Ministers Advance on 'Finance Europe' Label, explore new initiatives under Competitiveness LAB

A group of European Union finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg on Thursday for the third meeting of the European Competitiveness Laboratory (LAB), where they made progress on an initial joint project and discussed new initiatives to deepen economic integration across the EU.

The LAB serves as a testing ground where Member States can voluntarily experiment initiatives on a small scale to boost EU integration and competitiveness, with a view to roll them out EU-wide.

Ministers and senior officials from 20 EU countries alongside the EU Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, Maria Luís Albuquerque, met at the invitation of the Spanish and Luxembourg Ministers, Carlos Cuerpo and Gilles Roth, ahead of the Eurogroup. European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, and European Stability Mechanism managing director, Pierre Gramegna, also participated in the meeting.

Participants reviewed progress on the LAB's inaugural project, the "Finance Europe" Label that was introduced in June by France, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The Label aims to help savers identify investment products that support EU companies. Participants shared steps taken at national level to operationalise the Label.

The discussions highlighted the members' shared commitment to further advance the Savings and Investments Union and to take pragmatic steps to unlock the capital to finance the EU strategic priorities. During the meeting, ministers agreed to further explore a joint proposal to create an EU-wide securitisation platform. As a valuable complement to the EU Commission's reform of the securitisation regulatory framework, the platform would facilitate the standardisation of processes across jurisdictions, and allow the pooling of assets, making securitisation economically viable and increase financing options for European businesses.

The next meeting of the European Competitiveness Lab will take place in the first quarter of 2026.

Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance:

The LAB is proving to be a powerful driver of European cooperation. By advancing a second joint initiative, we are turning shared ambition into practical tools that help unlock capital and boost Europe's competitiveness.

Carlos Cuerpo, Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Business:

Today marks a key milestone for the LAB. We're making concrete progress towards a truly coordinated economic union-one that protects Europe's prosperity and strengthens our shared way of life. We must build on this momentum and invest in our greatest strategic asset: Europe itself.

List of countries represented in today's meeting: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.

Released by the Ministry of Finance