Reordering the marketplace: competition politics in European finance

Abstract:

Over the last 15 years, Europe has seen the liberalization of national financial markets as well as the integration of these markets and their governance through the introduction of the 'Lamfalussy process'. This article argues that we can best understand these shifts as one integrated project of market-building in Europe, guided by distributional struggles over the terms of mutual markets access. To comprehend the complex linkages between private and public actors across levels of governance, we have to look beyond macro-theories of integration and financial liberalization upholding an analytical state-market dichotomy and adopt an integrative approach to theory, instead. Using the example of securities markets, this article argues that 'competition politics' are key to understanding European financial market integration.