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At the end of 2010, the Vatican created its own financial watchdog and issued new laws to comply with EU standards of financial transparency.  As a state of the EU, the Vatican must comply with EU law and cooperate with EU agencies.  This relationship is one of a religious institution adhering to civil standards.  In other words, the Vatican is both a church and a European state.  According to Gianluigi Nuzzi, the Vatican had typically resisted pressure to reform its bank. "They used to say, 'We're a sovereign state; these are our affairs." However, in September, 2010, Rome magistates seized $30 million from the Vatican bank and placed to of its officials under investigation. However, beyond the pressure from the investigations, the Vatican, as a state in the EU, must comply with EU law, just as American states such as Delaware and Rhode Island must comply with US law.  Yet unlike in the American context, the case of the Vatican brings ecclesastical dynamics into the mix.  No American state is also a church.  Indeed, the first amendment of the US constitution bars government--whether of a state or the union--from establishing a religion.

Source: Rachel Pondio, "Vatican Creates Financial Watchdog and Tough Laws to Meet European Standards," The New York Times, December 31, 2010, p. A9