Merz Rules Out Pooled Deposit Protection in Banking Union Blow

Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the idea of joint European Uniondeposit insurance, a scheme large banks and many officials view as key to forging closer financial ties and ultimately strengthening the sovereignty of the bloc.

“Let me make this very clear: we’ve discussed deposit guarantee systems in Europe long enough,” Merz said Thursday in a speech at a banking forum in Berlin. “And there’s absolutely no reason to pool functioning liability systems at the member-state level within the EU.”

Two months into his chancellorship, Merz’s uncompromising stance dashes the hopes of some EU partners that Germany might budge on the ...