VILNIUS, Lithuania – European finance ministers are seeking to make progress on the thorny issue of establishing a banking union that is intended to stabilize the bloc’s financial system.
Ministers from the 17 European Union countries that use the euro currency met Friday in Vilnius, Lithuania, to discuss the establishment of a joint authority to restructure or unwind bust banks, and how to finance those interventions.
Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble acknowledges there are still widely differing positions on the issue but insists “all have the will to reach a solution as fast as possible” and before the end of the European Parliament’s term in May.
The ministers are also discussing the state of Slovenia’s finances which is burdened by ailing banks and which some say is teetering on the brink of needing a bailout.
