The Dutch Central Bank has published a speech by Olaf Sleijpen arguing that the Netherlands and Europe need a clear productivity agenda, more predictable policy and deeper European market integration to preserve living standards and business conditions. In the speech at the Jeroen Bosch Summit in Den Bosch, he said the starting position remains strong, but slower productivity growth, ageing, labour shortages, strategic trade and technology dependencies, defence spending of 3.5% of GDP, the energy transition and worsening medium-term debt dynamics are creating a cumulative challenge. He also noted that, unlike in the United States, technological progress is not yet translating sufficiently into productivity growth. Sleijpen said government should act mainly as a market referee by setting clear and executable rules, removing bottlenecks and enabling private investment in people, energy, innovation and infrastructure, rather than steering markets broadly through industrial policy or structurally taking over risk. He highlighted Dutch constraints around nitrogen capacity, electricity grid capacity, shortages of technically trained staff and unpredictable policy, and extended the argument to the European Union, where fragmented capital and product markets still limit scale and investment. EU households hold more than EUR 10 trillion in savings, but 27 separate capital markets with different insolvency laws, supervisory requirements and regulations hinder the matching of savings to investment needs. He therefore backed an ambitious Savings and Investment Union, further internal market integration, greater harmonisation including a possible 28th regime such as EU Inc, and wider use of regulations instead of directives to reduce national additions to EU rules. Citing IMF and European Central Bank research, he said existing barriers are equivalent to tariffs of about 40% for goods and more than 100% for services, while fuller integration could reduce trade costs by around 8 to 9 percentage points.
De Nederlandsche Bank 2026-04-22
Dutch Central Bank's Olaf Sleijpen calls for a productivity agenda and deeper EU market integration
De Nederlandsche Bank published a speech by Olaf Sleijpen calling for a clear productivity agenda, more predictable policy and deeper European market integration to safeguard living standards amid slowing productivity, ageing, labour shortages and rising fiscal pressures. He argued governments should act mainly as market referees enabling private investment, and backed an ambitious European Savings and Investment Union, further internal market integration and greater regulatory harmonisation to better channel over EUR 10 trillion in household savings and reduce trade barriers within the EU.