Europe must work to unleash the untapped potential of its internal market, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said, noting that she given the very same message in 2019 – before Russia’s war on Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s disruptive second presidency.
Speaking at the annual European Banking Congress in Frankfurt, Lagarde said the ECB estimates that internal barriers in services and goods markets are equivalent to tariffs of around 100 percent and 65 percent, respectively.
While acknowledging that barriers cannot be removed entirely, she pointed out to three key steps to boost potential. These include a overhaul of EU governance to see the bloc move to qualified majority voting to avoid legislation being bogged down by individual vetoes. The EU should also introduce a pan-European regime for corporate law, the so-called 28th regime. Finally, it should revive the principle of mutual recognition to allow goods and services to move freely within its Single Market.
Lagarde gave political leaders a pat on the back for boosting government spending on defense and infrastructure, and for learning from the experience of past crises.
“The fiscal packages now being implemented for defense and infrastructure – especially here in Germany – are coming at the right time for Europe and will have a measurable effect on growth,” she said.