Speakers
Objectives
The EU financial sector is at a critical juncture. Europe is operating in a fundamentally new environment. Long-term interest rates are higher for longer, public and private debt remain elevated, and geopolitical fragmentation is testing the EU’s economic resilience. Growth remains sluggish across most member states. Furthermore, in several heavily indebted countries, including France, concerns about debt sustainability are resurfacing, raising the prospect of financial fragmentation within the eurozone.At the same time, the Union faces massive investment needs to achieve its green, digital and defence ambitions — needs that cannot be met by public funding alone.The discussion will examine how to overcome the long-standing fragmentation of EU financial markets and unlock progress on Banking Union and Capital Markets Union, both of which are essential to achieving scale, integration, and financial stability.
Points of discussion
- While there is general agreement on the policy priorities needed to strengthen the efficiency and resilience of the EU financial sector, there is less agreement on some of the potential trade-offs involved. How does the panel assess the potential trade-offs?
- The European Council has made clear its wish to accelerate progress in developing a Savings and Investment Union, which comprises both the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union. However, accelerated progress will require difficulty political decisions at both EU and national level that have proved impossible in the past. In that context:
– Does the panel see a way to break the long-established deadlock on Banking Union?
– Is the Commission strategy on Capital Markets Union deliverable at speed?
– Is accelerated progress on either the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union politically realistic in the context of an unfavourable economic environment, characterized by growing divergences among Member States including very different debt levels and trajectories?