Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be in such good company this afternoon in Brussels; and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bruegel very warmly for its work and for its memo on EU financial services. This is a key topic for the future of the European economy, and, more generally, for European sovereignty. Yet it is marked by a mysterious and increasing gap: the more reasons we have to go forward on financial services, the less progress we make (I). In order to close this gap, three key courses of action appear of particular relevance (II).
I. A mysterious and increasing gap
Let me start by recalling four major reasons why Europe should move forward again.
First, Europe is still lagging behind in terms of economic dynamism. Over the last 25 years, GDP per capita has increased by a cumulative 25% in Europe, compared with 38% in the United States.
