“The new European Commission faces the testing challenge of holding Europe together and moving it forward in an environment that hasn’t become any easier over the past few months due to looming trade wars and Brexit,” said Andreas Krautscheid, the Association of German Banks’ chief executive, commenting on the new Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, that was elected today by the European Parliament. “The private banks want more, not less, Europe. As a bulwark against nationalist trends, open societies need more positive experience of Europe in daily life. That also goes for cross-border banking services for customers: it’s time we finally completed the single European financial market and enabled European banks to hold their own in the face of the growing influence of players from the US and China.”
