FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – ECB President Christine Lagarde In view of the strained world trade, calls for the removal of hurdles in the European internal market. This means that Europe could easily compensate for the burden of the higher US tariffs: “If we only implemented a quarter of them, this would be enough to boost domestic trade so that the effects of the US tariffs on growth would be completely offset,” said Lagarde at the “Frankfurt European Banking Congress”.
According to Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel, the significant productivity gap between Europe and the United States could be closed if simpler conditions for doing business were created in Europe: “For this purpose, regulation at the European level must be simplified and harmonized.”
Lagarde: No radical steps needed – just political will
Lagarde emphasized that it is not necessary to harmonize everything in the European Union. In their opinion, it would often be sufficient, for example, for something that has been approved once in the EU to be approved in all member states. “In several important areas, the continued need for unanimity in the European Council continues to prevent meaningful progress in completing the internal market,” said the President of the European Central Bank (ECB).
“The steps we need to take are not unattainable,” Lagarde said. “They require no new treaties, no radical transformation of our Union – just the political will to use the tools we already have.”
Fragmented capital markets are slowing down Europe
According to Bundesbank President Nagel, part of the problem is that the European capital markets are still fragmented and “underdeveloped” compared to the USA. This makes it more difficult for companies in Europe to obtain the financing they need for further growth. “It is therefore crucial to quickly complete the savings and investment union,” warned Nagel./ben/DP/nas