What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

5. Regrets the remaining barriers to cross-border retail banking services; emphasises the potential for an integrated Banking Union to improve competition and consumer choice in the area of retail banking, including through improved opportunities for the provision of cross-border retail banking services;

6. Acknowledges the progress made on both the online and offline digital euro negotiations; welcomes the digital euro’s potential to complement and preserve cash, while enhancing the EU’s financial sovereignty and autonomy and contributing to financial inclusiveness; welcomes the finalisation of the Council’s General Approach concerning the digital euro in December 2025 and regards it as essential that Parliament finalises its own position as soon as possible;

7. Considers the progress on gender balance in financial institutions, especially in management, to be limited; stresses that diverse leadership and better access to finance for women-led firms13 enhance governance, innovation and economic performance; calls on financial institutions, stakeholders, the Commission and the Member States to adopt effective diversity strategies, monitor gender gaps and embed gender equality in supervisory and investment frameworks to ensure inclusive capital access across the EU; recalls that Parliament’s position is to uphold and give precedence to gender-balanced shortlists for future candidates; stresses the importance of ensuring gender balance at all levels of management in the institutions and bodies of the EU that are responsible for the Banking Union;

8. Notes that following the increases in ECB interest rates the profitability and resilience of EU banks have significantly improved14 and remained high in 2025; emphasises that this profitability and resilience can support essential investment in the EU economy and the funding of households and companies, in particular SMEs and start-ups, as well as young professionals; underlines the important role played by banks in supporting SMEs and local economies and calls on the Commission to ensure that any regulation remains risk-sensitive; emphasises that credit institutions receiving State aid must operate within prudent parameters on dividends, buy-backs and variable remuneration;

9. Stresses that the proper functioning and credibility of the Banking Union also depend on full respect for, and effective enforcement of, EU consumer protection law in the banking sector; highlights the fact that credit institutions must refrain from using unfair contractual terms and commercial practices, particularly in mortgage and retail lending; underlines the fact that consumers, including borrowers, must benefit from effective protection, legal certainty and access to effective redress; in this respect, calls on the Member States and competent authorities to ensure robust supervision and enforcement measures in cases of breach; further stresses the importance of ensuring adequate protection of primary residences, especially in the case of vulnerable households, taking into account the size of the residence and whether borrowers have already repaid a substantial part of their loan, such as 50 % of the initial loan;

10. Welcomes AMLA’s role in strengthening the EU’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing; calls for consistent implementation, enhanced cooperation, information sharing and coordinated enforcement across the EU; stresses the need for efficient cooperation between AMLA and the European Supervisory Authorities and prudential authorities; highlights the need for AMLA to adhere to the principle of proportionality and coordination in its supervisory and regulatory work;

11. Underlines the fact that robust, proportionate, consistent and timely financial reporting is vital for supervision and stability; stresses the importance of legal certainty, predictability and stability for the banking sector, and that simplification must not weaken prudential, resilience, consumer protection or stability standards; highlights the need for further measures to promote digitalisation and simplification while maintaining those standards; calls for a balanced and more integrated approach, including a centralised data hub, built on standardised definitions, a common data dictionary and a shared request repository, so as to cut unnecessary complexity across authorities, reduce duplication and improve data quality, while preserving the robustness of the Banking Union framework;

12. Acknowledges the institutional and regulatory progress that has strengthened the resilience of euro area banks; notes that significant barriers to unlocking the full potential of the EU single market for financial services remain; calls for the Commission, the Member States and EU bodies to match ambitions with concrete steps to complete the SIU and the single market, boosting simplification and competitiveness; calls on the Commission to propose, in its 2026 report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector, meaningful actions aimed at increasing the competitiveness of EU banks, while safeguarding banks’ essential role in financing the investments necessary to deliver the Union’s green and digital transitions;

13. Stresses that, given the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, potentially overvalued stock markets and recent instances of turmoil in the United States following opaque lending in the non-bank (private credit) sector, supervisors should maintain a forward-looking perspective and sufficiently monitor risks, and that banks should maintain adequate capital buffers and be operationally resilient; highlights, in this regard, the need to improve supervision and resilience of non-bank financial intermediaries; highlights that prudent supervision today can protect taxpayers, depositors and the real economy from losses tomorrow;

Supervision

14. Notes that SSM banks’ aggregate Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio reached 16.12 % in the second quarter of 2025, with return on equity (ROE) at 10.11 %, while non-performing loans (NPLs) decreased to 2.22 % and stage 2 loans stood at 9.59 %15; emphasises the need to monitor credit risk while maintaining sufficient capital and liquidity for banking sector resilience; highlights the fact that this progress on risk reduction measures has not been matched by commensurate progress on risk sharing;

15. Highlights adverse macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical headwinds, which might lead to a deterioration in asset quality;

16. Notes that banks are increasingly exposed to NBFIs, creating potential risks from liquidity to counterparty exposure, and calls for comprehensive European supervision of the NBFI sector; underlines the fact that international and EU bodies have repeatedly highlighted the risks from the non-banking sector, notably due to its increased interconnectedness with the traditional banking sector; supports system-wide stress tests to assess core market resilience; urges the Commission to examine gaps in the supervisory toolkit, including liquidity and systemic risks, and to propose measures to safeguard financial stability, where appropriate;

