Why EU banks still refuse to die

A year on since BRRD came into force, the debate on taxpayer bailouts is far from resolved

No more taxpayer bailouts for banks. As political slogans go, it’s a beguiling one. It was the selling point for the European Union’s bank resolution framework, finalised in 2014. But EU authorities have now cleared Italy to use state aid to tackle the first major incident of bank distress since the framework entered into force in January 2016. As a result, the debate on whether state support for struggling banks can and should be phased out is still alive and kicking.

The dispute stemming from