ABSTRACT
Consolidation rather than concentration has been chosen as the theme of the conference from which this book has issued. The two notions have much in common - both point to the idea of a larger share of the banking business in the hands of a smaller number of banks. There is no doubt that several common trends are likely to be identified whether a paper deals with concentration or consolidation in European banking. There are, however, differences, which this chapter will try to emphasize. In particular, consolidation puts greater emphasis on the microeconomic level, on specific banking institutions rather than on macroeconomic implications, though the latter should not be overlooked.
