EU Must Cut Red Tape to Compete With U.S. and China, von der Leyen Says

The European Union needs to significantly simplify its regulatory framework for businesses to strengthen its global competitiveness against economic heavyweights such as the United States and China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

Speaking before the European Parliament, von der Leyen highlighted the structural fragmentation of Europe’s financial system as a major obstacle to growth and investment.

“Let me take the U.S. example again,” she said. “One financial system, one financial capital, and a handful of other financial centres. Here in Europe, we do not only have 27 different financial systems, each with its own supervisor.”

She noted that the fragmentation extends even further, with more than 300 trading venues operating across the EU, a situation she described as “fragmentation on steroids.” According to von der Leyen, this lack of scale and cohesion limits Europe’s ability to mobilize capital efficiently and compete on a global level.

To address these shortcomings, she reiterated the Commission’s ambition to create a single, deep and liquid capital market across the bloc. “We need one large, deep and liquid capital market,” she said, adding that this objective lies at the heart of the proposed Savings and Investment Union.

Von der Leyen also announced plans to push for political backing at the highest level. She said she would propose that EU leaders endorse a joint single market roadmap through 2028 at a March EU summit. The roadmap would include a clear timeline for concrete steps aimed at deepening the EU’s single market and reducing regulatory complexity.

The comments come as European policymakers face mounting pressure to boost productivity, attract investment, and prevent capital from flowing to more unified and business-friendly markets abroad.