Withstanding the Post-Ssm “Existential Search”: Two Notes on Eba's Policy Relevance in Supervision

The establishment of the Banking Union and its Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) have pressured the EBA into an “existential search” as to the value of its policymaking role in supervision, highlighting uncertainties in the EBA’s internal and external governance setting. The first stems from the EBA’s “national anchoring” and the resulting member states’ capacity to influence decision-making processes, while the second questions the potential of the ECB to influence EBA activities through BU-participating countries. In order to assess the EBA/member states relationship in the BU framework, the paper first examines NCAs’ role in developing guidelines related to the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process. It then reflects on the authority’s supervisory enforcement powers, by examining NCAs’ course of action in connection to the Danske Bank case. By employing a qualitative analysis of relevant policy and legal documents, and by relying on interview-gathered information, the paper argues firstly, that the relationship appears adversarial in the context of supervisory enforcement. Secondly, that the EBA/member states relationship is more supportive on the side of supervisory convergence and therefore suggests that it is precisely in this area of policymaking that the authority will (and should) continue to assert its relevance in a post-SSM framework.