Brussels, 24/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - Germany and France have sought to bring their positions closer on ways to bring about heightened political integration in order to resolve the sovereign debt crisis. Issues covered by them included banking union. France and Germany are “in favour of going further and faster on banking supervision with the ECB”, Hollande said on Thursday 23 August in Berlin.
End June, during the eurozone summit (see EUROPE 10645), the EU17 decided to set in place an integrated banking supervision mechanism by end 2012 under the overarching responsibility of the ECB (see EUROPE 10672). For Germany, banking union is a prerequisite for allowing the European Stability Mechanism, the future European rescue fund of €500 billion, to intervene directly in bailing out a banking sector in difficulty.
Paris and Berlin pledge to work together to “give substance” to the roadmap leading to greater political integration, Hollande also pointed out. A first version of the document will be presented by the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, at the European summit in October. (MB/transl.jl)