The Difficult Construction of European Banking Union: Introduction

Banking Union represents one of the most important developments in European integration since the launch of Monetary Union. Furthermore, the design of the Banking Union agreed between 2012 and 2014 was a messy compromise among European Union (EU) member states. It is not surprising then that Banking Union has sparked a lively academic debate and triggered an ever-growing number of publications from different disciplinary backgrounds. This edited volume is located at the intersection of two major waves of academic research on Banking Union. The first wave of academic work focuses upon the economic rationale underpinning the supranationalisation of control over banking—regulation, supervision, support and resolution—and the political dynamics and legal issues that shaped the design of the Banking Union agreed. This literature focuses upon Banking Union’s foundational phase between 2012 and 2014 when the major texts enshrining Banking Union in law were negotiated and adopted. The second stage of academic research analyses the functioning of the different elements of Banking Union. New research questions have been triggered by the—albeit limited—empirical evidence on the operation of the supranational supervision and resolution of banks. Contributions to this second wave of Banking Union-related research attempt to identify potentially dangerous lacunae and contribute to on-going reform debates. This edited volume brings together the work of sixteen scholars focused on the political, legal and economic debates surrounding the construction and operation of Banking Union, and its necessary reform.