The regulation of "network industries" has emerged as a key issue on the European policy agenda, yet there is little high-quality research capable of informing the European policy debate. The Monitoring European Deregulation (MED) series was launched by CEPR and SNS in 1997 and features new, policy-oriented research on the liberalization of the European markets of the major network industries (previous reports have focused on telecommunications and electricity). Addressed to a wide audience of both academics and European decisionmakers in the private-sector and policy communities, at both the national and EU level, the new report—which focuses on the deregulation of the European banking system—will play an important role in influencing current thinking on these issues and contributing to the policy debate.