www.ecb.europa.eu
Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the Goldman Sachs European Financials Conference 2026
Zurich, 3 June 2026
Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
Europe is facing a set of unprecedented challenges.
The geopolitical environment is becoming increasingly fragmented. Europe remains overly dependent on external providers for energy, technology, security and key financial infrastructures such as payment systems and capital markets. Reducing these dependencies is no longer a choice, but a necessity to safeguard the European way of life.
Ensuring that our future is not determined elsewhere demands investment on an unprecedented scale. Consider that the green, digital and defence transitions will require an additional €1.2 trillion of spending per year between now and 2031.[1]
No single actor, no single sector and no single country can meet these challenges alone.
As fiscal space tightens,…