The Spanish Banking Association (AEB) welcomes the report on banking competitiveness released today by the European Commission, which highlights the role of banks in ensuring a functioning and growing economy.
The Commission emphasizes the importance of having a profitable banking sector if we want sustainable growth.
Europe faces annual financing needs of 1.4 trillion euros, a figure far higher than the 800,000 million estimated for 2024, as reflected in a recent report by Oliver Wyman. It is estimated that, with the right measures, 2 trillion euros in financing capacity could be unlocked in Europe, including 250,000 million in Spain. “Effective measures must be taken now,” the AEB reiterates.
In terms of integration, the Commission’s proposals represent a major step toward strengthening the banking sector’s role in financing the economy and projects that ensure European sovereignty. Specifically, the AEB highlights the decisive push toward greater financial integration and the determination to develop the Banking Union.
At this point, it calls for progress toward a fully mutualized European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) that guarantees common protection for all savers.
With regard to regulation, initiatives aimed at improving the quality of the regulatory framework are also considered important, with a preference for regulations over directives, which are subject to national transposition.
Similarly, the plan to improve the analysis of how decisions made by regulators and supervisors affect the sector’s competitiveness is key.
The AEB also welcomes the proposal to improve supervisory coordination and avoid overlaps. This step toward more integrated supervision was a long-standing demand of the banks, given that Europe needs to mobilize massive amounts of investment to finance the digital, energy, and defense transitions, among others.
The European Commission itself has called for a collective cultural shift—on the part of authorities, banks, and politicians alike—to simplify the regulatory and supervisory framework and move from a model of total risk aversion to one in which responsible and measured risk is accepted within the system.
In any case, the AEB believes that the report could have been more ambitious in other key areas. In particular, it could have included an explicit competitiveness mandate for supervisors, consistent with the mandate to ensure financial stability.
Following the publication of the document, the AEB is calling for swift action to translate the recommendations into concrete measures, with the aim of strengthening banks’ capacity to finance Europe’s major strategic priorities.
The priorities of the Spanish banking sector in this process have been outlined in a report prepared by the three industry associations (AEB, CECA, and UNACC) in collaboration with EY. The report can be accessed at the following link.
