5.5 Policy Implications

Through expert groups and public consultations, market practitioners appear to have had significant influence over the legislative process on cross-border voting. Financial intermediaries, who have an interest in maintaining the status quo, appear to have had a particularly strong voice throughout the process, which may go some way toward explaining why the status quo has prevailed so far. Going forward, the analysis suggests that policymakers should not rely on expert groups and consultations to represent the interests of stakeholders in a proportionate way, much less to devise optimal solutions. This implies that while the recent consultation may yield valuable insights, its outcome should not be allowed to determine policy on the issue of cross-border voting. Paradoxically, by involving market practitioners in the legislative process, the European legislature has increased the importance of its own independent judgment on how to increase social welfare.