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has been the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union since October 2020. She talks about the progress made during her mandate, how she sees the future of finance, and what she’ll be doing next.
You came into this role when the Commission's mandate had already started. How hard was it to hit the ground running? Especially considering you don't come from a finance background, but rather from journalism and agriculture.
Yes, but I had 16 years of experience in the European Parliament, and I think that prepared me very well for any portfolio. True, I was a specialist in agricultural economics, but I also had a qualification in accounting and finance. Of course, it was a challenge. But because I came in during Covid, I think it was different for everyone compared to previous Commissions, especially with the added difficulty of not being able to meet effectively as a College. So, although it was a big challenge, I did have the background and knowledge, but I was also very open to asking the right questions. I’m surrounded by a lot of expertise in the Commission Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA)
and in my cabinet, and rather than approach an issue with fixed views, I ask questions – why, what, when – the basic questions I would have asked as a journalist. And that helped us to make the right decisions around insurance legislation, for example, or the cyber security risks to our financial system.
One of the issues you have championed is financial literacy. How did you come to be interested in this?
One thing I have learned is that the financial system has enormous potential and power – not just in transactional ways, like investment and savings – but it has an enormous capacity for social change. Growing up on a farm, I learned the value of money by picking fruit and saving what I was given for doing that. But I’m aware that not everybody has that opportunity. I think that if we could empower people with money, particularly those who don't have a lot of resources, we could do an enormous amount of good. And I'm happy that the financial industry has heard what I've said around this. I wanted to make sure that in our work in DG FISMA and my cabinet, we look at how finance interlinks with citizens, businesses, small savers, large investors – in other words, a bigger‑picture look at the role of finance in society.
During your time as commissioner, FISMA made a lot of progress in a number of areas. Is there anything in particular that really stands out for you?
Together both with FISMA colleagues and my cabinet I think we did a lot of good work in the main areas that are part of my mandate. We did a lot of work on pursuing the capital markets union
and preserving financial stability. Apart from legislation, one of the topics of discussion was money and its role. Will we have cash? What about a digital euro
? How do we as citizens evolve in the way we use money? And Covid really changed how we look at money and how we use it. I remember leaving my wallet back in my Member State by accident and realising that actually I had everything on my phone and could make transactions. Although of course, it’s important to add that cash also has to be available. So, part of what really interested me was trying to get a conversation going with the finance industry and citizens, to see what we want as citizens from the finance industry.
If we’re talking more about specifics, one area I would highlight is anti-money laundering
. For me, the game changer really was our package, the anti-money laundering package, including a new authority. So, a European dimension to tackling money laundering. Of course, the fruits of that work will be seen during the next Commission. But I'm glad that we're handing over something that's concrete and delivered. And I think our work on cryptocurrencies and the discussions we had around that are still pivotal. Rather than ignore it, or try and ban it, we've legislated to ensure we at least have some sort of consumer protection there. One of the areas that evolved without us realising at the start of my tenure that it would be such a big topic is sanctions. However, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions packages
and their implementation became pivotal. So, we had to gear up and we've done a great deal of work. We know there is circumvention, and we have to tackle that. And a lot of the work we did went beyond the sphere of just finance – it was also geopolitical.
Would you say there’s a subject or area where the co‑legislators – the European Parliament and the European Council – maybe dropped the ball a bit? Or at least, is there an area where they could have done more?...
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