European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Remarks by Commissioner Albuquerque at the press conference on the Report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector Brussels, 17 July 2026 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your presence. Today, the Commission is presenting its report on the competitiveness of the banking sector and the Single Market in banking. This is one of the key d...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Remarks by Commissioner Albuquerque at the press conference on the Report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector Brussels, 17 July 2026 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your presence. Today, the Commission is presenting its report on the competitiveness of the banking sector and the Single Market in banking. This is one of the key deliverables under our Savings and Investments Union Strategy. Banks have always been central to Europe's economy. They finance households, support entrepreneurs, help companies grow and provide the financial services that keep our economy moving. They will continue to be essential in financing Europe's future, including in supporting the development of integrated capital markets, to broaden and diversify businesses' funding sources. Currently, Europe's banks are resilient, well capitalised, well supervised and profitable. That is an achievement we should recognise. But being resilient is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one to ensure competitiveness. Banks need to be capable of fully supporting Europe's economy and compete in an increasingly demanding global environment. Europe faces enormous investment needs. Innovation, digitalisation, defence, energy security and climate change will require unprecedented levels of funding, both public and private. Banks will continue to play a central role in financing those investments. And that is why their competitiveness matters. Not for the sake of banks, not as an end in itself, but because a more competitive banking sector is better able to finance companies, support households and strengthen Europe's economy. This is the context in which we decided to carry out the most comprehensive assessment of the competitiveness of the European banking sector in many years. Today's Communication presents both our diagnosis and the way forward. Over the past year, through consultations, implementation dialogues, workshops and multiple meetings, we have engaged extensively with banks, supervisors, investors, businesses, academics, consumer organisations and many other stakeholders across Europe. We also benefited from the expertise of the European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the Single Resolution Board. Our objective was to understand where Europe's banking framework works well, where it creates unnecessary obstacles, and what changes are needed. And the conclusions are clear. First, banking is still too fragmented across national lines. In too many ways, banks still operate in an incomplete Single Market and incomplete Banking Union. This limits cross-border activity, reduces competition and prevents banks from reaching the scale needed to compete globally, including in capital markets. EU banks lack scale to compete, both internationally and domestically. The barriers are significant and overcoming them requires equally significant change in our system – with substantial action on all fronts. We need to reduce barriers to cross-border banking and promote greater integration in the EU banking sector. Banking groups need to be able to manage their capital and liquidity more efficiently across borders, providing adequate safeguards to host countries and building trust between authorities. The completion of the Banking Union, including a new approach on a common deposit protection mechanism to replace the 2015 EDIS proposal, is therefore a central piece of the competitiveness work. Second, the implementation of international standards does not always sufficiently reflect EU specificities. The EU has applied Basel standards broadly, including to all banks, not only the largest internationally active ones. While this has strengthened resilience, it has also increased complexity and may create disproportionate burdens, especially for smaller banks or for activities that are particularly important in Europe, such as SME financing, mortgage lending, project finance and trade finance. Other major jurisdictions also adapt international standards on a permanent basis to suit the structure of their own banking sectors. This can create an uneven playing field and put European banks at a disadvantage. The third conclusion is that the EU rulebook is too complex. The interaction between microprudential, macroprudential and resolution rules creates unnecessary complexity, while inefficient reporting requirements also impose unnecessary costs on banks. And, therefore, on banks' clients. According to the European Banking Authority, compliance with supervisory requirements costs European banks more than €24 billion every year, including more than 11 billion devoted to reporting alone. Complexity also creates uncertainty. And lack of predictability makes it harder for banks to plan, invest and allocate capital efficiently. This is all the more true for those EU banks that are small and with a simple business model. We think that a more proportionate set of rules for these banks is warranted and can deliver benefits to the EU economy, in particular to local communities and small businesses and households. Small banks are as important as large banks for EU financing diversity. These are the issues that today's Communication identifies and that we intend to address through the next phase of our work. I invite all stakeholders to go through our report, challenge our assessment, and continue the constructive dialogue, as we prepare the legislative proposals to address the barriers holding back Europe's banking sector and Europe's competitiveness. We will present a comprehensive legislative package in the first quarter of 2027. But improving competitiveness is about more than having bigger banks and improving the regulatory framework. It's also about changing our mindset and building the cultural shift that Europe's banking sector now requires. That applies to all of us, including supervisors, banks and policymakers, at both European and national level. We need to acknowledge that resilience without economic growth is not sustainable, that risk-taking is an essential ingredient to innovation and growth, that compliance is about substance not form, that common rules work much better without exceptions perpetuating national perspectives, and that our diversity should be a strength, not a handicap. Member States should recognise that everyone stands to benefit from a single market based on EU rules, and avoid gold-plating, inconsistent implementation and unjustified barriers to cross-border consolidation or activity. Ensuring a solid and efficient banking sector serves a collective purpose. Our stakeholder feedback has made that very clear. And if the goal is collective, then the responsibility must be too. Ladies and gentlemen, today's Communication is about building a banking sector that is future- oriented, aligned with a vision of a competitive European Union with strategic autonomy. Addressing the challenges of the banking sector is another important step in building the Savings and Investments Union. Together with our work on capital markets, retail investment and pensions, we are building an efficient and integrated financial system. Because Europe's future depends on the ambitious goals we set, provided we can finance them. Thank you. SPEECH/26/1650 Press contacts: Siobhan MCGARRY (+32 2 29 64798) Saul Louis GOULDING (+32 2 29 64735) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email Related media EC press conference by European Commissioner Maria Luís ALBUQUERQUE on the Report on the competitiveness of the banking sector
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