Introduction

Chapter 5 reviewed the literature on enforcement and the law and finance influences on the debate about the most appropriate enforcement measures. It concluded by highlighting the need to take EU decision-making and the interplay between EU and national levels of decision-making more seriously in this field. The next two chapters work towards this aim in my area of interest. Chapter 7 will examine how enforcement choices made at EU level are translated into national enforcement arrangements. This chapter, however, begins by identifying and assessing the EU's choice of enforcement measures in the prospectus disclosure field, the factors that have affected it, and the general orientations and effectiveness of the chosen strategy.

While regulatory policies have been at the heart of the EU's activities, day-to-day enforcement of EU law against natural or legal persons has traditionally been a matter for Member States. Although the EU's regulatory policy output is significant, the EU relies, by and large, on national actors – national courts and administrative authorities – to enforce its regulatory policies against persons. Yet, as noted in Chapter 5, that is not to say that enforcement choices at national level, whether substantive or organisational, are unaffected by EU policy and regulatory output. Indeed, it is apparent that the EU has steadily increased its influence over enforcement in the prospectus disclosure, or for that matter, securities regulation field.