A Research Workshop organized by the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES)/Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG)
The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for European Banking Union is widely recognized as one of the most significant institutional reforms introduced in response to the financial and sovereign debt crises. Aimed at enhancing financial stability by breaking up “cozy relationships” between domestic banks and supervisors, the SSM has final authority to grant and withdraw banking licenses within the Eurozone. The European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervises the largest/most significant Eurozone banks and can take over the supervision of less significant banks from national authorities where it deems this necessary. Yet the SSM is also a complex transnational organization, whose highest decision-making bodies comprise a strong majority of national representatives, while ECB and national officials work closely together in Joint Supervisory Teams (JSTs) for overseeing significant financial institutions.
Five years after the SSM’s establishment, this research workshop will explore how the ensuing tensions play out in practice within Eurozone banking supervision. Drawing on expert interviews and participant observation at the ECB and national authorities as well as documentary research, the speakers will illuminate how the SSM works in action using a variety of theoretical lenses, including principal-agent analysis, science and technology studies, and experimentalist governance.
The workshop is open to policy makers and practitioners, as well as to academic researchers and students.
