Euro employers call on Greek PM to complete bank union
The BusinessEurope employers’ federation called on Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to use his country’s six-month presidency of the European Union to broker an agreement on rules for dealing with failing banks.
“A properly functioning banking union and an efficient economic and monetary union are essential to improve access to finance for companies, enhance our resilience to financial shocks, and support cross-border trade and investment,” BusinessEurope President Emma Marcegaglia said in a letter released on Monday in Brussels.
Greek officials have the task of leading negotiations on behalf of the EU’s 28 member states as they seek a compromise with the directly elected European Parliament on the shape of a central agency for saving or shuttering euro-area banks as part of attempts to cut the link between lenders and sovereigns that fueled Europe’s debt crisis.
Striking a deal on the Single Resolution Mechanism is a priority for Greece, which took over the rotating presidency of the EU on January 1, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters in Athens last Tuesday.
The eventual system should enable decision-making for bank resolution that “should be quick and not overly complex,” BusinessEurope said in Monday’s letter.
[Bloomberg]
