(4 Dec 2012)
1. Wide of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble arriving at news conference
2. Cutaway of cameraman
3. SOUNDBITE: (German) Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance Minister (on bank union):
"No European institution can monitor six thousand banks in a short term with the same intensity. So we have to find a reasonable solution on which banks will be supervised by national authorities and which by the ECB (European Central Bank). I think we will find a solution that will be in line with the commitments presented by the European Commission in the sense that the ECB supervises national banks first."
4. Mid of journalists
5. SOUNDBITE: (German) Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance Minister:
"We cannot transfer banking supervision to an independent institution because in the time it has that banking supervision power it will lose its independence as the ECB, as the European treaties has established and from our perception of what a central bank is."
6. Wide of Schaeuble at press conference
7. SOUNDBITE (German) Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance Minister: (on Supervision):
"Within the framework of the current treaties, we have to find a way (for supervision). Perhaps there may be a limited treaty change, and as the Commission said it last week in his blueprint. But on that, member states' view that is different"
8. Cutaway of German logo
9. Wide of Schaeuble leaving news conference
STORYLINE:
European Union countries are dragging themselves to a year-end summit with a heavy load of unfinished business.
The 27 finance ministers remained split on Tuesday on the establishment of a new European single supervisor to keep wayward banks in check, and were forced to squeeze in another extraordinary meeting next week on the eve of a Dec 13-14 summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
Add to that deep-rooted disagreements on the establishment of a multi-annual EU budget and the seemingly endless strife to keep Greece on the safe side of the brink of bankruptcy, and it adds up to a chaotic outlook for the EU over the next weeks.
The establishment of a banking union, in particular, includes some decisions that have to be taken by Dec. 31.
The supervision of EU banks to rein in reckless action is key to that. As part of its plans to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis crippling the region, the EU has been working toward setting up a "banking union" - a unified playbook for all the region's banks.
The single bank supervisor is a vital part of this plan and must be up and running before other measures can be introduced: European-wide depositors' insurance; a single method for winding down bankrupt banks; and allowing the European bailout fund to directly help banks in trouble, instead of lending money only to governments.
And this time, it is not a battle with a fringe nation like Britain which is at the heart of the delays, but disagreement between the two traditional drivers of European integration - France and Germany.
The continent's two largest economic powers are divided over how many banks the supervisor would be allowed to oversee and what powers the ECB should have within the supervision.
"No European institution can monitor six thousand banks in a short term with the same intensity. So we have to find a reasonable solution on which banks will be supervised by national authorities and which by the ECB," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.
On top of that, he said the ECB had to remain at arm's length from any supervisory decision-making it takes on to protect its independence.


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