IRISH PRESIDENCY INAUGURATION : BARROSO: BANKING UNION A 'MODEL FOR OTHER SUBJECTS'.

The European banking union, considered essential in the EU's efforts to defeat the economic crisis, emerged even more virtuous in Jose Manuel Barroso's comments at the 10 January inauguration in Dublin of the Irish EU Presidency, which will cover the first six months of 2013. "It may be a model for other subjects in Europe," said the European Commission president at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore. "We think," he explained, "that it was a very good thing to have obtained the member states' green light on the single supervisory mechanism, a key step towards banking union. [ ] We saw that it was possible to come to agreement on consolidating economic and monetary union and on banking union even though there are countries that do not wish to join this banking union. So this marked a milestone in the history of our member states".

Although Barroso declined to comment on "speculation" about the appointment of a French woman as the future supervisor of eurozone banks (see separate article), Gilmore voiced this amused reaction: "The question of the identity of this single supervisor is interesting because there would never even have been such a rumour a year ago. We are now talking about a decision by June. So I welcome the shift from scepticism over this banking union...