European banks are exposed to Middle Eastern countries for €132.1 billion. Italian banks have €13.7 billion in loans, whilst French banks have €60.8 billion. This is based on statistics published by the European Banking Authority (EBA) as of the end of 2025. Following French banks, the most exposed at the end of last year were German banks (€19 billion) and Spanish banks (€18.6 billion), followed by Italian and Dutch banks (€12.6 billion). The debtors are based in the UAE (€54.6 billion), Qatar (€29.4 billion), and Saudi Arabia (€23.2 billion). €47 billion in loans to banks and other financial institutions; €33 billion in loans to enterprises. While exposure is still minimal (less than 0.5% of total EU banking assets), "escalating tensions could generate second-order effects, particularly through rising energy prices, inflationary pressures, slowing global growth, and disruptions to supply chains", the EBA stated.