary retirement provision and personal budgeting; highlights, in this regard, the role of civil society, especially retail investor organisations, and relevant social partners in supporting and implementing these measures, as well as the need for effective communication to citizens about their pensions and expected income;

14. Reiterates the need for tailored and community-focused initiatives, and rejects the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; notes that these initiatives should build on national measures and reflect the varying levels of financial literacy in different contexts, thereby helping to increase financial knowledge more widely and consistently; underlines the situation of women, young people, older people, persons with disabilities and impairments, and people from rural areas, and highlights the need to mobilise social partners, trade unions, retail investor organisations, chambers of commerce, the fintech sector, SME networks and civil society movements, as well as the financial services sector, in the common effort to respond to such specific needs and develop concrete projects that are as close to citizens and communities as possible, in particular citizens who are less financially literate and, therefore, more exposed to financial shocks and more vulnerable to financial fraud; calls for dedicated and targeted programmes for the most vulnerable groups, including those outside formal education;

15. Notes that young people are being exposed to, advertised and offered financial services at ever earlier ages through multiple channels, namely social media, which demonstrates the need to foster financial literacy from an early stage;

16. Highlights the need for targeted education regarding online financial scams, including pyramid schemes, pump-and-dump schemes and fraudulent investment communities; underlines that, in the light of widespread financial vulnerability, the need to raise awareness of the risks associated with indebtedness;

17. Calls for measures to strengthen the financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills of people starting new business ventures, with particular attention to entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those outside the traditional education system;

18. Encourages the Member States to allow and promote micro-credential systems for adult-learning facilitators (community leaders, social workers, union representatives);

19. Calls on the Commission to expand Erasmus+ adult-learning actions, and the relevant strands of the Digital Europe Programme, to help Member States design age-sensitive digital literacy and financial literacy courses, ensuring that older citizens and other vulnerable adults can safely use online banking, mobile payments and digital communication channels;

20. Underlines that women remain disproportionately affected by low levels of financial literacy, with 60 % of the Europeans scoring low on financial literacy being women; stresses, therefore, the need to close both the financial literacy gap and the gender pay gap, in order to empower women economically and ensure their full participation in society; calls for the EU and its Member States to guarantee that women have access to the tools, resources and opportunities required to thrive, particularly in sectors where they remain under-represented;

21. Notes that the financial education of students and young adults can also improve the financial knowledge of those who are part of their immediate circle, suggesting a potential multiplier effect associated with financial education focusing on younger people;

22. Underlines that financial literacy requires financial access and calls, therefore, on the national and European competent authorities, particularly on supervisory authorities, to enforce existing legislation to ensure that the financial instruments that are available in the market are easily accessible, risk-appropriate and tax-attractive, and that all the necessary information with regard to their conditions is provided in a transparent and understandable manner;

23. Understands that the current legal framework on financial services, despite aiming to improve transparency, protection and disclosure, is often too complex to support genuinely informed decisions for the average person; recognises the importance of guaranteeing EU citizens’ understanding of financial products and emphasises that financial education initiatives cannot replace the need for a strong investor protection framework;

24. Underlines the importance and added value of public support, namely through appropriate tax policies, for financial literacy initiatives promoted by financial services providers and industry stakeholders;

25. Recognises EU enterprises as key players in a comprehensive approach to enhancing financial literacy in the EU and as relevant contributors to citizens’ financial health;

26. Stresses that, in the context of EU or national initiatives on promoting financial literacy, priority should be given to those aimed at regions characterised by poor economic growth, low levels of savings and substantial debts incurred as a result of consumer credit, where households are at a greater risk of over-indebtedness;

27. Stresses that the strengthening of financial literacy is not possible without increased financial access for citizens; calls for the creation of more accessible financial instruments for all citizens, particularly those seeking an opportunity to make their first investments; demands that existing legislation be enforced to ensure that financial instruments are easily accessible, and that citizens are provided with the necessary information in a transparent and understandable manner; welcomes, in this regard, the Commission proposal for Savings and Investment Accounts as a supporting measure to create better financial opportunities for citizens who wish to invest, and calls for such instruments to be available in all Member States as part of a framework aimed at the creation of an investment culture in the EU;

