Ministers agree deal on EU banking union

The European Union took its first big step towards banking union on the 13 December 2012, as eurozone finance ministers agreed a plan to cede power to a common bank supervisor in Frankfurt.

After almost four months of fraught diplomacy that laid bare deep Franco-German divisions, finance ministers brokered terms for the European Central Bank to begin direct supervision of up to 200 eurozone lenders from early 2014.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU summit loses sense of urgency http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-summit-loses-sense-of-urgency/

BBC News, 13.12.12: Eurozone agrees ECB banking supervision rules http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20695129

European Commission: RAPID: MEMO/12/981: Council agreement on the Single Supervisory Mechanism - statement by President Barroso http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-981_en.pdf

EurActiv, 13.12.12: Finance ministers clinch banking union deal http://www.euractiv.com/euro-finance/finance-ministers-clinch-banking-news-516620

Spiegel Online International, 13.12.12: Euro Zone Agrees to Bank Oversight Deal http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/euro-zone-finance-ministers-agree-to-bank-oversight-deal-a-872680.html

Council of the European Union: Press Release, PRES/12/528: Council agrees position on bank supervision http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/134265.pdf

France24, 13.12.12: EU nations agree to eurozone banking union http://www.france24.com/en/20121213-europe-eurozone-bank-regulator-ecb-deal

Deutsche Welle, 13.12.12: EU clinches deal ahead of banking union showdown http://www.dw.de/eu-clinches-deal-ahead-of-banking-union-showdown/a-16450186

EUObserver, 14.12.12: EU summit agrees to further steps on bank plans http://euobserver.com/economic/118527

NRC Handelsblad / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / El País / ABC, 14.12.12; Banking union flatters Germany’s financial physique (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/press-review/3165231-banking-union-flatters-germany-s-financial-physique

Le Monde / Handelsblatt / Diário económico / El País, 13.12: An embryonic banking union (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/press-review/3159821-embryonic-banking-union

European Parliament: Press Release, 16.12.12: Single supervisory mechanism is first step to mutualising risk, says Draghi http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20121217IPR04705/

EUObserver, 17.12.12: Bundesbank sceptical on EU banking union http://euobserver.com/economic/118539

Spiegel Online International, 17.12.12: Hidden Risks Plague Euro-Zone Bank Oversight Plan http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/euro-zone-bank-oversight-deal-is-bad-for-germany-a-873191.html

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