The euro zone is likely to come up with a plan for deeper economic integration by the end of the year, after agreeing on what elements it should include and how to achieve it in June, the president of the European Council has said.
Herman Van Rompuy told a news conference in St Petersburg, Russia that, by the next summit of EU leaders at the end of June, he and three other EU officials would present "the main building blocks for this deepened economic and monetary union" and "a working method to achieve this objective".
"In those building blocks, banking integration is an important chapter... I will deal at this stage on supervision, on deposit insurance and on resolution," Mr Van Rompuy said.
"So we are working on it. It is the beginning only of the work... and hopefully we can present results of that work already by the end of this year," he said.
Mr Van Rompuy also said some emerging economies face major challenges to growth and the 27-nation bloc doesn't bear sole responsibility for a global slowdown.
A possible slump in the EU won't be as severe as the contraction it experienced during the 2008 crisis, he added.
Agencies