28. Proposes the creation of a voluntary pan-European network of stakeholders and competent authorities both at national and European level to build on concrete transversal and comprehensive solutions to enhance financial literacy levels and bring about long-term behavioural changes in areas such as budgeting, saving and selecting appropriate products, including research on current knowledge gaps; emphasises that this network should be technical in nature, should be free of political and commercial interference, and should have a transparent governance structure; stresses, to this end, the need to avoid the creation of permanent bureaucratic structures and to keep the use of costly external consulting services to a minimum, with a view to providing the resources available to services and projects aimed directly at EU citizens;

29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to organise regular workshops, with the objective of promoting a similar pan-European network and community of financial literacy practitioners from the private sector and not-for-profit organisations; stresses that best practice, codes of conduct and guiding principles on financial literacy should not be developed in silos; urges the Commission, therefore, to consider involving governmental agencies and national competent authorities in this community on an ad-hoc or permanent basis;

30. Emphasises that investment in financial literacy yields high returns in the context of economic growth and the strengthening of individual, business and public finances; welcomes, therefore, the pilot project on financial literacy that was recently approved as part of the EU’s 2026 budget;

31. Highlights that all strategies, at both Member State and EU level, should be developed and implemented in coordination with public authorities, citizens’ organisations, universities, trade unions and private stakeholders; stresses that measures developed by national governments and the Commission should take into account the role of market participants;

32. Calls on the Member States to incorporate financial literacy indicators into their financial inclusion strategies, and to promote saving and private investment via innovative legal and administrative instruments;

33. Calls on the Council to issue a recommendation establishing common principles and minimum standards for financial education, based on an approach that involves cooperation between the public sector and private actors; proposes that the EU point of reference for compiling good practice, research and tools should automatically incorporate contributions from universities, civil society organisations, think tanks and financial entities that are already promoting initiatives with good results;

Financial literacy as a cornerstone of the savings and investments union

34. Welcomes the Commission’s communication of 30 September 2025 on a Financial Literacy Strategy for the EU and takes note of its four pillars, underlining that such an important initiative must be followed up, where appropriate, with concrete measures as soon as possible;

35. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to run an extensive communication and social media campaign on financial literacy, as set out in the EU Financial Literacy Strategy; believes that such a campaign should be permanent, multilingual and EU-wide, developed in cooperation with national authorities, public service broadcasters, cultural networks and independent fact-checking organisations, and aimed at debunking financial disinformation, promoting safe online behaviour and alerting citizens – especially young and older people – to prevalent financial scams; believes that national competent authorities should conduct targeted outreach through social and traditional media to strengthen awareness and improve financial literacy;

36. Recalls that the European Council has asked for urgent measures, starting in schools, to promote financial knowledge in society; underlines that the new EU Financial Literacy Strategy and the measures set out therein are intended to significantly improve levels of financial education across Europe and should be leveraged as a tool for promoting economic growth and competitiveness, as well as financial equality and equal opportunities;

37. Notes that the Commission’s Financial Literacy Strategy, as part of the savings and investments union, focuses on competitiveness and the release of savings and investments, but stresses that it should also include the promotion of equal opportunities and financial empowerment for all citizens; calls for concrete measures enabling citizens, particularly those in the most vulnerable groups, to build, manage and grow their wealth; urges for financial literacy to be approached comprehensively and leveraged as a tool for promoting economic growth and competitiveness, as well as financial equality and equal opportunities;

38. Stresses the importance of basing national and EU financial literacy strategies on relevant evidence and analysis, tailored to the specific characteristics of each jurisdiction; recalls the need for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of financial literacy, in order to provide comparable data to assess progress over time, and stresses that it is vital to learn from best practice in individual Member States;

