Filling the gaps in governance : the case of Europe

Abstract

The Florence School of Banking and Finance at the European University Institute (EUI) and the Brevan Howard Centre at Imperial College London – in cooperation with BAFFI CAREFIN at Bocconi University – organized a conference on 28 April 2016 at the EUI in Florence with the theme of "Filling the Gaps in Governance: the Case of Europe". The conference brought together leading economists, lawyers, policy-makers and private practitioners to review the most significant gaps in the European Union's incomplete governance and to discuss how they could be addressed. This ebook summarizes their contributions. The first part centres around the debate on the desirability of having a debt restructuring regime in Europe and asks whether the 'no bail-out' requirement and the ‘no debt restructuring’ mantra can be compatible in EMU. The second part analyses the implications of incomplete, horizontal agreements among EU and EMU member states and discusses the sensitive (and largely unsettled) matter of withdrawals, exits and expulsions from participating in those different governance arrangements. In particular, it considers the implications of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. The third part, lastly, addresses the Banking Union and finds that the newest layer of European governance appears to be plagued by gaps in governance even before it has got off the ground.