There's a consensus that European banks need to consolidate.

But the concentration at the national level has already gone up significantly over the past 10 years.

In most EU countries, the five largest banks now control more than 70% of the market.

Mergers have never stopped. That's true for large banks (e.g. UBS - Credit Suisse) and for specialized banks.

As a result, the European banking market is already quite consolidated.