Dialogue between Frans Timmermans and financial sector about sustainable transition

10/09/20

Green Deal Monitor

A special edition of our Green Deal Monitor focuses on the meeting which PwC organised on 8 September 2020 between a number of European directors from the financial sector and Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans of the European Commission. The topic of discussion was the transition that the European Union wants to make to an economy which is smart and innovative by 2050, while at the same time being emission-free and circular and benefiting all Europeans. The Green Deal is part of the strategy to realize this transition.

Involvement of the financial sector is crucial

Timmermans needs the involvement of banks, insurers and asset managers: the sector is seen as a catalyst for that transition. The sector has expressed the ambition to realize the European Commission's Action Plan for Sustainable Finance, which facilitates the transition, but faces challenges in the process. These challenges formed the agenda of the (digital) meeting.

Dialogue with the financial sector

Timmermans was very willing to listen to the challenges that the financial sector, as a financier of the sustainable transition, is facing. Timmermans: “The European Union can coordinate recovery plans, make sure we all move in the same direction. We can ensure predictability by not suddenly changing course over the coming years. I would like to form a partnership with the financial sector in order to develop a regulatory framework. We need your feedback to improve legislation, and to avoid making mistakes that we have to fix later on.”