The financial crisis has exposed a fatal flaw in the design of European monetary union which can be removed only by decisive policy action. Policymakers in Europe now have the opportunity to take such action. A central aspect of the problem we are facing is the conflation between debt of the private sector and that of European national governments.
In the course of the crisis, fiscal budgets are being tapped to refinance systemically relevant financial institutions. At the same time, financial institutions continue to play a central role in financing national governments, lending money to them and holding their debt. An unavoidable consequence is that bank failures have led to sovereign debt crises and sovereign debt crises have led to banking crises, leading to growing mistrust of both national banking systems and government finance. The situation is aggravated by the fact that international investors, driven by fear of total collapse, have withdrawn funding to struggling countries, both for governments and for banks. This has in turn led to a balkanisation of national financial markets and threatens not only the European monetary union but the European integration project as a whole.
Only by breaking the link between the refinancing of banks and the solvency of national governments will it be possible to stabilise the supply of credit in crisis countries. If the refinancing of banks – and the insurance of bank deposits – can be made independent of the financial state of the respective domiciling country, national sovereign crises can be decoupled from the private sector financing. In this way, contractionary demand shocks induced by corrective national fiscal policy can be softened by a broadening of the supply of credit. A European backbone to the refinancing of banks will dampen the impact of the coming fiscal consolidation. An indispensable requirement for this is a set of uniform regulatory banking standards which are implemented by a single European authority.
Deeper financial integration and a de-coupling of government and banking finance are essential elements for a more stable financial architecture in Europe. These steps are important for breaking the vicious circle between sovereign debt and banking crises. A monetary union with free capital flows cannot work reasonably without a unified banking framework. For this reason, the decisions of the last EU summit represent a move in the right direction. Now it is crucial to implement these decisions, in order to create a durable solution with uniform European structures.
In no way does this endorse a collectivisation of bank liabilities. Rather it is essential to cede key powers of regulatory intervention in member countries to a banking supervision authority at the European level. This European banking supervision authority should have the ability to authorise recapitalisation of troubled banks by the expropriation of previous equity holders and the partial conversion of bank debt into equity. A unified resolution procedure must be capable of recapitalising, restructuring, or liquidating insolvent financial institutions in an impartial manner.
At the same time, creditors must be made liable for risky investments, so that the resolution of troubled financial institutions can be executed (as far as possible) without taxpayer money. In order to secure the financial stability of a banking union, a common restructuring fund that can intervene and impose binding conditionality on reorganisation plans is needed. The ESM can play this role. A stronger Europe-wide deposit insurance system can also contribute to the long run stability of the banking system.
Only a European banking supervisory authority with sweeping intervention powers can break the linkages between the financing of governments and banks and the national supervisors. It would represent an important step towards solving the problems presently faced by the Eurozone. In contrast, it is much more difficult to intervene directly in the fiscal affairs of Eurozone states – this would require a process with democratic legitimacy, which remains a very remote option at the present. A banking union is thus only part of a complete solution. The mechanisms and budgetary controls that would be implemented in the framework of a European Fiscal Pact are also needed to restore public budgets to sustainable paths.
A banking union can help decisively to secure the financial integrity and stability of the European monetary union. For this reason, the signatories of this manifesto support the creation of a durable, unified framework at the European level which can serve to break the link between the funding of private banks and the public purse.
