Introduction: Regulating finance in Europe: policy effects and political accountability

This chapter outlines the questions raised in this volume. Who benefits from the regulatory measures analysed and how are decision-makers and stakeholders held politically and administratively accountable? It focuses on all the actors involved in the regulatory process - politicians, regulators and market players such as investors, fund managers and investment firms - and outlines the ways in which they are linked in various political and administrative accountability mechanisms. We connect the analysis of accountability channels to policy contents by asking whether specific regulatory objectives and results give rise to the mobilising of accountability mechanisms and whether the use of accountability mechanisms contributed to a change of regulation. We end by presenting the specific questions asked in each chapter in its empirical area of investigation of financial market regulation.