Editorial

Abstract

The European Banking Union constitutes probably the most powerful full integration project of the last decade and has come about with enormous dynamism—with the fundamental legal measures being conceived only in 2012, adopted mostly still in 2012, and entering into force between 2014 and 2016. Paralleled only by competition law in the early phase of the European integration, and perhaps the European Monetary Union at the turn of the century, the European Banking Union combines uniform and very detailed EU substantive law and regulation with a genuine enforcement mechanism—i.e. individual administrative action—at the EU level. This has already been termed ‘full integration’—both of legislation and of the executive branch. Others have spoken of a ‘self-standing’ European private and economic law which they see primarily in such areas of ‘full integration’.