Brussels on collision course with Germany on banking union

The European Commission put itself on a collision course with Germany on Wednesday (10 July) after it proposed a common eurozone authority backed by a fund to decide on the fate of ailing banks.

Under the proposal, an EU agency with 300 staff would be set up to supervise national regulators on ailing banks and to prepare plans to wind them down. The commission would then make the final decision on whether and when to put a bank into resolution.

The new regime would cover the rough...