The EU and financial regulation: power without purpose?

Abstract:
If the European Union (EU) has been an effective bulwark against ad hoc globalization in any economic domain, we may well find evidence from finance, the engine of cross-border economic activity. Yet our study revealed little indication of a distinctive EU approach for regulating financial services industries. Our findings suggest that European decision-makers tried mainly to secure full market integration inside the EU rather than shape regulation to meet a common public purpose, whether at the EU or global level. The policy framework adopted by the EU was essentially modeled on pre-existing United States (US) examples, and does not reflect a transatlantic difference in underlying values. We put forth several hypotheses about why the EU did not seek to manage globalization in the financial services area.