http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/6768ee0c747d0599 https://verfassungsblog.de/banking-union-cross-border-consolidation/ The European Banking Union Also Means Cross-Border Bank Consolidation - EU Law as a Bulwark Against National Political Interference in the UniCredit-Commerzbank Tie-Up Cuomo, Alessandro Nicolaides, Phedon eng 2024-11-25 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Banking Union Commerzbank Cross-Border Bank Consolidation ECB EU EU Germany Italy UniCredit eurozone EU Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 A heated debate on the risks of EU’s unfinished-effort to establish a Banking Union erupted on 11 September 2024, when the Milan-based UniCredit announced that it had amassed an equity stake of 9% in the Frankfurt-based rival Commerzbank. The German Chancellor quickly labelled UniCredit’s move an “unfriendly attack,” adding that the acquisition of Commerzbank is a threat to German financial stability. We argue that German authorities can hardly provide a legally-compelling justification to convince the ECB to reject UniCredit’s request on financial stability grounds.