Europe's top financial watchdog will be given greater powers in the coming years under plans to develop the region's capital markets—checking up on, and perhaps threatening the status of EU members' national regulators.

In a mid-term review of its ongoing Capital Markets Union project, the EU's executive European Commission set out a new nine-point plan for the development of the flagship initiative. Launched two years ago and planned for completion by 2019, it is aimed at boosting financial markets by easing the flow of money from savers through fund managers to companies.