Changes between two versions
What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report
AI:What changed, in short
The report expands significantly, adding many new paragraphs on topics like digitalisation, cyber resilience, climate risks, and gender balance.3567 It updates positions on the Banking Union's completion, emphasising the missing European deposit insurance scheme and the need to avoid taxpayer bailouts.121112 It revises paragraphs on Basel III implementation, non-performing loans, and resolvability, adding calls for assessments and noting national roles.891314 The other changes are formal: a punctuation correction in a year reference.16
16 changes of substance · 1 formal · 0 of wording only
Written by AI from the two texts only · read the changes before relying on it · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
+48 added · −16 removed · 11 changed paragraphs, packaging included.
Part 3 of 3: EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
4 unchanged paragraphs
While the Banking Union – annual reports 2022 and 2023 focused on the war in Ukraine and the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, this report focuses more on the challenges for the EU and for the European Parliament, as mirrored in the new mandate of the Commission, namely the EU priorities to foster competitiveness, to strengthen the European single market and to boost economic growth.
The Union is currently at a turning point, which will determine the economic future in the upcoming decades. The 2024 reports of Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi underline that the EU needs a major turnaround to be able to compete with the US or China. Against this background, the Banking Union is a major cornerstone of competitiveness. A strengthened Banking Union will enable the EU to generate the necessary capital to make the European economy fit for the future.
EU banks play a key role in financing the required investments since bank loans are still the most important source of external financing for companies. However, EU banks suffer from a lower profitability compared to their US counterparts caused by too many regulatory hurdles and by an incomplete Banking Union. A robust and competitive banking sector is necessary to finalise the BU. In the last year, while co-legislators made much progress on crucial legislation for the Banking Union, the EU still has to monitor closely if the EU economy, EU citizens and EU banks benefit from those adopted proposals. This report provides realistic and achievable recommendations, which could help to strengthen further the Banking Union.
However, not only EU businesses need better access to capital. EU citizens are currently struggling to afford housing or to finance investments in sustainable renovations. It is therefore crucial to boost the profitability of EU banks, since this would in turn allow them to provide private households with better and easier access to affordable loans.