Source: www.voxeu.org
Erstunterzeichner:
Prof. Michael C. Burda (HU Berlin)
Prof. Hans-Peter Grüner (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Frank Heinemann (TU Berlin)
Prof. Martin Hellwig (MPI Bonn)
Prof. Mathias Hoffmann (Univ. Zürich)
Prof. Gerhard Illing (LMU München)
Prof. Hans-Helmut Kotz (IFK-CFS Frankfurt a.M., Univ. Freiburg)
Prof. Jan Pieter Krahnen (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Tom Krebs (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Gernot Müller (Univ. Bonn)
Prof. Andreas Schabert (TU Dortmund)
Prof. Isabel Schnabel (Univ. Mainz)
Prof. Moritz Schularick (FU Berlin)
Prof. Dennis Snower (IWK Kiel)
Prof. Uwe Sunde (LMU München)
Prof. Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Univ. Mainz)
Folgende Kolleginnen und Kollegen haben der Stellungnahme zugestimmt:
Prof. Hermann Adam (FU Berlin)
Prof. Carlos Alós-Ferrer (Univ. Konstanz)
Prof. Wilhelm Althammer (Handelshochschule Leipzig)
Prof. Erwin Amann (Univ. Duisburg-Essen)
Prof. Ludwig von Auer (Univ. Trier)
Prof. Ernst Baltensperger (Univ. Bern)
Prof. Christina Bannier (FSFM Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Hans-Heinrich Bass (HS Bremen)
Prof. Christian Bayer (Univ. Bonn)
Assoc.-Prof. Ralph-C. Bayer (Univ. Adelaide)
Prof. Marco Becht (ECARES Brüssel)
Prof. Günter W. Beck (Univ. Siegen)
Prof. Thorsten Beck (Univ. Tilburg)
Prof. Daniel Becker (EUV Frankfurt/Oder)
Jun.-Prof. Thorsten Beckers (TU Berlin)
Prof. Gregor van der Beek (HS Rhein-Waal, Kleeve)
Prof. Aleksander Berentsen (Univ. Basel)
Dr. Kerstin Bernoth (DIW Berlin)
Prof. Felix Bierbrauer (Univ. Köln)
Prof. Friedel Bolle (EUV Frankfurt/Oder)
Prof. Axel Börsch-Supan (MPI München)
Prof. Jörg Breitung (Univ. Bonn)
Prof. Johannes Bröcker (Univ. Kiel)
Prof. Davide Cantoni (LMU München)
Prof. Volker Caspari (TU Darmstadt)
Prof. Christiane Clemens (Univ. Bielefeld)
Prof. Irwin Collier (FU Berlin)
Jun.-Prof. Achim Czerny (WHU Vallendar)
Dr. Jonas Dovern (Kiel Economics Research & Forecasting GmbH & Co. KG)
Prof. Sebastian Dullien (HTW Berlin)
Prof. Jürgen Eichberger (Univ. Heidelberg)
Prof. Roland Eisen (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Zeno Enders (Univ. Heidelberg)
Jun.-Prof. Philipp Engler (FU Berlin)
Prof. Horst Entorf (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Dipl.-Vw. Florian Ertz (Univ. Trier)
Dr. Michael Evers (Univ. Bonn)
Asst.-Prof. Harald Fadinger (Univ. Wien)
Prof. Ester Faia (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Stefan Felder (Univ. Basel)
Prof. Ralf Fendel (WHU Vallendar)
Dr. Ferdinand Fichtner (DIW Berlin)
Prof. Wolfgang Filc (Univ. Trier)
Prof. Reto Föllmi (Univ. St. Gallen)
Prof. Günter Franke (Univ. Konstanz)
Prof. Michael Frenkel (WHU Vallendar)
Prof. Guido Friebel (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Ralph Friedmann (Univ. des Saarlandes)
Prof. Ulrich Fritsche (Univ. Hamburg)
Prof. Barbara Fritz (FU Berlin)
Prof. Markus Frölich (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Thomas Gaube (Univ. Osnabrück)
Prof. Thomas Gehrig (Univ. Wien) *
Prof. Christian Gehrke (Univ. Graz)
Prof. Horst Gischer (Univ. Magdeburg)
Prof. Egon Görgens (Uni Bayreuth)
Prof. Reint Gropp (EBS Oestrich-Winkel)
Prof. Dr. Joachim Güntzel (DHBW Ravensburg)
Prof. Harald Hagemann (Univ. Hohenheim)
Prof. Mark Hallerberg (HSG Berlin)
Prof. Wolfgang Härdle (HU Berlin)
Prof. Philipp Harms (Univ. Mainz)
Prof. Wolfgang Hartmann (FIRM, Frankfurt a.M.)
