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The banking union in the European Union is the transfer of responsibility for banking policy from the national to the EU level in several countries of the European Union, initiated in 2012 as a response to the Eurozone crisis. The motivation for banking union was the fragility of numerous banks in the Eurozone, and the identification of vicious circle between credit conditions for these banks and the sovereign credit of their respective home countries. In several countries, private debts arising from a property bubble were transferred to sovereign debt as a result of banking system bailouts and government responses to slowing economies post-bubble. Banking union was formulated as a policy response to this challenge. As of 2014, the banking union mainly consists of two main initiatives, the Single Supervisory Mechanism and Single Resolution Mechanism, which are based upon the EU's "single rulebook" or common financial regulatory framework. ==History== The integration of bank regulation has long been sought by EU policymakers, as a complement to the internal market for capital and, from the 1990s on, of the single currency. However, powerful political obstacles including the willingness of member states to retain instruments of financial repression and economic nationalism led to the failure of prior attempts to create a European framework for banking supervision, including during the negotiation of the Maastricht Treaty in 1991 and of the Treaty of Nice in 2000. During the 2000s, the emergence of pan-European banking groups through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (such as the purchases of Abbey National by Santander Group, HypoVereinsbank by UniCredit and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro by BNP Paribas) led to renewed calls for banking policy integration, not least by the International Monetary Fund, but with limited policy action beyond the creation of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors in 2004. The deterioration of credit conditions during the Eurozone crisis, and specifically the contagion of financial instability to larger member states of the euro area from the middle of 2011, led to renewed thinking about the interdependence between banking policy, financial integration, and financial stability. On April 17, 2012, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde renewed the institution's earlier calls for banking policy integration by specifically referring to the need for the euro monetary union to be "supported by stronger financial integration which our analysis suggests be in the form of unified supervision, a single bank resolution authority with a common backstop, and a single deposit insurance fund".〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=April 17, 2012 )〕 The following week on April 25, 2012, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi echoed this call by noting in a speech before the European Parliament that "Ensuring a well-functioning EMU implies strengthening banking supervision and resolution at European level".〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=April 25, 2012 )〕 Suggestions for more integrated European banking supervision were further discussed during an informal European Council meeting on May 23, 2012, and appear to have been backed at the time by French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Remarks by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy following the informal dinner of the members of the European Council )〕 German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled a degree of convergence on this agenda when declaring on June 4, 2012, that European leaders "will also talk about to what extent we have to put systemically (important) banks under a specific European oversight".〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=June 4, 2012 )〕 Another milestone was the report delivered on June 26, 2012, by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, which called for deeper integration in the Eurozone and proposed major changes in four areas. First, it called for a banking union encompassing direct recapitalization of banks by the European Stability Mechanism, a common financial supervisor, a common bank resolution scheme and a deposit guarantee fund. Second, the proposals for a fiscal union included a strict supervision of eurozone countries' budgets, and calls for eurobonds in the medium term. Third, it called for more integration on economic policy, and fourth, for the strengthening of democratic legitimacy and accountability. The latter is generally envisioned as giving supervisory powers to the European Parliament in financial matters and in reinforcing the political union. A new treaty would be required to enact the proposed changes. The key moment of decision was a summit of euro area heads of state and government on June 28–29, 2012. The summit's brief statement, published early on June 29, began with a declaration of intent, "We affirm that it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns," which was later repeated in numerous successive communications of the European Council. It followed by announcing two major policy initiatives: first, the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism under the European Central Bank's authority, using Article 127(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and second, "when an effective single supervisory mechanism is established," the possibility of direct bank recapitalization by the European Stability Mechanism, possibly with retroactive effect in the case of Spain and Ireland.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Euro Area Summit Statement )〕 In the following weeks, the German government quickly backtracked on the commitment about direct bank recapitalization by the ESM. In September 2012, it was joined on this stance by the governments of Finland and the Netherlands. Eventually, such conditions were put on the ESM direct recapitalization instrument that, as of September 2014, it has never been activated. However, the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism proceeded apace. Furthermore, in December 2012 the European Council announced the creation of the Single Resolution Mechanism. Europe's banking union has been identified by many analysts and policymakers as a major structural policy initiative that has played a significant role in addressing the Eurozone crisis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hearing at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament: Introductory statement by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Banking union」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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