Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 11, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 11, 2026
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BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The European Union must simplify its regulations on companies doing business in the region in order to make the bloc more competitive against the likes of the United States and China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
"Let me take the U.S. example again. One financial system, one financial capital, and a handful of other financial centres. Here in Europe, we do not only have 27 different financial systems, each with its own supervisor," she said at a speech in the European Parliament.
"But also, more than 300 trading venues across our Union. That is fragmentation on steroids. We need one large, deep and liquid capital market. And this is the goal of our Savings and Investment Union," she added.
Von der Leyen added she would propose EU leaders endorse at a March EU summit a joint single market roadmap to 2028, with a clear timetable on when steps to deepen the EU's single market are taken.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer;Writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
Regulatory simplification refers to the process of reducing the complexity of laws and regulations to make compliance easier for businesses and enhance competitiveness.
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, and upholding EU treaties.
Capital markets are financial markets where long-term debt or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, facilitating the raising of capital.
The Savings and Investment Union is an initiative aimed at creating a deeper and more integrated capital market within the EU to enhance investment opportunities.
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