Speakers
Objectives
The launch of the Banking Union project was a response to the EU Sovereign crisis (2011-2012). The design of the Banking Union envisaged common supervision, resolution and deposit insurance in the euro area in order for banking services and capital to circulate freely. Only two of its pillars, European supervision and resolution, have been implemented. 10 years after its creation, the Banking Union project has not been completed and one of its main objectives – to break the feedback loop between banks and sovereigns – has not been achieved. This session will first assess the consequences of the lack of progress towards a true Banking Union for European banks and their customers, the Savings and Investment Union and Europe’s strategic autonomy. Then the debate will then focus on the reasons and concerns which explain these ring-fencing practices of host countries and the related banking fragmentation in Europe. Finally, speakers will then be invited to share their views on the policy priorities to address these long-standing home-host issues.
Points of discussion
- Financial integration as measured by the ECB has receded, rather than improved, since the start of the Banking Union project: what are the underlying reasons and the cost for European countries, their citizens and firms of not having a Banking Union?
- Why do host country supervisors continue to prevent cross-border banking groups from managing their capital or treasury centrally and freely transferring dividends out of their subsidiaries even though they generate most of their revenues outside their home country, benefit from the geographical diversification of their risks, and are subject to a single European supervision?
- What EU policy priorities and practical arrangements could overcome domestic ring-fencing policies and the lack of trust between national authorities and suppress the national bias in banking regulation and supervision in the euro area?