Performance of European banks

Abstract

The EU is one of the major global financial players that has been negatively affected by the recent turmoil that swept through global financial markets. Even though the recession in global economies has appeared to abate since mid-2009, there are still uncertainties concerning whether the recovery will be sustainable and whether the impact of the crisis on the EU financial integration will disappear. Today, we should ask, why is it important to monitor the EU financial integration process? The most straightforward answer is that increased competition in the EU economy as a whole has been one of the primary outcomes of the single market, and reducing financial barriers among member countries is expected to increase productivity gains. This will, in turn, generate a more efficient and competitive EU financial sector, which is important not only for the financial sector itself but also for all other sectors that rely on access to competitive sources of funding.