ECB board member proposes single-market regime for European firms
Isabel Schnabel, an Executive Board member of the European Central Bank, announced a new "28th regime" that would let companies operate across the entire European market without national barriers. She said the measure would let Europe compete as one economy rather than 27 separate ones and help forge a genuine "Made in Europe" brand. Schnabel delivered the proposal at the Bank of Lithuania's Economics Conference in Vilnius on 13 November 2026.
Key facts
- Schnabel highlighted Europe's high quality of life, strong institutions, social protection and crisis‑adaptation capacity.
- She argued that Europe lacks scale, not talent, ideas or research.
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Why it matters
A unified market could boost competitiveness and strengthen the EU's economic identity.
What changed
First published from European Central Bank