European Union

One urgent letter after another from industry groups is landing on desks in Brussels. The carefully cultivated image of the European Union as a green role model is going up in flames.

René Repasi and Helge Lach met at the European Parliament at the invitation of Börsen Zeitung to discuss the EU’s Retail Investment Strategy, which is currently under negotiation. They agree on several points – but the conversation also reveals stark differences, particularly regarding a potential ban on commissions.

The EU is not known for its speed. It is therefore all the more surprising that rapid progress is being made in easing sustainability regulations. But will this meet the intended goals?

US President Trump's erratic tariff and geopolitical policies are hindering long term investment plans. This makes the EU single market and the euro even more attractive.

Juan Flames, Head BME and Primary Markets and Market Data at SIX Group , calls on companies to rethink their IPO strategies.

The Germans indulge in a quota obsession, the Americans in a deregulation madness. In the global financial system, however, the latter can cause more damage than the former.

One long-standing bone of contention between the European Parliament and the Council is the abolition of daylight saving time. The Council is simply leaving the dossier untouched – much to the frustration of MEPs.

The Commission's softened emissions targets for the EU car industry are guided by common sense in difficult times. A pragmatic approach is the right one.

ESMA boss Verena Ross has called for more powers to regulate cross border financial services. Consistent supervision, and less market fragmentation, remain urgent challenges for the EU capital markets.

The EU Commission is proposing significant exemptions from sustainability reporting requirements. The ‘Omnibus‘ initiative has more momentum than previous attempts to streamline bureaucracy.

Anton Hofreiter, who chairs the Bundestag's EU Committee, says that despite all the difficulties, a lot has been achieved in European policy during the outgoing legislative period. However, the Green Party politician calls for more German leadership responsibility at EU level.

Keeping up with new and amended ESG regulations will be a challenge for the finance industry in 2025, says Alexandra Themistocli, Head of ESG at SEB in Germany. But revisions to the SFDR will ease the reporting burden.

Start-ups often struggle with their pan-European ambitions due to a patchwork of national regulations. The industry-led EU Inc initiative has presented a plan for the creation of a unified EU legal structure.

The Chinese AI application DeepSeek looks to have matched ChatGPT's results with much lower investment – sending shock waves through the US stock markets. But perhaps some overhyped US tech stocks were ready for a correction anyway.

The EU Parliament has been jeopardising its own credibility with the unfortunate personnel wrangling over the designated EU Commissioners.

Following the election of Donald Trump, the EU must be prepared for disruptive moves from the White House. There is a risk that Trump will try to drive the EU member states apart.

The European economy is at a turning point following the European elections. The Green Deal is likely to be adjusted – and uncertainty is expected to increase for the business sector.

Even though the far-right parties will continue to have significantly fewer seats in the European Parliament than the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, the gains in votes to the right of centre indicate that distrust in the EU's ability to solve problems runs deep.

The Supply Chain Act is proof that the EU - after many twists and turns - is ultimately able to reach compromises, even on controversial issues, while accommodating the reservations of national governments.

EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness is pleased that Europe's legislators have agreed on new rules for clearing. However, she believes that these requirements are nowhere near strict enough. She is therefore preparing market participants for her authority to propose a tightening of the rules in two years' time.

There is a lot of talk about the Capital Markets Union – but little is happening. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has now made a proposal. Some elements of it are not convincing. But at least Le Maire is focussing attention on one crucial point.

AfD MEP Gunnar Beck claims to have been the only MEP to vote in favour of Frankfurt as the seat of the anti-money laundering authority. The message that resonates is that without him, the AMLA would never have come to Frankfurt. That is nonsense.

Europe's banks are complaining about the allegedly too tight timetables for implementing new capital requirements. However, they have advantages over their US competitors.

Just before the application deadline, Berlin raised its hand in Brussels in favor of Frankfurt as the location for the planned EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). Finance Minister Lindner actively promoted the financial hub.