CES Presents: "European Banking Nationalism: State Power and Troubled Banks"

UACES and the editors of the Routledge/ UACES Contemporary European Studies book series are very pleased to invite you to the launch of, 'European Banking Nationalism: State Power and Troubled Banks' which has been published this year by Shawn Donnelly (University of Twente) and by Gaia Pometto (independent researcher based in Amsterdam). The event, which will be chaired by Helena Farrand Carrapico (Northumbria University), will include a presentation of the book, followed by its discussion by David Howarth (University of Luxembourg).

'European Banking Nationalism: State Power and Troubled Banks' sheds light on what happens when banks fail and governments become involved. It will be of particular interest in light of recent bank failures in the United States as well as in Europe. It shows that strong state institutions are critical to managing bank failures and troubled banks, regardless of how robust regulatory standards are in attempting to avert bank collapses. This means strong coordination between government institutions at the national level, strong national capacity to impose solutions on local or regional government with strong ties to troubled banks, and ample resources. This book has a special focus on how governments in Europe react to smaller, regional banks in trouble, and shows how these banks threaten to unleash domino effects throughout the financial system by being too interconnected to fail, rather than too big to fail. We underline this new lesson of the 2023 collapses, which has already played out in Europe. Looking at Italy and Spain, we show that the strength of ties between regional banks and local governments, plus differences in state power to deal with bank problems leads to varieties of economic nationalism. This can be seen in how Spain accepts, implements and exploits European banking resolution rules to the advantage of its banking sector when banks fail (liberal economic nationalism), while Italy lobbies EU institutions to delay shutting down banks, bailing in investors, or withdrawing state aid as EU law requires, as national institutions lack the power to intervene effectively (functional economic nationalism). It also ultimately shows that Europe’s attempt to stabilize its banking system without common deposit insurance or an EU federal budget that can intervene in a systemic crisis will remain insufficient and a danger to the European and international financial system.

Authors:

Shawn Donnelly (University of Twente) is a specialist in European economic governance, writing on the European single currency, financial market and banking regulation, macroeconomic policy, and financial service migration after Brexit.

Gaia Pometto (independent researcher based in Amsterdam) is a specialist in European banking regulation.

Discussant:

David Howarth (University of Luxembourg) is a Full Professor in Political Science, who specializes in national banking systems, financial regulation, financial lobbies, Economic and Monetary Union, and the Euro crisis.

Chair:

Helena Farrand Carrapico (Northumbria University) is full Professor in International Relations and European politics, and serves as a co-editor for the Routledge/ UACES Contemporary European Studies book series.