03 December 2013

Bloomberg: Brussels should make call on bank failures, document says

Nations led by Germany have proposed giving the final say to the Council of the European Union, an institution that represents national governments, rather than to the Brussels-based Commission. Support for the German option is outweighed by concerns that the Council wouldn’t be able to make decisions quickly, according to a document that sets the stage for talks before a December 10 meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers. Most countries back the proposal by EU financial services chief Michel Barnier to give this power to the Commission.

“The majority of delegations continue to favour the Commission as the most efficient alternative", according to the EU document, which sums up the negotiations led by Lithuania, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency. “The Council is seen as the less efficient alternative due to a number of legal, procedural and timing constraints.”

EU leaders have set a year-end deadline for Member States to agree on an SRM framework so they can begin talks with the European Parliament with the aim of getting the law on the books before the assembly shuts down for May elections.

Nations may seek a partial agreement that sets aside some contentious elements of the SRM plan, such as how to establish a backstop for banks that need aid when they fail or are forced to restructure. Current compromises allow the possibility of postponing this debate until next year, the document says. This approach may be “the best available solution in terms of efficiency", according to the document. “Any further linking of these issues seriously elevates the risk of considerable delay of the SRM project.”

Full article

Council: SRM-first reading

While governments are supposed to decide on the design of the mechanism by year-end, they "don't need to make a detailed technical decision until February", a senior eurozone official said. That timeline leaves the bloc with no room for error if it wants to agree on the final form of the mechanism with the European Parliament before the legislature shuts down for elections in May. That could significantly delay the creation of the resolution agency.

Further reporting © WSJ

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