The European Commission proposed measures on Thursday to make the European Union's capital markets more competitive by easing cross-border operations and giving broader oversight to the European Securities and Markets Authority. The 27-nation EU is struggling to compete economically with the United States, China and other rivals, but could boost its competitiveness by bolstering its single market, which functions well for the exchange of goods but less well for services.

Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who wrote a report on improving the single market last year, said the biggest overall impact could come from steering the 33 trillion euros ($38.53 trillion) of private savings to the real economy. About a third of it is now held in current accounts. Letta said the 300 billion e

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