Mediaboss Marketing

Hans-Olaf Henkel, vice-president of the European Parliaments third-largest group the European Conservatives and Reformists, launched the furious tirade at Brussels leaders after they allowed Italian banks to be bailed out to save their single currency.

The German accused the European Commission, headed up by its president Jean-Claude Juncker, of breaking its own rules to keep the euro afloat while it faces difficulties due to faltering economies across its southern states.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Henkel also scorned Mr Juncker and co for not offering the same level of flexibility to keep Britain inside the European Union and avoided Brexit.

The German blasted: The only way of keeping the euro was breaking all the rules.

GETTY

The only way of keeping the euro was breaking all the rules

Hans-Olaf Henkel

The same Commission, and the same heads of states, who said we must not allow one exception to our rules the same people constantly violate our rules in order to keep the euro.

Im afraid they will continue to do so because they either stick to the rules and the euro is dead, and that its obvious they made a mistake, or they continue to violate all of the rules so nobody will find out theyve made a mistake.

The EU laid down new rules to protect taxpayers from banking failures in 2014, after member states used almost two trillion euros to prop up lenders during the crisis.

Another ruling, introduced last year, forbid taxpayers money being used to rescue lenders without investors also taking a hit.

But seemingly they flaunted their own rules and allowed Italian taxpayers to foot the bill after two failed lenders were taken over by the countrys biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo.

Instead of shareholders of Popolare di Vicensa and Vento Banca facing huge charges to save the lenders, a 14billion (17bn) was signed by the state instead of allowing another eurozone collapse.

Rome was also allowed to step in to rescue its oldest lender Monte de Pachi, despite the EU rules.

Bailouts arent reserved only for Italian banks, Santander bought toxic lender Banco Popular for a nominal 1 but not before shareholders lost everything.

Getty Images

1 of 9

A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices

Experts have predicted more bail outs, with Italian banks weighted down by about a third of eurozones toxic non-performing loans.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: So much for the so-called new single European rule book and the much vaunted European Banking Union.

It appears that there is one rule for Spanish banks, and the recent rescue of Popular Bank, and another for Italian banks.

Lets hope the Italian government has deep pockets given that this particular bailout is a fraction of the non-performing loans in the Italian banking system, of which it is estimated there about 300bn.

Continue reading here:
German MEP savages EU for 'breaking their own rules' to save crumbling eurozone - Express.co.uk