CEE Perspective Weekly Digest - Issue 5

Europe launches €80 billion investment alliance to scale up tech leaders

The EIB Group, together with EU governments and private institutional investors, launched the second phase of the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI 2.0), a pan-European investment platform intended to mobilise up to €80 billion for growth-stage technology companies. Building on the first phase of the initiative, ETCI 2.0 will channel equity financing into European scale-ups through a larger fund-of-funds structure that will support both mega-funds and, for the first time, mid-sized growth funds. According to the EIB, the platform could back more than 1,500 scale-ups and anchor the creation of over 100 funds, including up to 45 mega-funds, as part of a broader effort to address Europe’s late-stage financing gap and keep high-growth technology companies anchored in the EU. 

Why it matters for CEE

The initiative is notable because it links the EU’s competitiveness agenda directly to capital markets and long-term investment. For Central and Eastern Europe, ETCI 2.0 matters not only because it could widen access to scale-up capital across the Union, but also because it reflects a broader effort to build deeper, more integrated European funding channels for innovative firms that might otherwise struggle to raise late-stage capital outside a handful of larger markets. More broadly, the initiative is another sign that the Savings and Investments Union is beginning to move from abstract market-integration language towards concrete instruments designed to mobilise private and institutional capital at scale. 

Parliament clears way for digital euro trilogues

The European Parliament formally endorsed the opening of interinstitutional negotiations on the digital euro package, backing the start of trilogues with 416 votes in favour, 169 against and 22 abstentions after right-wing groups challenged the ECON Committee’s June decision. Parliament’s position supports the creation of a digital euro as an ECB-issued electronic form of money that could be used both online and offline, with privacy safeguards, free basic services for users and a holding cap designed to limit financial stability risks. MEPs also allowed negotiations to proceed on the related legal tender file, which would require euro area countries to preserve access to cash and monitor its availability, particularly for vulnerable groups. Parliament’s negotiating team will be led by Fernando Navarrete Rojas, with talks with the Irish Presidency expected to begin shortly. 

Why it matters for CEE

The move into trilogues is an important step in one of the EU’s most consequential retail financial services files. For Central and Eastern Europe, the digital euro matters not only because of its implications for retail payments and the future role of cash, but also because several non-euro area Member States in the region will need to consider how the framework interacts with domestic payment markets and the position of local payment service providers. 

AMLA finalises EU-wide AML enforcement standards

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) published its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards setting out a harmonised EU framework for sanctions, administrative measures and periodic penalty payments for breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. The standards establish a common methodology for supervisors to assess the seriousness of breaches, classify them across four levels of gravity and calibrate enforcement measures on the basis of shared criteria. They also set out how periodic penalty payments should be used to ensure compliance with supervisory decisions. The framework will apply across both the financial and non-financial sectors and will now be submitted to the European Commission for adoption. 

Why it matters for CEE

The new framework should gradually reduce some of the supervisory fragmentation that still characterises AML/CFT enforcement across the EU. For financial institutions operating across several CEE markets, more consistent rules on how breaches are assessed and sanctioned could improve predictability and reduce the scope for divergent national enforcement practices. More broadly, the standards are another sign that the focus of the EU AML package is now shifting from legislation to implementation, with AMLA beginning to shape how the new supervisory framework will work in practice across Member States.

Romania’s mandatory private pension assets reach RON 227.5 billion

Assets held by Romania’s mandatory Pillar II private pension funds reached RON 227.5 billion at the end of May 2026, according to data published by Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF). The system also continued to expand in participant terms, reaching 8,532,898 members by the end of May. Pillar II assets remain concentrated primarily in government bonds (RON 145.39 billion, or 63.9% of total assets) and listed equities (RON 63.13 billion, or 27.7%). Contributions collected in May 2026 amounted to RON 2.09 billion, while the average contribution stood at RON 453. 

The continued growth of Pillar II matters well beyond the pension system itself. In a region where capital markets remain relatively shallow and long-term domestic investment capital is limited, pension funds can provide a stable source of demand for sovereign debt, listed equities and other domestic financial instruments. Romania’s case is particularly notable because the system has become one of the country’s largest pools of long-term domestic capital, with a portfolio that remains heavily anchored in local markets. More broadly, the figures are a reminder of the wider economic role that funded pension systems can play across Central and Eastern Europe: not only in strengthening retirement-income diversification, but also in mobilising household savings, supporting capital market development and widening the investor base for long-term financing.

Source: CEE Perspective illustration based on ASF, Date statistice fonduri de pensii (Pillar II data for May 2026). 

Warsaw-based Expeditions closes €197 million defence-tech fund

Warsaw- and London-based venture capital firm Expeditions announced the final close of its second fund at €197 million, significantly exceeding its original fundraising target. The fund will invest in early-stage companies developing defence and dual-use technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, quantum technologies and space. Its investors include the European Investment Fund, the NATO Innovation Fund, BAE Systems and a range of institutional and private investors. The fund is being launched against the backdrop of rising European defence spending and growing interest in technologies linked to resilience, strategic autonomy and industrial capacity. 

The close is notable because it points to a broader shift in parts of the CEE venture capital ecosystem towards sectors linked to defence, resilience and technological sovereignty. It also suggests that Warsaw is becoming a more visible base for specialised funds able to raise capital at European scale for strategically important technologies, rather than simply a market in which foreign capital is deployed. In that sense, the fund is not just a financing story but also a marker of how parts of the region’s innovation ecosystem are repositioning themselves around Europe’s changing security and industrial priorities.

Source: CEE Perspective illustration based on Expeditions’ July 2026 Fund II announcement.

