Widen the Market, Narrow the Competition

Book excerpt: EU capital markets have changed radically over the past 20 years. In the 1980s, countries had their own financial industries and rules. Now there is one 'Champions League' of banks, and member states have transferred crucial regulatory powers to Brussels. Drawing on policy documents and more than fifty in-depth interviews, Widen the Market, Narrow the Competition argues that financial industry interests have been key to this power shift. Continental banks initially feared a single European market, and governments followed their protectionist impulses. In the 1990s the mood changed, and the likes of ABN AMRO and Deutsche Bank rushed into international investment banking. They emerged as the crucial lobby for the supranational governance in place today. Linked by the interests of centrally placed firms, EU financial integration and supranational governance have been two sides of the same coin. At the same time, national parliaments and ordinary citizens have been pushed to the sidelines.