Politico Europe · Feb 16, 2026 · Collected from RSS
The EU's largest economies are clubbing together — Dublin says that’s a problem.
News Financial Services The EU’s largest economies are clubbing together — Dublin says that’s a problem. Most money managers in Europe do the bulk of their business in Ireland and Luxembourg, which oppose efforts to create a single EU watchdog for the biggest financiers across the bloc. | Matt Cardy/Getty Images February 16, 2026 7:41 pm CET BRUSSELS — Ireland on Monday sounded the alarm over a new group of Europe’s largest six economies, dubbed “E6,” amid fears that smaller countries’ interests could be bulldozed. “I am conscious, and I say this very respectfully, a lot of the countries in that E6 will have different views on some fundamental issues,” Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris said ahead of a meeting with his eurozone peers in Brussels. “I would much rather see a structure where countries come together on issues where they share a common view rather than the entry to the club being based on your size exclusively,” he said. Harris’ comments came after the finance ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland met in Brussels, behind closed doors, earlier in the day to discuss how best to speed up Europe’s plans to take on Wall Street. That’s a problem for the likes of Dublin, which has a direct stake in the plans to deepen the bloc’s financial markets. Most money managers in Europe do the bulk of their business in Ireland and Luxembourg, which oppose efforts to create a single EU watchdog for the biggest financiers across the bloc. Monday’s E6 gathering was the second meeting of its kind, with another planned in March, amid growing frustration that the EU is moving too slowly to keep pace with the economic powerhouses of the U.S. and China. The shock surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland also convinced the EU’s most powerful countries to agree on political positions ahead of G7 meetings — especially when it comes to securing critical raw materials. “What happened with Greenland served as a wake-up call,” Germany’s finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, told reporters ahead of the Eurogroup. “We’ll be transparent.” The goal is to agree on certain topics and present them to the rest of the EU, he added. The next E6 meeting will focus on boosting the euro on the global stage and making defense investments more effective. Not everyone’s opposed. Some diplomats perceive E6 as little more than a political tactic to push the most reluctant countries to go ahead on controversial issues. Two-speed Europe While there are other formats that smaller countries can attend to influence policy, the E6 club is designed to coordinate policy positions on economic initiatives. That’s put several countries on edge. Political appetite for a two-speed Europe has been building, in which smaller groups of nations can peel off and sign up to initiatives that are mired in European discord. Several countries have expressed concern over the E6 club since its creation. Handling political debates within such an exclusive forum could also dilute the Eurogroup, which in itself is an informal body that finance ministers have used to discuss sensitive topics away from the public eye. “That’s going to kill the Eurogroup,” one EU diplomat said. “I think it’s a big mistake.” Kathryn Carlson contributed to this report.