PD Dr. Jochen Hartwig (ETH Zürich)
Prof. Rainer Haselmann (Univ. Bonn)
Asst.-Prof. Tarek Alexander Hassan (Univ. Chicago)
Prof. Justus Haucap (Univ. Düsseldorf)
Prof. Richard Hauser (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Andreas Haufler (LMU München)
Prof. Carsten Hefeker (Univ. Siegen)
Prof. André W. Heinemann (Univ. Bremen)
Prof. Florian Heiss (Univ. Mainz)
Prof. Klaus-Dirk Henke (TU Berlin)
Prof. Thorsten Hens (Univ. Zürich)
Dr. Udo Hermann (Köln)
Prof. Hansjörg Herr (HWR Berlin)
Prof. Bernhard Herz (Univ. Bayreuth)
Fabian Herzog (Univ. Lüneburg)
Prof. Rudolf Hickel (Univ. Bremen)
Assoc.-Prof. Steffen Hoernig (NOVA Lissabon)
Prof. Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich (FU Berlin)
Prof. Gustav Horn (IMK Düsseldorf)
Prof. Eckhard Janeba (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Heike Joebges (HTW Berlin)
Prof. Klaus Dieter John (TU Chemnitz)
Prof. Philip Jung (Univ. Bonn)
Prof. Christoph Kaserer (TU München)
Prof. Oliver Kirchkamp (Univ. Jena)
Prof. Stephan Klasen (Univ. Göttingen)
Prof. Martin Kocher (LMU München)
David Kohl (Julius Bär Bank Europe AG, Frankfurt a.M.)
Christian Kopf (Spinnaker Capital Ltd., London)
Prof. Matthias Kräkel (Univ. Bonn)
Prof. Hagen Krämer (HS Karlsruhe Technik und Wirtschaft)
Prof. Jürgen Kromphardt (TU Berlin)
Dr. Tobias Kronenberg (Forschungszentrum Jülich)
Prof. Dirk Krueger (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia)
Prof. Hans-Jürgen Krupp (Darmstadt)
Prof. Lutz Kruschwitz (FU Berlin)
Prof. Dorothea Kübler (TU Berlin)
Prof. Heinz D. Kurz (Univ. Graz)
Prof. Laitenberger (Univ. Halle-Wittenberg)Prof. Oliver Landmann (Univ. Freiburg)
Dr. Konrad Lammers (Univ. Hamburg)
Prof. Franz Peter Lang (TU Braunschweig)
Assoc.-Prof. Fabian Lange (Yale University)
Prof. Wolfgang Leininger (TU Dortmund)
Prof. Christian Leuz (University of Chicago)
Prof. Ulrich van Lith (Univ. Köln)
Prof. Otto Lucius (Univ. Graz, Österr. Bankwissenschaftliche Ges.)
Prof. Alexander Ludwig (Univ. Köln)
Prof. Thomas Lux (Univ. Kiel)
Dr. Bernhard Mahlberg (Wirtschaftsuniv. Wien)
Mag. Mario Matzer (Univ. Graz)
Dr. Boris Maurer (Berlin)
Dr. Thomas Mayer (Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt a.M.)
Dr. Barbara Meller (Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt a.M.) **
Prof. Lukas Menkhoff (Univ. Hannover)
Prof. Christian Merkl (Univ. Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Prof. Monika Merz (Univ. Wien) *
Asst.-Prof. Felix Meschke (University of Kansas)
Dr. Martina Metzger (BIF, Berlin)
Prof. Karl Morasch (UdB München)
Dr. Gerald Müller (Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Dieter Nautz (FU Berlin)
Prof. Franz Nees (HS Karlsruhe – Technik und Wirtschaft)
Prof. Doris Neuberger (Univ. Rostock) ***
Prof. Ulrike Neyer (Univ. Düsseldorf)
Prof. Manfred Nitsch (FU Berlin)
Prof. Markus Nöth (Univ. Hamburg)
Prof. Hans G. Nutzinger (Univ. Kassel)
Prof. Peter Ockenfels (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Jörg Oechssler (Univ. Heidelberg)
Jun.-Prof. Christian Offermanns (FU Berlin)
Prof. Notburga Ott (Univ. Bochum)
Prof. Karl-Heinz Paqué (Univ. Magdeburg)
Assoc.-Prof. Gerald Pech (KIMEP University, Almaty)
Prof. Martin Peitz (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Johannes Pfeifer (Univ. Tübingen)
Prof. Arnold Picot (LMU München)
Prof. Winfried Pohlmeier (Univ. Konstanz)
Prof. Birger Priddat (Univ. Witten/Herdecke)
Prof. Jan Priewe (HTW Berlin)
Prof. Günther Rehme (HU Berlin)
Prof. Helmut Reisen (Univ. Basel)
Prof. Hermann Ribhegge (EUV Frankfurt/Oder)
Prof. Wolfram F. Richter (TU Dortmund)
Prof. Albrecht Ritschl (LSE London)
