Financial regulation prevented: The European Union after the 2007-2008 crisis.

Summary This thesis analyzes the production of financial regulation in the European Union after the 2007-2008 crisis. It is based on a global study of financial reforms introduced in the EU between March 2009 and November 2014 (n=51), as well as two case studies on the proposed Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) and the proposed structural reform of the banking sector. Our thesis shows that the global financial crisis has not led to a rethinking of regulatory liberalism at the European level. However, in the various reforms studied, we observe a shift from the Anglo-Saxon regulatory approach, which favors self-regulation of the financial sector, to an ordoliberal approach based on transparency and governance requirements in order to ensure "healthy" conditions of competition. The crisis has also led to two breakthrough measures being put on the agenda, the FTT and the separation of banking activities. However, our research highlights the structural power mobilized by the large universal banks in order to obtain the abandonment or suspension of the two measures. This structural power is institutionally based at the European and national levels.