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Kate Farmer

Cutting to the chase

Alle Stories

Erstellt am: 19. 10. 2012 - 15:27 Uhr

It doesn't sound sexy, and many questions are unanswered

Reality Check. EU Summit, universities of the future, Boy Scout abuse, Newsweek goes all digital, the Swat Valley.

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"It doesn't sound sexy, and many questions are unanswered" - that, in a nutshell, is the verdict on the EU's "big breakthrough" on controlling the banks in the Euro Zone.

At their Brussels summit EU leaders say they have agreed in principle on a supervisory mechanism for the Eurozone banks. In essence, the plan would be for the European Central Bank in Frankfurt to control all banks in the Euro Zone, and in non Euro-Zone countries that are likely to join the Euro. In all, this would be something over 6.000 banks, from small, high-street banks to large national or international concerns.

The idea is to implement controls and regulations that would prevent another crisis such as the one facing the Euro Zone at present, but exactly how it would work, and when it would come into force, remain major unanswered questions.

Vanessa Mock, of the Wall Street Journal, says that while there may be a broad agreement, it is not a done deal, and whatever the eventual supervisory mechanism turns out to be, it is unlikely to help the countries stricken by the current crisis.