Teresa Ribera, Europe’s antitrust chief, called on EU governments to support cross-border bank mergers as part of efforts to complete the single market, reported Reuters.
Ribera remarks came a day after Germany turned down Italian bank UniCredit’s offer for shares in Germany’s Commerzbank.
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Her intervention follows renewed statements from EU officials in favour of cross-border banking consolidation, linked to the bloc’s need for multi-trillion-euro funding for green and digital projects.
Plans for a full banking union have remained stuck for some time. Bank executives and regulators have said the main barrier is the lack of a common guaranteed scheme for euro zone depositors.
“Completing the Single Market remains one of Europe’s most urgent competitiveness priorities. Cross border mergers of our large European banks would help in that direction. It is urgently needed,” Ribera said at a conference.
“Member States should applaud these deals for the overall good,” she said.
Germany recently rejected UniCredit’s proposal for Commerzbank shares, pointing to the price offered and raising concerns about what it described as the Italian lender’s aggressive approach.
Ribera also criticised countries that speak in favour of pan-European champions but do not support the steps required to make that possible.
“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.
