EU financial regulation, banking union, capital markets union and the UK

25 January 2017

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Following the international financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, the European Union (EU) undertook major reforms in three key financial policy areas: financial regulation, Banking Union and Capital Markets Union.

Authors

Lucia Quaglia

Author

This paper examines the dynamics of these reforms by focusing on the preferences and influence of the United Kingdom (UK) in the policy process. It is argued that the UK has played a variety of roles – ‘foot-dragger’, ‘fence-sitter’ and ‘pace-setter’ – in the policies under discussion.

The (at times considerable) British influence was geared towards the attainment of preferences that were shaped by domestic politics and political economy, first and foremost the interests of the financial services industry and the City of London.

Photo credit: r.nagy / Shutterstock.com

Authors

Lucia Quaglia

Author

Lucia Quaglia (DPhil Sussex) is Professor of Political Science at the University of York. Prior to York, she was Senior Lecturer in Contemporary European Studies at the University of Sussex. Her most recent books include: (with D. Howarth) The Political Economy of Banking Union, Oxford University Press (2016); The European Union and Global Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press (2014). She was awarded research fellowships from the Hanse-Wissenschafts Kolleg, the University of Bremen, the Fonds National de la Recherche in Luxembourg, the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, the Scuola Normale Superiore and the European University Institute in Florence.