Britain is holding up approval for the eurozone's single bank supervisor until it wins guarantees over voting rights, which could disrupt the push for Europe's Banking Union.
UK officials have declined for almost three weeks to sign off on the European Central Bank taking on supervision responsibilities, citing the need to consult the British parliament over what critics see as relatively minor changes to the legal text. The primary objective, however, has been to obtain extra assurances that UK safeguards against a eurozone caucus – the so-called double majority voting system – will survive future rounds of lawmaking.
A spokesperson for Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner responsible for the reforms, said the European Commission was “aware of UK concerns” about the voting balance between eurozone members and those outside the currency bloc. “We are confident we can sort any remaining issues in the next few days. Final agreement on the single supervisory mechanism is imperative – we cannot afford delay", the spokesperson added.
The UK said: “We have consistently said that we support the creation of a eurozone Banking Union but we have also been clear that there needs to be safeguards to ensure the integrity of the single market is guaranteed and that the rights of countries not taking part are protected”.
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