The measures, approved by European finance ministers, ended months of haggling over ways to deal with the three-year financial crisis caused by too much government debt.
[...] finance ministers from the 27 EU countries negotiated through the night to agree to give the European Central Bank oversight of their banks.
Crucially, the single supervisor paves the way for Europe's bailout fund to give money directly to struggling banks, without dragging governments into the mess.
Dealing with the connection between banks and government debt — a toxic loop that has forced several countries to ask for bailouts after they tried to rescue their banks — also addresses a major cause of the region's financial crisis.
The economy across the eurozone is in recession; unemployment is rising; and in recent days, industrial production and retail sales have fallen further than forecast.
On Thursday, leaders were discussing having their countries enter into individual contracts with the EU to ensure they keep their commitments to cut excessive spending and adopt important reforms to make their economies more competitive.
[...] finance ministers from the 27 EU countries negotiated through the night to agree to give the European Central Bank oversight of their banks.
Crucially, the single supervisor paves the way for Europe's bailout fund to give money directly to struggling banks, without dragging governments into the mess.
Dealing with the connection between banks and government debt — a toxic loop that has forced several countries to ask for bailouts after they tried to rescue their banks — also addresses a major cause of the region's financial crisis.
The economy across the eurozone is in recession; unemployment is rising; and in recent days, industrial production and retail sales have fallen further than forecast.
On Thursday, leaders were discussing having their countries enter into individual contracts with the EU to ensure they keep their commitments to cut excessive spending and adopt important reforms to make their economies more competitive.
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