Europe's leaders made a fresh attempt to restore confidence in its financial system with a decision to publish detailed results of tests on the health of 25 big European banks.
The so-called “stress tests” initiative was approved at a European Union summit in Brussels yesterday, where the leaders united behind a call for a general levy on European banks to ensure they contributed to the cost of overcoming the financial crisis.
The leaders of the 27-nation bloc also set out plans for stronger economic governance of the eurozone, involving stricter mutual surveillance of national budgets, closer attention to debt levels and the development of a scoreboard for assessing competitiveness.