In her State of the Union address (SOTEU), President von der Leyen stressed the exceptional geopolitical challenges and incredible speed of change that Europe is facing. In this new world, the EU should forge its own path and secure its own prosperity. To reach that objective, she sets out a clear ambition: a Europe that is more integrated, competitive and resilient.
Financial services are central to turning this ambition into reality. For us in Commission Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), four messages from today’s speech stand out
- Single market: We now have political agreement on the one Europe, one market roadmap. The savings and investments union (SIU) is a key part of that effort. We have a truly historic opportunity to integrate our capital markets and to better connect private funding with the EU’s enormous investment needs
- Banking: A stronger, more integrated and competitive banking sector is essential to meeting Europe’s demand for capital and therefore is a core pillar of the SIU. The Commission will put forward a new banking package focused on simplification and tackling fragmentation
- Climate resilience: Only around 25% of catastrophe losses in Europe are covered by private insurance. To address this issue, the Commission will set up a climate insurance alliance. The aim is to create a platform gathering the insurance sector, public authorities and other relevant parties to find solutions and deliver commitments to close the climate insurance gap
- Sanctions: We will be tightening our sanctions to apply further pressure on Russia. What is needed above all is the enforcement of existing sanctions. Russia is doing everything it can to get around them, so we must close any loopholes
We in DG FISMA are ready to turn these priorities into concrete action.
Alexandra Jour-Schroeder is Deputy Director General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union at the European Commission. This article was previously published on LinkedIn.
Related links
Read the full speech
Accompanying letter of intent
Rewatch the speech
All about SOTEU
Savings and investments union
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