Europe's competition chief Teresa Ribera has called on European Union (EU) member states to embrace cross-border banking consolidation.
Ribera's remarks came a day after Germany formally blocked UniCredit's bid to acquire a stake in Commerzbank.
Speaking at a conference, as reported by Reuters, she described completing the single market as one of Europe's most urgent competitiveness priorities.
According to the report, her comments reflect a broader push among EU policymakers to encourage large-scale banking mergers, which they argue are necessary to mobilise the trillions of euros needed to finance the bloc's green and digital transitions.
“Cross border mergers of our large European banks would help in that direction. It is urgently needed,” she said, adding: “Member States should applaud these deals for the overall good.”
She also took aim at governments that endorse the idea of pan-European champions in rhetoric while opposing the policy measures needed to bring them about.
“Europe cannot simultaneously argue that it needs globally competitive firms and refuse to examine whether its analytical frameworks properly reflect the realities of global competition, technological transformation and investment needs”, she said.
Germany this week formally turned down UniCredit's offer for a stake in Commerzbank, raising objections over the bid price and characterising the Italian bank's approach as aggressive.
Broader progress towards a full banking union has remained sluggish.
Bankers and regulators have identified the absence of a common eurozone deposit guarantee scheme as the primary structural obstacle to deeper cross-border integration.
Separately, the European Commission earlier this month put forward a technology sovereignty package aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on suppliers from outside the EU across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and open-source technologies.
The package comprised two legislative proposals – the Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act – alongside an Open Source Strategy and a Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and AI in the Energy Sector.
