European financial sovereignty: cooperating to build shared power

European financial sovereignty: cooperating to build shared power

In a geopolitical environment shaped by intensifying competition among major continental blocs and by the imperative of economic security, the ability to mobilise financial resources has become a key lever. For the European Union, this is a strategic challenge.

The Savings and Investments Union is intended to address this. Europe has considerable strengths, with household savings of nearly €35 trillion. The continent does not lack of resources but it sometimes lacks a coherent strategic vision. The aim must be to consolidate an efficient financial ecosystem covering the entire financing chain: from savings collection to credit distribution, from payment infrastructures to financial data, right through to long-term financing. To support this ambition, the Union must draw on the sovereign strengths of its economic and financial landscape.

This ambition is not new. Its roots can be traced back to Europe’s economic history. Duringthe nineteenth century, as industrialisation transformed the continent, cooperative movements emerged, for example in the banking sector. In Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen and Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch founded the first cooperative banks. In France, the creation of local mutual banks accompanied the development of agriculture and regionaleconomies. Similar initiatives emerged in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Finland.

The cooperative model as a pillar of Europe’s financial system at the heart of the transitions

Nearly 2,400 cooperative banks serve every day around 230 million customers across the European Union, almost one in every two Europeans. These figures also reveal a reality that is often underestimated: Europe’s financial resilience rests on a dense network of institutions rooted in local communities.

These institutions were created to meet a profoundly European need: to organise solidarity, pool risks and finance economic development. Long before European integration took institutional form, Europe was structured through networks embedded in regional economies. Today, as in the past, cooperative models can contribute significantly to strengthening Europe’s economic autonomy and represent a strategic asset for the future.

Bringing a strategic instinct to Europe’s financial agenda

Mobilising European resources in support of a common project also requires a broader reflection on the architecture of the Union’s financial system.

Openness and competition are founding principles of the Single Market. But applied without a clear strategic framework, or without adequate requirements for reciprocity and security, they can result in value being extracted from Europe rather than strengthening of our capabilities.

Strengthening our payment sovereignty must be approached holistically, ensuring for instance, in retail payment flows, to not further strengthened the position of non-European players.

Initiatives aimed at extensive standardisation of financial services, such as the Europeanretail investment strategy, or proposal requiring broad sharing of financial data, should be assessed not only from a regulatory perspective but also in light of their strategic implications. These are not merely technical issues.

The reforms needed to advance integration should avoid creating unnecessary complexity or weakening ecosystems that already function effectively. European financial integration should instead build on existing infrastructures and make the most of them. The success of the Savings and Investments Union must enable us to reduce our external dependencies and strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy. Otherwise, Europe would paradoxically risk weakening its own capabilities at the very moment it seeks to enhance its sovereignty.

For a shared approach to European financial sovereignty

Europe can no longer be seen solely as a regulated market. It must also equip itself to act in pursuit of common objectives. This means strengthening existing European financial infrastructures rather than duplicating them, ensuring shared European governance arrangements, and fully recognising the strategic contribution of cooperative models.

An important step in this direction was taken with the agreement reached by the European Commission, Parliament and Council in Cyprus on 24 April under the “One Europe, One Market” agenda. The next task is to turn ambition into action by completing the key building blocks of the Savings and Investments Union by the end of 2026.

European financial sovereignty cannot simply be declared. It must be built through a coalition of public and private actors, working closed to citizens and businesses, so that Europe can act over the long term as both an autonomous and cohesive force.

This tribune was originally published by La Tribune on 6 July 2026. The Jacques Delors Institute is republishing it as part of the Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation’s Single Market initiative.

Priscille Szeradzki
CEO, Confédération Nationale du Crédit Mutuel

Enrico Letta
President, Jacques Delors Institute