Bulgaria raises €2.5 billion on international markets after euro adoption

Bulgaria raised €2.5 billion on international capital markets on 7 July through the reopening of three existing eurobond issues, in its first such operation since joining the euro area at the start of 2026. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance, the transaction increased the 2032 and 2038 bonds by €1 billion each and the 2045 bond by €500 million. The deal comes after parliament authorised the government to borrow up to €3.8 billion this year and offers an early indication of investor appetite for Bulgarian sovereign debt in the post-euro accession environment. 

The transaction is notable not simply because of its size, but because it offers an early test of how euro area membership may shape Bulgaria’s funding conditions and market access. For CEE countries more broadly, it is also a reminder that sovereign borrowing remains a central part of how governments finance higher spending needs and investment demands, particularly where domestic capital markets are still relatively shallow. In Bulgaria’s case, euro adoption could gradually strengthen investor confidence, broaden the sovereign investor base and improve financing conditions over time. More broadly, the issuance points to a wider regional challenge: how CEE governments fund investment, defence and industrial-policy priorities in an environment of tighter fiscal space and rising financing needs.

14 July – General Affairs Council:EU ministers will meet in Brussels for the first General Affairs Council under the Irish Presidency. The agenda includes the Presidency’s priorities for the second half of 2026, the state of play of the simplification agenda, and a first discussion of the next Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028–2034. Ministers are also expected to discuss conclusions on the annual rule-of-law dialogue, while a working lunch will focus on the “One Europe, One Market” roadmap with the Parliament’s rapporteur on the future of the Single Market.

·       15 July – ECON Committee:The Parliament’s ECON Committee will vote on the economic governance simplification package and hold an economic dialogue with Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris in his capacity as ECOFIN President. MEPs will also vote on the own-initiative report on the global role of the euro and hold a public hearing with the Chair of the Single Resolution Board, making this one of the key financial services moments of the week in Parliament.

·       15 July – ECON/LIBE hearing with AMLA Chair:The ECON and LIBE Committees will hold a joint public hearing with Bruna Szego, Chair of AMLA. The exchange should offer an early indication of how Parliament intends to scrutinise the new authority as the EU AML framework moves from legislation to implementation.

·       15 July – Council Working Party on Financial Services and the Banking Union:National officials will meet in Brussels to continue technical work on the Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP), one of the core files under the Savings and Investments Union agenda.

·       16 July – Financial Services Attachés: Financial services attachés will hold a dedicated discussion on the asset management chapter of MISP, feeding into the Irish Presidency’s wider effort to refine the file and advance work on its supervisory and market-integration elements.

·       17 July – College of Commissioners meeting:The Commission is due to present a broader energy package, including the Electrification Action Plan and ETS review, but from a financial services perspective the most relevant item will be the planned report on the competitiveness of the banking sector. It should offer an early signal of how the Commission intends to frame banking policy within the wider competitiveness and simplification agenda of the new institutional cycle.

As part of our monthly CEE Perspective Academy series, this July we turn to one of the most important policy debates in Europe: competitiveness. 

On Friday, 17 July 2026, CEE Perspective will host an online webinar titled “Europe’s Competitiveness Agenda: Capital, Convergence and the CEE Perspective.” 

The timing could hardly be more relevant. The European Commission is expected to publish its report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector next week, giving this discussion a direct link to one of the newest inputs into Europe’s broader competitiveness agenda. 

The webinar will bring together voices from the European Commission, the European banking sector, the investment community and CEE-focused financial market experts. Together, they will discuss how Europe can mobilise capital more effectively, strengthen financial sector capacity, support convergence, and ensure that Central and Eastern Europe is fully part of the next phase of European economic integration. 

Register today and stay tuned for more details.  

Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues and peers who may be interested.

• EBA third-country branch guidelines: The EBA publishedfinal guidelines on the authorisation of third-country bank branches under CRD6, setting out the information applicants must provide, the criteria supervisors should apply and the procedural steps for authorisation. The guidelines form part of the EU’s new framework for third-country branches and are intended to support more harmonised supervisory practices across Member States.

•        EIOPA advances IRRD implementation: EIOPA published seven final policy instruments under the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive (IRRD) and launched final consultations on the remaining valuation standards for (re)insurers. The package covers areas including recovery planning, simplified obligations, valuation and resolution safeguards ahead of the framework becoming operational in 2027.

•      Commission’s July infringements package: The package included several financial services and tax files, including action against Member States over DORA notification obligations, PSD2 transposition, the MREL “Daisy Chains II” rules, AML criminal-law provisions, DAC9 implementation and the VAT SME scheme. The package is a reminder that implementation and enforcement remain a central part of the EU financial services agenda alongside new legislation.

•        ESMA selectedOTC derivatives consolidated tape provider: ESMA selected Etrading Software as the consolidated tape provider for OTC derivatives under the MiFIR Review. If authorised, the firm will operate the OTC derivatives tape for five years under ESMA supervision, marking another step in the implementation of the EU’s revised market data framework.

• AMLA consults on FIU information-sharing rules: AMLA launched a consultationon cross-border FIU information-sharing rules, setting out when suspicious transaction reports should be shared with another Member State’s Financial Intelligence Unit and under what conditions information should be transmitted in full or in a more targeted form. The consultation runs until 6 October 2026.

•        EDPB adopts new AI and anonymisation guidelines: The European Data Protection Board adopted new guidelines on anonymisation, AI web scraping and blockchain, clarifying how the GDPR applies to large-scale data extraction for generative AI and to different blockchain architectures. The anonymisation and web scraping guidelines are open for consultation until 30 October 2026.