María Abascal calls for simplifying banking regulation to boost European competitiveness

The Director General of the AEB, María Abascal, today in Brussels defended the need to simplify the regulatory and supervisory framework of the banking sector to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and its capacity to finance economic growth.

At the closing of the European Banking Summit, she warned that the continent is going through “a decisive moment” and that banks are prepared to play a key role in building the Europe of the future.

Abascal focused her speech on Europe’s 3 priorities:

• Growth: excessive regulatory complexity and the fragmentation of the European market are limiting the ability of banks to lend, invest, and sustain productive activity. In this context, she called for a reduction in supervisory discretion and for more predictability in capital requirements in order to free up resources for the real economy.
• Innovation: Innovation is key to European strategic autonomy. Banks have the capacity to lead this transformation, but they need “clear, simple, and stable” rules that allow more resources to be allocated to technology and fewer to administrative burdens. She noted that the arrival of the digital euro and stablecoins will transform payment systems and opens “an opportunity to build a modern and competitive infrastructure.”

As an example, she cited the integration of European payment solutions, already a reality with the EuroPA and WERO alliances, in which Bizum participates, and which will soon allow interoperability for 330 million inhabitants, three-quarters of the European population.

• Security: Europe must strengthen its own capabilities in the face of a more uncertain geopolitical environment. Investment in defense and the protection of critical infrastructure “is not a luxury, but a necessity” to preserve the European model of freedoms and well-being, she argued.

Finally, María Abascal called for 2026 to be a year of action and requested firm political leadership, accompanied by close public-private cooperation. European banking “will be on the front line and will take this message to the main European capitals because,” she stated, “the continent faces a historic opportunity that it cannot afford to miss.”