Schäuble: Taxpayers will not pay for the bail-in of banks

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said ECOFIN should come to an agreement and clarify that European taxpayers will never pay for a financial institution in need of financial aid.
 
Speaking during the ECOFIN, Schäuble said the 28 ministers must define a clear and stable framework of rules for the bail-in of financial institutions repeating that taxpayers of a member-state having to pay for the troubled banks of another member-state is not an acceptable solution.
 
Speaking for the European Parliament's proposals for the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), Schäuble said the framework of these rules should be ready by 2015. He added that there should not be access to the resources of the mechanism without the right of a veto until the complete pooling that is planned for 2026.
 
Eurogroup president and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said the results of the discussions have become clear, but work is still needed on individual issues. He added that the EU needs a functioning financial sector very quickly and that the Single Consolidation Fund should have the power to borrow directly from the markets, something with which Schäuble partly disagrees.
 
It should be noted that the Council will need to come to an agreement with the European Parliament before the next European elections.