39. Calls on the Commission to include entrepreneurship in the scope of the Financial Literacy Strategy and in a toolkit for Member States to enhance coordination in this respect;

40. Supports the goal of delivering an EU action plan on online financial fraud, and recalls the need to address high levels of financial fraud with sound prevention and mitigation measures at the regulatory, supervisory and administrative levels;

41. Stresses the need to focus efforts on pension literacy to contribute to retirement security for citizens in the EU and to guarantee that EU citizens are aware of the importance of public statutory pensions, occupational pensions and supplementary personal pensions; recalls the importance of insurance and pension products as saving channels beneficial to both citizens’ financial health and security and competitive capital markets, boosting the development of the savings and investments union;

42. Invites the Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities to maintain, expand and regularly update a searchable and accessible EU repository of EU and national financial education initiatives, as described in the Commission’s communication, including best practice on workplace programmes, youth engagement projects and community-based approaches to support scaling-up on Member States’ good examples; emphasises that this repository should be based on existing platforms and infrastructure and should leverage existing national and private resources as much as possible to prevent the duplication of work, which would place a greater strain on the EU budget; stresses that the focus should be on the quality and comparability of the information available; insists that this repository must have a dedicated section on resources for cybersecurity and scam prevention, created in cooperation with national cybersecurity agencies; underlines that the repository should also include innovative and proven initiatives from non-EU countries that could serve as blueprints for EU action, while remaining cost-efficient and not creating an undue additional administrative burden for the stakeholders involved;

43. Stresses that financial literacy projects that are financed or co-financed by the EU or run by public authorities should be supported by rigorous assessment tools, including, where appropriate, ex post evaluations or questionnaires designed to assess the development of financial knowledge among the recipients of financial literacy education, and the extent to which their financial habits have changed;

44. Calls on the Commission to report, by the end of 2027, on the uptake and effectiveness of the Financial Literacy Strategy – with information disaggregated per Member State and per target area, where appropriate – including the outcome of the ambassadors’ network, the proposed code of conduct and the EU-wide communication campaign, proposing further action if deemed necessary; invites the Commission to present these findings to Parliament; calls on the Commission to publish a progress report every three years, in this regard, and/or an Eurobarometer survey on financial literacy;

45. Recognises that financial literacy can be derived from many sources, and that the existence of multiple approaches is beneficial; recognises, also, that people are already exploring opportunities for retail investment through easy-to-use products such as exchange-traded funds, often via online portals or digital applications; stresses the value for society and for individual financial security of increased financial market participation by retail investors, provided their involvement is informed; welcomes the move towards a culture of investment among EU citizens, driven in part by media and online engagement, and calls for this to be accelerated;

46. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to moving towards regulatory simplification, and expects that its efforts in this regard will lead to less complexity in financial products, while safeguarding high standards of investor protection; asks the Commission to apply the principles of its Financial Literacy Strategy, as well as the principles of proportionality, subsidiarity and evidence-based analysis, in the context of possible initiatives on banking, financial markets or insurance regulatory frameworks in order to make financial products more transparent and easier to understand for end users, without undermining existing standards of protection for consumers and investors; considers it important, furthermore, to consider these principles in the planned education package, anticipated in the Commission’s 2026 work programme;

47. Stresses the need for systematic policy coherence across financial literacy, retail investor protection rules, the European blueprint for Savings and Investment Accounts, other initiatives under the savings and investments union, and banking and financial market regulations, to guarantee the protection of consumers and safeguard the offering of transparent, risk-appropriate but easily accessible financial products for citizens;

48. Stresses that financial literacy must also cover cybersecurity skills, including the recognition of phishing attempts, online scams and AI-generated fraud, and calls on the Commission to link its financial literacy and cybersecurity strategies through coordinated public awareness campaigns;

49. Supports the designation of an annual ‘European Financial Education Day’ to promote ongoing awareness-raising initiatives, following up on the European Economic and Social Committee's opinion of 16 July 2025 entitled ‘Financial literacy and education for Europeans’;

