Mr. Aidan Carrigan:

The ECB is to take over responsibility for the prudential supervision of all banks within the eurozone. Much of the discussion in the negotiations centred on the fact that the Council decision said there should be differentiated supervision whereby the ECB would take a direct, hands-on interest in day-to-day supervision in some institutions while relying on national competent authorities to supervise the smaller institutions of which there are some 6,000 to 7,000 across Europe. That would all take place within a single supervisory mechanism.