According to the announcement, the central bank governors of Germany, France, Italy, and Finland are allegedly also part of this task force.
While the ECB declined to provide further details, Germany's Bundesbank, the Bank of France, the Bank of Italy, and the Bank of Finland did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. In addition, any recommendation made by the task force would need to go to Brussels for consideration, as the European Central Bank does not have the power to change the rules set by the European Union on its own.
The development of the task force allegedly follows a letter to the European Commission from 2025, in which the central bank officials of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain expressed the need for simplifying European banking rules, which they considered inordinately complex. At the same time, a comprehensive analysis of the implications of all the standards produced in the region is expected to be carried out in order to ensure that they do not add unintended layers of rules and expectations.
In response to this, officials of the European Central Bank also defended Europe’s laws, as for the regulations to effectively address the industry’s specific needs, challenges, and vulnerabilities, they must be sufficiently detailed.
The announcement went live after the ECB underscored the urgent need for Europe to reduce its dependence on foreign-controlled digital payment systems, such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Alipay. The call also came amid increasing concerns over the continent’s overall financial sovereignty and competitiveness in the global digital economy.
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