Thank you, Nick, for the warm welcome.
Last year, I addressed this conference through a video message at the beginning of my mandate as Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union. It is a true pleasure to be here with you in person this time.
I want to congratulate Nick and the team at Afore for reaching this important milestone – ten years of this conference is no small achievement.
And I am delighted to open todays discussions. Let me just say that I share your vision for a stronger Europe with digital infrastructure that is open, integrated, and fully sovereign.
Today I want to speak to you about that shared vision.
In my view, fintech is no longer a niche sector, it has become the new standard for the entire financial industry. Put simply, financial technology is not only for fintechs.
Allow me to elaborate. While we should absolutely continue to champion startups and disruptors who push the boundaries of innovation, we should also recognise that fintech is now a core expectation for every market participant.
Large or small, new or established, online or brick-and-mortar, this is a collective evolution towards better, more accessible and more efficient services for European citizens and businesses.
The diversity in backgrounds of all of you here in the room is a clear reflection of that evolution.
The future of digital finance depends on all of you. As policymakers, we set the framework, but you, as market participants, you add the fuel.
You are the ones with the technological vision to see whats coming and the competitive drive to get there first. You define the market and the pace of innovation, and by building proprietary, world-class technology here in Europe, you are adding resilience to our entire economy.
And this is an important point. As business leaders, your job is to anticipate and manage risk – a task that has become even more demanding.
In a period of economic adjustment, geopolitical uncertainties and rapid technological change, I see many of you responding not to the risk of failure, but to the far greater risk of stagnation. At todays pace of change, standing still is not a neutral choice. You either move forward by embracing innovation, or you gradually lose relevance.
This is the kind of competitive drive that Europe needs. Your leadership gives me confidence. You continue to build, to innovate and – as you are doing here today – to challenge yourselves on how to sharpen our collective edge.
I mentioned the role of policymakers, and I would like to expand on that briefly.
In Europe, we have to be open to shaping change, rather than fearing it. This means keeping an open mind and accepting some risk.
We acted early with MiCA and the DLT Pilot Regime – aiming to enable innovation while addressing the risks.
The EU proved itself a policy and regulatory pioneer, setting what many now consider the global gold standard for digital assets regulation.
Our recent Market Integration and Supervision Package takes our DLT Pilot Regime a step further, recognising the significant potential of the technology, especially when it comes to tokenised securities.
I briefly mentioned sovereignty of infrastructure in my introduction, and I would like to reiterate that Europe must retain control over the key technologies that underpin and drive our economies.
We are also taking a forward-looking approach on open finance through our Financial Data Access proposal (FiDA). At the Commission, we see huge value in making financial services more accessible and user centric.
Personally, I believe that in a data-driven economy, consumers are entitled to be in the driving seat of their own data. They should be able to steer their own digital future.
Unfortunately, differing perspectives among certain industry stakeholders and some co-legislators have limited alignment on the need for change.
We have also listened carefully to the concerns raised about FiDA, in particular regarding costs and complexity. In response, the Commission proposed last year a set of targeted measures to further simplify the framework and reduce adjustment costs.
This initiative has the potential to be a powerful driver of innovation. Without it, progress slows, consumers miss out on better and more personalised services, and Europe risks losing ground in competitiveness.
At its core, FiDA is about creating an environment where competition acts as a genuine driver of innovation and digital development.
Competition should not be something we fear, but something we embrace as a force that strengthens our financial system, accelerates digital progress and ultimately delivers better outcomes for people and businesses across Europe.
Finance has moved on significantly in the recent past. There was a time when finance was built on two pillars: money and trust. Today, while those remain foundational, the digital age has added two more: technology and data.
These four elements are now inseparable. If even one is missing, the engine stalls. You cannot innovate, you cannot meet the standards our citizens rightfully expect, and most importantly, you cannot compete in a global market that is constantly evolving.
Id like to be clear that data sharing is not about taking data away from anyone.
It is about creating ecosystems where value grows because information can move securely, fairly, in both directions and with the user at the centre.
The battleground for financial leadership has moved to the digital frontier. Competing tomorrow means keeping up today. So, to those of you who intend to lead in this landscape: we need to hear your voices.
Innovation without capital is merely an idea. We know that for many high-risk, high-potential companies, traditional bank finance is not an option.
This is where venture capital plays a vital role. It provides the critical foundation that allows innovative firms to grow, scale and compete.
Thats why we are working to improve our rules to enable venture and growth capital funds to operate at a greater scale across the Union.
I strongly encourage you to get involved in this review and help us sharpen the framework so that it better supports the growth, competitiveness and ambition that our Union needs.
Through digital innovation in finance, the competitive landscape is being reshaped.
Competition keeps markets dynamic. It rewards efficiency and innovation. And it challenges all of us, in both public and private sectors, to continuously raise our game.
At the risk of repeating myself, healthy competition depends on access: access to infrastructure, access to customers, access to capital and access to data.
When those doors are open, innovation follows.
Ladies and gentlemen, before I close, a word on what you can expect from the EU going forward when it comes to digital innovation.
Europe will continue to build. We will build carefully. We will build collaboratively. There will be debates on the details, but our shared objective is clear: we are all aiming to create foundations that last.
Innovation has no finish line, but it needs a solid ground to run on.
I hope todays discussions are lively and challenging. Test your ideas, challenge the status quo, and continue to drive progress forward.
Thank you very much.