How was the Banking Union, the most advanced legal and institutional integration in the single market, created? How does European law impact European integration?

To answer these questions, this book provides a sweeping account of the evolution of European law. It identifies five integration periods of the single financial market, intertwined with the development of global finance, from its origins, through its expansion and crisis, to the Banking Union. Each period is defined by innovations to deepen integration, such as the single passport for financial services, soft governance and comitology, agencies, or a single rulebook.

Providing a far-reaching explanation of the legal and institutional rationality of the European Banking Union, this book demonstrates that the Banking Union is not an accident of history or simply the product of the existential crisis of the Monetary Union. It has deep roots in the evolutionary process of European law and its drive towards supranational integration.

Table Of Contents

Introduction

I. Purpose

II. Explaining the Creation of the Banking Union

III. Explaining Legal Change in European Integration

IV. Overview

1. Integration through Harmonisation (1973–1984)

I. Introduction

II. Origins

III. Starting a European Financial Market

IV. The Principle of Non-Discrimination and the Harmonisation of National Laws

V. The Introduction of the Principle of Home-Country Control

VI. The Introduction of Committees of National Authorities

VII. The Limited Progress in Financial Integration

VIII. Conclusion: The Beginnings of a 'Banking Union'

2. Integration through Competition (1985–1997)

I. Introduction

II. The Emerging Regulation of International Finance

III. The Framework for Completing the Internal Market by 1992

IV. The Liberalisation of Capital Movements

V. The Single Passport for Financial Services

VI. The 'General Good' Exception

VII. The Minimum Harmonisation of National Laws

VIII. The Inclusion of National Authorities in the Single Passport Framework

IX. The Success and Failure of 'Integration through Competition'

X. Conclusion: The Perpetual Integration of the European Financial Market

3. Integration through Governance (1998–2007)

I. Introduction

II. The Governance Model of Regulation

III. The Multilevel Governance of Global Finance

IV. The Economic and Monetary Union

V. The 1999 Financial Services Action Plan

VI. The Multilevel Governance of the European Financial Market: The 'Lamfalussy Framework'

VII. The Expansion of Home-Country Control to Financial Services Groups

VIII. Competition Policy in the Single Financial Market

IX. Crisis Prevention in the Single Financial Market

X. The Democratic Legitimacy of Governance Structures: Transparency and Accountability

XI. The Consequences of 'Integration through Governance'

XII. Conclusion: Creating the Conditions for a 'Banking Union'

4. (Dis-)Integration through Crisis (2008–2012)

I. Introduction

II. The Financial Crisis Unfolds in Europe

III. The Renationalisation of the Single Financial Market

IV. The Global Responses to the Financial Crisis

V. Rescuing the Single Financial Market

VI. Replacing Committees with Agencies: The European Supervisory Authorities

VII. Introducing Financial Stability into Integration: The European Systemic Risk Board

VIII. From the Single Passport to the Single Rulebook

IX. The Democratic Legitimacy of Financial Integration

X. Conclusion: The Legal Causes and Consequences of the Financial Crisis

5. Integration through Centralisation: The Banking Union (2013–… )

I. Introduction

II. The Sovereign Debt Crisis in the Euro Area

III. The Build-up to the Banking Union

IV. 'Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union'

V. The First Pillar of the Banking Union: The Single Supervisory Mechanism

VI. The Second Pillar of the Banking Union: The Single Resolution Mechanism

VII. The Third Pillar of the Banking Union: A European Deposit Insurance Scheme

VIII. The Democratic Legitimacy of the Banking Union

IX. The Differentiation Process of the Banking Union

X. Conclusion: The Completion of Legal Integration?

6. Unlocking the Past and Future of the Banking Union

I. Introduction

II. Explaining the Creation of the Banking Union: The Endpoint of Supranational Integration through Law

III. Explaining the Legal Change Leading to the Banking Union

IV. Explaining the Acceleration of Integration Towards the Banking Union: The Spillover of the Monetary Union

V. Uncovering the Parallel Evolution of Global Standard-Setting

VI. Understanding the Democratic Legitimacy Problem

VII. The End of the Legal History of the Single Market? Determining the Future of the Banking Union

VIII. Conclusion: The Banking Union and European Integration