The rate has since fallen to 8.2% – but this is not a value that we can content ourselves with. The member states hit especially hard by the crisis have made huge strides: they have reduced new government borrowing, cut their current account deficits, improved their competitiveness and implemented structural reforms.
First of all, let me take a global perspective: DORA, which forms part of the EU’s digital finance package, takes an increasingly important area of digital finance regulation to the next level. This will open up opportunities for the EU to take a leading role in the field of digital financial services. We could even enhance our digital and financial sovereignty in the EU.