After the financial crisis of 2008, the European Commission asked a group chaired by Jacques de Larosière to advise on the future of financial regulation and supervision in the European Union.
The result is a legislative proposal for new EU Regulations on:
macro prudential oversight of the financial system through a European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB);
micro-prudential supervision of the financial system through a European Banking Authority (Eba)
establishing a European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA);
establishing a European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) and more recently
a further proposed EU regulation entrusting the European Central Bank (ECB) with specific tasks concerning the functioning of the ESRB (ECB).
That all sounds very promising, but will it work? As a practical and legal matter, is the EU going to be able to effectively implement these reforms? Legal barriers, lack of financial power, and resistance from individual states could stop these proposed reforms from making any...