Free Republic

The European Commission wants to create a new financial backstop for ailing banks from its member countries that do not use the euro currency. The 17 EU countries that use the euro have a €500 billion fund, called the European Stability Mechanism, that they can tap to help rescue troubled banks. But the other 11 members, which include Britain, Poland and Hungary, do not. For those countries, the Commission, the 28-nation EU’s executive arm, is proposing to use an existing €50 billion ($68 billion) fund currently being used as a backstop for countries experiencing a balance-of-payment crisis, Commission spokesman Simon...