Trichet's Trials

Why the ECB Can't Solve Europe's Financial Crisis

By David Crossland in Berlin

Part 2: U-Turns and Vague Pledges

The actions by Europe's governments over the last week have failed to inspire confidence, as slumping equity markets show.

First the leaders of Europe's top four economies Germany, France, Britain and Italy failed to agree on a common plan at a mini-summit in Paris at the weekend.

Then German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a surprise policy U-turn by announcing an unlimited state guarantee for all private German bank deposits on Sunday, a move that sparked confusion and put governments across Europe under pressure to follow suit to prevent their nation's banks from suffering a competitive disadvantage.

On Tuesday, EU finance ministers issued a vague pledge that EU governments would not allow "system relevant" financial institutions to fail, a statement that seemed aimed at masking the absence of a pan-European approach.

"It's very important when one makes announcements such as issuing a bank deposit guarantee to be precise. Vague ad hoc announcements can sow confusion," said Polleit at Barclays Capital.

"I think it's important that politicians do more to consult people who operate in financial markets and who know how expectations gets translated into market prices. I think the crisis management now requires not just bureaucrats but experts."

Everyone for Himself

Despite all European pledges to take joint action, the underlying message this week has been that every EU nation will sort out its own mess itself. Fresh evidence of that approach emerged on Wednesday when Britain announced plans to inject up to £50 billion ($87.2 billion) into its biggest retail banks.

The country's top banks suffered a share slump this week in which some lost nearly half their market value amid investor fears they could collapse. "Extraordinary times call for bold and far-reaching solutions," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist for Europe at Bank of America, said Europe was likely to come up with effective answers to the crisis, but that it would take time.

"I'd say it's a bit more difficult for Europe to get out of the crisis than it is for the US because there are different national responses to the crisis. It takes longer in Europe but things are going in the right direction. The measures taken won't end up differing much from country to country."

"There is a certain convergence process, almost everyone is thinking about deposit guarantees and almost everyone is pledging to bail out domestic banks with government support."

Schmieding said Europe didn't need a pan-European fund to tackle the crisis, and that such a move would be difficult to implement anyway. "Taxes are a very national affair, the top prerogative of national parliaments. That makes it very difficult in practical terms and politically to set up a European fund."