In May 2013, a comment in a newspaper – not the Handelsblatt1 – included the following line: “No self-respecting European is refraining from calling for the speedy launch of the banking union in public speeches at present.” Today, just under 16 months later, the banking union is truly just around the corner.
The question now is whether it can actually fulfil the expectations and hopes bound up in it. My predecessor at the Bundesbank, Sabine Lautenschläger, already spoke at length about the imminent launch of the Single Supervisory Mechanism yesterday. I would therefore like to begin by just briefly outlining the key facts about the upcoming “sea change”.