Abstract

The analysis conducted in this study highlights the composite and multi-faceted reality «hidden» behind the category of soft law, particularly in the financial markets sector. Using a broader concept than the formal concept of legal constraint, namely that of normative intensity, we have sought to shed more light on the actual degree of substantive mandatory force that the soft law rules are able to exercise visà- vis their recipients, and on the variety of mechanisms by which the public authorities – in this case study «represented» by the EU agencies operating in the financial markets – are able to limit the freedom of choice and action of the regulated.