Italian Bank-Rescue Push Falters as Merkel Sticks to the Rules
- German chancellor says EU law contains sufficient flexibility
- Renzi says he didn’t come to EU summit to be given a ‘lesson’
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Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s efforts to shore up Italy’s struggling banks ran into a roadblock, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted on sticking to the rules put in place since the financial crisis to prevent taxpayer bailouts.
“We can’t do everything all over again every other year,” Merkel told reporters after a European Union summit in Brussels on Wednesday. The bloc’s laws on the resolution and recapitalization of banks “offer enough leeway for the specific conditions in individual member states.”