3  According to the EU institutions' reading, they are not authorised to make far-reaching exceptions to strengthen the principle of proportionality if those exceptions are not specifically provided for in the relevant sections of the CRR, CRD IV etc.
This would also render the subsidiarity and proportionality provisions of the EU Treaties ineffective (since the CRR, being a lex specialis, takes precedence over the general legislation of the EU Treaties). 4  See also Hackethal, A and Inderst, R (2015) Auswirkungen der Regulatorik auf kleinere und mittlere Banken am Beispiel der deutschen Genossenschaftsbanken.