ECB President Supports Merz-Backed Pan-European Stock Exchange

Published OCT 22 2025

Story

Above: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde at the Frankfurt Finance & Future Summit in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 22, 2025. Image credit: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, publicly supported calls from Germany on Wednesday to form a European stock exchange during an appearance at the 2025 Frankfurt Finance & Future Summit.
Bloomberg.com
Reuters
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz first raised the prospect in an address to the German Bundestag last week, an idea Merz asserted would help European companies compete with their U.S. and Asian counterparts and preserve Europe’s economic independence.
Deutscher Bundestag
The Epoch Times
City AM
Such a system, the German chancellor claimed, would help European companies access deeper capital markets to raise finance without having to list on the New York Stock Exchange, thereby keeping the value of these companies in Europe.
Deutscher Bundestag
Following Merz’s remarks, Lagarde added on Wednesday that if Europe were “serious,” it needed to establish a European banking union and introduce “a single rule, a single supervisor and consolidation of exchanges” to Europe’s capital markets.
Bloomberg.com
Reuters
Europe’s current markets, Lagarde said, are “fragmented,” leading to less liquidity across the continent, which the ECB president argued made Europe a less attractive destination for companies and business investment.
Bloomberg.com
Reuters
Lagarde’s comments follow her assertion on Tuesday that a capital markets union was “critical” for Europe’s green transition, having previously advocated for a unified capital market to counter the continent’s demographic challenge, as well as deglobalization and decarbonization.
European Central Bank
European Central Bank

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

As challenges concerning climate, population and global stability come to the fore, Europe stands at a crossroads between autonomy and vassalage. If the continent wishes to choose the former, it must create its own unified capital market. Only through a European Stock Exchange can Europe offer the capital and finance needed to compete with the U.S. and Asia.

European Central Bank

Deutscher Bundestag

Narrative B

The concern about Europe’s stock markets is overblown, as is the belief that a single exchange will solve the continent’s real problems. Europe’s complex structure operates well, with its sophisticated systems capable of handling seamless trading despite multiple venues. The real issues are a lack of pension fund capital and its savings culture, not Europe’s market structure.

Financial Times