Czech leader says cannot vote for banking union as stands

(BRUSSELS) - Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said Thursday he could not vote for the sort of banking union being pushed by French President Francois Hollande at a summit of European Union leaders.

"I can hardly imagine voting for certain measures", the head of the non-euro state said on meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the summit.

Necas and Cameron are allies in a splinter right-wing alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, and Britain and the Czech Republic were the two countries that vetoed an EU fiscal treaty this year which is still awaiting final ratification from the signatories.

"For the Czech Republic, there are many things uncertain so far, concerning mutual bailout and especially deposit guarantees", he said.

"Czech banks are relatively sound, so they don't need to be connected with the infected part of Europe," Necas told Czech reporters, according to his spokesman.

Beginning with single supervision, the banking union is to eventually comprise Europe-wide guarantees on deposits to reassure depositors and insure against bank runs.

The Czechs oppose this on the grounds that the vast majority of its banks are foreign-owned.

The EU also wants to include a so-called "resolution" scheme mainly funded by the industry to close down bad banks.