The Single Rulebook and the European Banking Authority

Chapter 10 starts with a discussion of the so-called Single Rulebook (SR) and the European Banking Authority, summing up the state of the art and critically examining the most recent developments. As the author shows, the Single Rulebook is not truly an example of maximum harmonization and is not really a ‘single’ document, but is rather a ‘multi-tiered’ structure. Several of the Directives composing the SR leave, in fact, wiggle room to Member States, and in any case local rules might create different regulatory environments in which the shared EU rules apply, with sometimes relevant effects on substantive harmonization. The chapter also analyses how the role of the European Banking Authority (EBA) should be strengthened to facilitate a more effective and harmonized rule-making activity.