17. Welcomes the finalisation and implementation of the Basel III framework, which will strengthen resilience in the EU; notes that other jurisdictions have pursued a less ambitious implementation agenda; underlines the continued lack of clarity concerning the implementation of the Basel III standards in some other jurisdictions; recalls that the SSM has repeatedly stated that the implementation of the fundamental review of the trading book would strengthen the resilience of EU banks and not undermine their competitiveness; calls on the Commission to review equivalence decisions with jurisdictions not implementing those standards;

18. Takes note of an ECB publication16 suggesting that high capital requirements do not hamper banks’ competitiveness, but rather ensure banks’ resilience and ability to finance the economy throughout the cycle;

19. Regrets the increasing number of bank branch closures, affecting vulnerable and peripheral communities; recalls citizens’ right to access basic financial services; underlines smaller banks’ role in access to services to households and small businesses; highlights the fact that the diversity of banking business models enhances the resilience of the financial system; acknowledges the importance of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in strengthening the effectiveness of the banking sector; notes with concern, however, that there have been AI-related job losses; calls on credit institutions to implement reskilling policies and ensure human oversight in automated decisions; stresses the need to safeguard job quality, fair conditions and equitable banking access;

20. Acknowledges the specific risks posed by crypto-assets, while also acknowledging the opportunities they offer, such as euro-denominated stablecoins; calls for consistent innovation-friendly supervision to ensure that innovation serves the public; calls for the EU and the national authorities to monitor exposures, address risks and counter speculative behaviours, combat financial crime and protect consumers; underlines the importance of global standards in this field;

21. Calls on the Commission, the EBA and the national competent authorities within the Banking Union to ensure the strict, consistent and faithful implementation and enforcement of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation17 as a necessary complement to the Union’s bank-based financial stability framework;

22. Takes note of the uncertainties stemming from third-country multi-issuance stablecoins for EU banks; highlights the potential regulatory arbitrage between jurisdictions, which could lead to runs on EU banks and have spillover effects;

Resolution

23. Commends the crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI) reform for providing coherent crisis management and deposit insurance, strengthening stability, protecting savings and taxpayers and ensuring better use of public money for resolution when in the public interest, within a clear regulatory framework; emphasises the need for flexibility for smaller and medium-sized banks and for the relevant authorities to be provided with effective tools, data and decision-making mechanisms to ensure a resilient and socially responsible Banking Union, and to enable them to respond effectively to bank failures and provide the necessary safeguards, supported by a regulatory framework that fosters banks’ development and contributes to a resilient and financially stable Banking Union;

24. Welcomes the provisional agreement reached on 19 November 2025 between Parliament and the Council on the Directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law, as further alignment of insolvency laws and restructuring procedures could foster the completion of the Banking Union;

25. Stresses that, in the event of bank failures, shareholders, creditors or industry-funded mechanisms should be held accountable first, and public funds should only be used as a last resort, as reliance on taxpayer money for the resolution of banks must be avoided, in line with fiscal responsibility, social justice and market discipline; stresses the need for the continuous and effective supervision of compliance with prudential and resolution rules that ensure the credibility and effective execution of tools in the event of bank failures;

26. Recalls that a sufficient minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) is essential for a credible resolution framework and for providing authorities with the flexibility to apply appropriate resolution strategies in a crisis;

27. Recalls that banks must continue to provide essential services during resolution; stresses the need for a clear, predictable framework that protects depositors and supports smaller clients and businesses, including SMEs, in particular;

28. Welcomes the Single Resolution Fund as a fully mutualised, industry-funded safety net; reiterates the call for full ratification of the agreement amending the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism to strengthen credibility, resolvability and euro area resilience; highlights the goal of taxpayer protection in the event of resolution and reiterates that beyond the agreed common backstop no additional taxpayer resources should be used for failing banks;

29. Recalls that the zero weight policy for public debt might pose a problem that needs to be addressed in line with international standards;

Deposit insurance

30. Reaffirms its strong commitment to the further development of an EDIS as the third pillar of the Banking Union; recalls that the EDIS proposal was presented in 2015; stresses that a common system of deposit protection is indispensable to ensure equal protection of depositors across the Union, to further strengthen financial stability and to significantly reduce the remaining links between banks and sovereigns; underlines that the contributions to an EDIS should take into account the risk profile of each participating sector; also underlines the importance of ensuring the full application of the current rules, thereby enabling EU banks to efficiently finance businesses across the EU and enhance competitiveness;

31. Welcomes the adoption of the CMDI package as a positive step that strengthens national deposit guarantee schemes, reinforces confidence in the banking sector and enhances the operational and legal conditions for gradually and credibly moving towards common EU protection for depositors and taxpayers; recalls the 2024 position of Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the establishment of an EDIS; strongly urges the Council to advance negotiations; calls on the new President of the Eurogroup to resume discussions on this topic as soon as possible;

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32. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European Central Bank, the Single Resolution Board and the European Banking Authority.