The European Commission is set to introduce a green paper setting out the priorities of the capital markets union (CMU).
The consultation paper, which will be published on 18 February, is understood to open the door to a relaxation to the Solvency II capital charges for insurers investing in infrastructure.
The Commission, under Jean-Claude Juncker, has stated its intention to create a US-style capital market at the European Union (EU) from the existing fragmented bond and equity markets.
Brussels seeks to tap the €12trn ($13.57 trillion) held by insurance companies and pension schemes in the EU to spur corporate lending and investment in long-term assets, in an attempt fill in the gap created by retrenchment by banks.
The paper is understood to include proposals for driving high-quality securitisation standards and relax capital requirements for investments in high-quality infrastructure projects.
Measures should also be included to streamline the requirements on companies raising capital and align standards for covered bonds and corporate debt markets.
EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill said that the consultation is an opportunity to identify barriers that are stopping capital from flowing and weigh up the solutions "to knock them down one by one".
Solvency II already makes a distinction between low quality and high quality securitised products, which the European regulators plan to replicate in other areas of the financial regulation.
But the treatment of infrastructure investments remains a matter of controversy. As the rules currently stand, infrastructure attracts the same capital charge as corporate bonds or equities, depending on whether insurers invest through debt or participate directly in a project.
In a letter to the European Parliament sent on 28 January, Hill announced that the Commission is working to identify lower risk infrastructure debt and equity investments that could justify creating a separate asset class attracting reduced capital charges.
The green paper will support the development of an action plan to be released in the third quarter of 2015.