50. Reiterates its call for systematic coherence with legislative instruments beyond financial services and the banking sector, and underlines the importance of guaranteeing that financial literacy matters are taken into account in the context of the future digital fairness act and the enforcement of the Digital Services Act, so that the duties of online platforms and consumer-law rules support financial literacy outcomes and safe digital investment journeys;

51. Points out that the digital revolution brought about by AI offers an opportunity to combine financial education with digital literacy, as financial education can be personalised using AI and various digital tools; calls on the Commission to explore, in a report to be presented to Parliament, the potential, risks and limitations of AI in promoting financial literacy, including personalised AI-driven education tools tailored to different user needs, and the use of AI technologies to detect fraud, scams, deepfakes and other AI-generated threats;

52. Stresses that AI can support the scale-up of affordable financial advice, enable automated personalised portfolio creation, expand financial education programmes and underpin the delivery of tailored nudges to encourage behaviours optimised for an individual’s financial goals; points out that AI tools can also entail significant risks, depending on how they are used by finfluencers; calls on the Commission to carefully consider how to address the impact of AI, in this regard, and to mitigate the potential risks, including related to the use of personal data;

53. Encourages the Commission to integrate national comparison schemes for Savings and Investment Accounts into an EU comparison mechanism, with all-in fee comparison calculators and visual explainers on aspects such as risk and return, compounding, inflation and fees, among others;

54. Reiterates, in this regard, that the portability of Savings and Investment Accounts across providers and borders is important to fulfil the goals of the savings and investments union and increase financial awareness and literacy; understands, in this context, that the portability of EU Savings and Investment Accounts should be low-cost and should not trigger taxable events;

55. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly evaluate the possibility of producing a comprehensive report, to identify the need and added value of possible targeted legislative initiatives to adapt and simplify essential legislation to the political objectives of enhancing financial, digital, data and media literacy;

56. Underlines the importance of financial literacy initiatives and content in also addressing the real-economy impact of investments driven by corporate social responsibility standards, namely environmental, social and governance standards, and their broader value to society;

57. Underlines the potential added value of projects on financial literacy, digital influence and retail-investor protection within the Horizon Europe programme, in line with the need to attract global behavioural finance talent to the EU;

58. Stresses the importance of integrating comprehensive evidence-based information on crypto-assets into financial education initiatives;

The responsibility of finfluencers and digitalisation for enhancing financial literacy in Europe

59. Highlights the growing role of finfluencers as intermediaries of financial information who often target young and previously underserved audiences; notes their potential to improve financial literacy, but recalls that they must comply with existing financial promotion and consumer-protection rules, and have greater responsibility and accountability towards their audiences; recognises the increasing prominence of finfluencers as the main vehicles of commercial communications on financial or investment services for certain groups;

60. Understands that social media content provides an accessible flow of information to the public, and emphasises that the aim of any financial literacy initiatives should be to promote responsible and accessible knowledge-sharing, and not to restrict the creativity or reach of finfluencers;

61. Reiterates that there is a sharp distinction between finfluencers who operate transparently, i.e. those who declare conflicts of interest and provide educational content, and individuals who use financial education as a smokescreen, acting fraudulently or with malicious intent, promoting unauthorised products or giving unqualified advice, including by messaging people directly or sending links to group messages, to promote speculative products and betting or gambling services, often in breach of EU rules on false advertising and consumer protection; recognises that the core activity of some of these finfluencers is often based on attracting attention, and that this can lead to the promotion of high-risk, speculative products unsuitable for retail investors, which requires a specific approach by national and EU authorities; stresses, therefore, the need for effective cross-border enforcement of EU law in this regard, and underlines the role of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network in ensuring this;

62. Encourages the finfluencer community to receive financial training to enable them to produce independent content and check the veracity of information; encourages the Member States to offer training to finfluencers on legal obligations and the basics of financial education, delivered by public authorities and accredited providers;