Following its February 2026 consultation on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector, the European Commission published a Communication setting out its findings. The Communication will inform the Commission’s Banking Package reforms, which are due to be published in Q1 2027.

In our response to the Communication, UK Finance:

• Support the Commission's ambition to deepen the Single Market and strengthen complementarity between banking and capital markets, while cautioning against unnecessary complexity and duplication
• Demonstrate the significant contribution that UK-based banks and financial services firms make to the EU economy
• Set out practical steps to strengthen UK-EU financial services cooperation, including reorienting the EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum so it is more forward looking, a non-time-limited equivalence decision for UK Central Counterparties (CCPs), and targeted Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) equivalence for the UK
• Distinguish between fragmentation caused by uncoordinated parallel UK and EU reforms, and fragmentation caused by deliberate market-access restrictions, such as Article 21c of CRD VI
• Promote the sharing of best practice from other jurisdictions, drawing on the UK's experience of the FCA and PRA's secondary international competitiveness and growth objective as a model for embedding a cultural shift among EU regulators
• Call for better sequencing and restraint in EU Level 1-3 rulemaking, stronger cost-benefit analysis, and continued momentum on reporting simplification
• Highlight the importance of structured, ongoing UK-EU and international coordination on global standards, including Basel implementation, crypto-assets and sustainable finance

Alongside our own submission, UK Finance helped shape the European Banking Federation’s (EBF) response to the Communication. The EBF emphasised the importance of the EU strengthening its relationships with countries whose financial institutions play a significant role in financing European priorities. It also highlighted the value of deepening financial services cooperation with the UK.