Abstract: The invention relates to water-dispersible binders for cationic electrocoating finishes, which binders are reaction products of(A) low molecular weight epoxide resins containing aromatic groups and having an epoxide equivalent weight of below 375,(B) aliphatic and/or alicyclic polyfunctional alcohols and/or carboxylic acids having a molecular weight of below 350,(C) if appropriate up to 60% by weight, relative to the total binder, of polyfunctional alcohols, carboxylic acids and/or SH compounds having a molecular weight of 500-5,000 and(D) primary, secondary and/or tertiary amines and/or salts thereof or a sulfide/acid mixture or a phosphine/acid mixture, the reaction product of A and B containing 10-45% of aromatic groups, calculated as the phenylene group. By means of the binders, a higher layer thickness is obtained in electrocoating.