Good afternoon, everyone.

Many thanks to Eurofi for inviting me to speak to you today. These events attract a broad audience and provide opportunities for valuable discussions. We share a common goal: to make our markets more efficient and resilient, and to bring wealth and growth to European citizens and businesses.

The Commission has set the priorities for our Union in complex circumstances. We are ambitious, clear, and committed to deliver. Our focus is on the Single Market, our main strength and compass for sustainable growth.

We cannot afford not to have a Single Market for financial services. The recently presented Savings and Investments Union is a tool for growth and competitiveness and reinforces our resilience to shocks.

Our aim is to boost the European economy and increase household wealth. There is a lot of work to do to get there. Many of you here will be key enablers of this Union. It is important you understand this cannot happen without your involvement.

In these changing times, we must remember that Europe comes together and moves forward in times of stress. President von der Leyen said in response to recent US tariffs: Europe has everything it needs to weather this storm... If you take on one of us, you take on all of us. Our unity is our strength.

We strive for a more competitive, green, digital, and fair Europe, where citizens can build wealth and companies can grow. We also want a more secure Europe. We face extraordinary threats to our security and must mobilize European resources to strengthen our defense.

Without economic growth, our goals will remain out of reach. Today, I want to talk about our plan for a Savings and Investments Union that fosters citizens wealth and economic competitiveness.

Europeans are among the worlds best savers, yet their capital is often not used productively. More than 10 trillion euros sit in low-yield deposits while businesses face urgent financing needs.

Our strategy is not about quick wins on the capital market, but we want EU citizens to see investing as a way to grow their wealth in the long term.

Despite Europes abundance of innovators, obstacles drive entrepreneurs to other markets. The Savings and Investments Union seeks to bridge this gap, especially in digital innovation, climate transition, and defense.

To unlock financing, we must expand our investor base and make retail investment more attractive with adequate protections, fairer access, and better long-term opportunities.

Our strategy has four pillars: citizens and savings, investment and financing, integration and scale, and efficient supervision.

Under the citizens and savings pillar, we will take actions to make investing in the EU easier and more beneficial for our citizens.

We will present a financial literacy strategy so that citizens know how to make their money work, with a clear understanding of the risks and benefits of their investments.

We will leverage best practices in Europe to create a savings and investments account blueprint for all Europeans to benefit from.

Pensions are also a key part of our plan and essential for boosting investment in Europe and providing quality pensions for citizens. We will present recommendations to promote auto-enrollment in occupational pension schemes.

On investment and financing, we will work to facilitate companies access to diversified sources of finance, including cross-border.

We aim to engage institutional investors more with European companies, including through venture capital, private equity, and infrastructure investments.

This involves looking at the prudential treatment of insurers and banks long-term investments in equity.

We will also review legislation on European Venture Capital Funds to facilitate equity financing for our high-tech and innovative companies.

We will review EU rules on securitization, including prudential requirements for banks and insurers, to free up lending capacity in banks.

Differences in national tax procedures can create administrative burdens and barriers to cross-border investment, so we will also address this.

Regarding integration and scale: we must ensure that our markets operate efficiently and remain resilient to shocks.

European firms often cannot enjoy the scale and synergies of the Single Market, a huge competitive disadvantage for the EU.

We will bring bold proposals to break down barriers that hold back cross-border operations of market infrastructures, asset management, and fund distribution.

This will help financial players scale across the EU and lower costs for businesses and citizens alike.

On supervision: we seek more efficiencies without sacrificing the integrity of our capital markets. Strong supervision provides a stable base.

We must ensure equal treatment for all financial market actors, wherever they operate in the EU.

We have a single rulebook, but national authorities often apply rules differently. In some cases, this is due to concerns about financial system safety, but in others, it is protectionist behavior.

We may not need a single supervisor in every finance sector. In some areas, we need better supervision - better supervisory convergence and a joined-up attitude from all involved authorities.

In other cases, where regulatory integration is more advanced, EU-level supervision is the right approach. Thats why we will propose legislation for a few eligible sectors to unify oversight and bring key supervisory tasks to the EU level.

The Savings and Investments Union is a sector-agnostic tool to boost European competitiveness, particularly in strategically important sectors like defense.

Europe faces extraordinary threats to its security, but we have what it takes to address it.

The defense sector is a clear priority, as highlighted in the ReArm Europe plan. We must unlock access to private finance for these companies, and banks and institutional investors must consider investing in the defense sector.

There is a growing shift in mindset on defense investing. The current reality is that defense is a critical public good - now more than ever. And there is a clear business case for investing in defense, investing in our collective security.

The Savings and Investments Union will also help ensure that all companies in the defense sector, from established players to innovative newcomers, have greater access to funding opportunities.

Better than anyone else, you, the industry, can understand the advantages of a deep, competitive, efficient, single market for financial services. A single market where you can operate across borders, where portfolios are diversified, and where you can see direct impacts of your investments in European growth. A Single Market where your clients are located anywhere in Europe and are confident to invest across borders.

You can also recognize the benefits of seamless market infrastructures, robust and interconnected, where procedures are simple.

And you can recognize the advantages of single supervision and a single legal framework that guarantees a true level playing field.

The Savings and Investments Union aims to achieve on all those fronts. It is up to us in the Commission, to the Member States, to the European Parliament, and to you, the industry, to live up to that task. And to ensure our Single Market is indeed single.

Thank you.