A Theory of Regulatory Integration

Despite the significance of regulatory intervention in EU economies, there is little formal analysis of regulatory co-operation in the integration literature. This article attempts to fill this gap by developing a simple model that allows us to consider why EU Member States would want to integrate their regulatory systems, to identify the potential costs and benefits, to shed light on the national features which may influence the determination of the common regulatory values and to analyse compliance issues that arise from the application of international agreements.