Prof. Michael Rockinger (Université de Lausanne)
Prof. Michael Roos (Ruhr-Univ. Bochum)
Prof. Peter Rosner (Univ. Wien)
Prof. Martin Ruckes (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie)
Prof. Karlheinz Ruckriegel (Ohm-HS Nürnberg)
Prof. Markus Rudolf (WHU Vallendar)
Prof. Peter Rühmann (Univ. Göttingen)
Prof. Bert Rürup (ISM Dortmund)
Prof. Klaus Sandmann (Univ. Bonn)
Dr. Andreas Sauer (Quoniam Asset Management. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Dorothea Schäfer (DIW Berlin)
Senior Lecturer Dr. Waltraud Schelkle (LSE London, European Institute Berlin)
Prof. Ronald Schettkat (Univ. Wuppertal)
Prof. Bernd Schips (St. Gallen)
Prof. Ekkehart Schlicht (LMU München)
Günter Schlothane (Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Karl Schmedders (Univ. Zürich)
Prof. Johannes Schmidt (HS Karlsruhe – Technik und Wirtschaft)
Prof. Reinhard H. Schmidt (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Philipp Schmidt-Dengler (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Reinhold Schnabel (Univ. Duisburg-Essen)
Prof. Peter Schönfeld (Univ. Bonn)
Mag. Dr. Stephan Schulmeister (WIFO Wien)
Jan Pieter Schulz (Suhl)
Dipl.-Vw. Helge Schulze (Kiel)
Prof. Reimund Schwarze (EUV Frankfurt/Oder)
Dr. Daniela Schwarzer (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin)
Dipl.-Pol. Stephan Seip (Lugano)
Prof. Stephan Seiter (HS Reutlingen)
Prof. Reinhard Selten (Univ. Bonn)
Prof. Paul Bernd Spahn (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Harald Spehl (Univ. Trier)
Prof. Peter Steiner (Univ. Graz)
Prof. Richard Sturn (Univ. Graz)
Prof. Ulrich van Suntum (Univ. Münster)
Prof. Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Peter Tillmann (Univ. Gießen)
Prof. Hans-Michael Trautwein (Univ. Oldenburg)
Prof. Uwe Vollmer (Univ. Leipzig)
Prof. Gert G. Wagner (DIW Berlin)
Prof. Uwe Walz (Goethe-Univ. Frankfurt a.M.)
Assoc.-Prof. Kirsten Wandschneider (Occidental College, Los Angeles)
Dr. Sebastian Watzka (LMU München)
Prof. Martin Weber (Univ. Mannheim)
Prof. Georg Weizsäcker (UCL London, DIW Berlin)
Prof. Paul J.J. Welfens (Univ. Wuppertal)
Prof. Lars Wellejus (FH Frankfurt a.M.)
Prof. Heinz Welsch (Univ. Oldenburg)
Prof. Axel Werwatz (TU Berlin)
Prof. Berthold Wigger (Univ. Karlsruhe)
Dipl.-Vw. Michael Wilken (Wedermark)
Dr. Bernd Zettelmeyer (Bad Honnef)
Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Ph.D. (EBRD, London)
Dipl.-Vw. Thomas Zimmermann (Univ. Trier)
Prof. Karl Georg Zinn (RWTH Aachen)
Prof. Josef Zweimüller (Univ. Zürich)
Lecturer Dr. Robert Zymek (Univ. Edinburgh)
* Prof. Gehrig und Prof. Merz legen Wert auf folgende Feststellung:
Die europäische Bankenaufsicht muss i) politisch unabhängig sein und ii) das Ziel verfolgen, einen
funktionierenden Bankenwettbewerb zu garantieren.
** Dr. Meller gibt ihre persönliche Meinung wider und nicht unbedingt die der Bundesbank.
*** Prof. Neuberger findet das Wort „Nur“ am Beginn des 2. und 5. Absatzes zu apodiktisch, stimmt aber
ansonsten zu.
Insgesamt haben 220 Kolleginnen und Kollegen die Stellungnahme unterzeichnet bzw. unterstützt, davon
191 Professorinnen und Professoren. Wir waren erfolgreich darin die Öffentlichkeit im In- und Ausland zu
informieren, dass viele deutschsprachige Ökonomen eine europäische Bankenunion mit gemeinsamer
Bankenaufsicht für sinnvoll halten. Damit ist das Ziel erreicht. Wir, die Erstunterzeichner, danken allen, die
unsere Stellungnahme unterstützt haben, aber auch allen anderen, die sich an der Diskussion beteiligt
haben.
Berlin, den 12. Juli 2012
Eyes on Brussels 
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