News Summary: EU seeks progress on banking union
EU finance ministers huddle over banking union on eve of summit of leaders
STEP CLOSER: European Union finance ministers are closer to creating a single supervisor for their banks after France and Germany said they had largely patched up their differences over the new body's powers.
KEYSTONE: The agreement on a banking supervisor is a vital part of European countries' efforts to protect themselves from future financial crises. Recently, it seemed unlikely a year-end deadline to set up the supervisor would be met because of disagreements between France and Germany. Wednesday's meeting was called because Europe's two biggest economies failed to find a compromise last week.
POPULAR, SORT OF: The 10 European Union countries that don't use the euro will be allowed to choose to put their banks under the authority of the new supervisor; some have expressed interest in that since it would show investors that their lenders are solid. But other countries such Sweden and Britain, which don't want to submit to the new supervisor, warned that they wanted to find a way to protect their voices in the European Banking Authority
