Italian President Sergio Mattarella
on Friday told a joint press conference with his German
counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier after a meeting between the
two heads of State that "it is indispensable for European
champions to grow" in various sectors so they are able to
compete at an international level.
The Italian president was replying to a question on a European
bank merger while talks are ongoing between Italy's
second-largest lender and Germany's Commerzbank.
UniCredit announced on Monday that it had increased its stake in
the German lender to 21% and had submitted a request to boost
the holding to up to 29.9%
The president said he had previously spoken about the need for
European champions to compete with "great subjects from other
parts of the world.
"The most advanced sector are key for the future: it is
indispensable to create European champions, a path also
suggested by the Draghi report", presented earlier this month by
the former Italian premier and European central banker to boost
competitiveness in the EU.
"A union is indispensable to create European champions",
concluded Mattarella explaining however that he would not be
discussing specific dossiers, in response to a question on
European mergers,
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