Use German EU Council Presidency to give Europe a fresh start

• Put financing the economy centre stage
• Ambitious goals for sustainability and digitisation 

The German private banks believe Germany should use its Presidency of the EU Council to give Europe a fresh start. “The coronavirus crisis clearly shows we need more Europe than ever. The German Council Presidency has a huge opportunity to achieve a fresh start for Europe,” said Chief Executive Andreas Krautscheid at a press briefing ahead of the summit of European heads of state and government.

“A major focus in the coming months should be on financing the economy. We banks want to be part of the solution,” said Chief Executive Christian Ossig. “Both the Franco-German initiative and the European Commission’s proposal for an EU recovery fund are ambitious and necessary projects for Europe’s future viability. 

This was the time to make Europe’s voice stronger again on the international stage; that should be the starting point for the Council Presidency, Krautscheid went on to say. A single financial market was still far from being achieved and the private banks saw a need to make up ground. “We also want to link recovery with ambitious goals in the areas of sustainability and digitisation,” said Krautscheid. 

Many EU initiatives are taking the right approach to mitigating the serious effects of the coronavirus crisis. The flexible adjustment of capital adequacy rules, for instance, sent a strong signal to Europe’s economy. It would be desirable to see a similar signal for capital markets union. The upcoming action plan should be guided by the principle that “only a strong securitisation market can build a bridge between bank loans and the capital market. We will urgently need this bridge to overcome the crisis,” said Ossig.