According to a March 2011 policy brief from the European Credit Research Institute, here:
The [European] Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) collected data from all DGS [Deposit Guarantee Schemes] in the EU to examine the ability to handle payouts (JRC, 2008). It revealed that the coverage ratio in most countries is not even sufficient to protect 1% of eligible deposits . . ..
. . . [T]he JRC carried out a ‘stress-testing’ exercise, which confirmed the weaknesses of EU DGS to handle payouts. Three different scenarios were tested, taking into account the availability of funding (ex ante, ex post and borrowing of funds):
•Small-impact scenario: €100 million average financial burden
•Medium-impact scenario: €2.18 billion average financial burden
•High-impact scenarios: €8.69 billion average financial burden
Results showed that all EU DGS could cover a small-impact bank failure. A medium-sized failure could be borne by seven EU countries with the highest coverage ratios using only ex ante funds. Six member states would not be able to reimburse depositor claims in the medium-impact case, even if they used all available funding, including ex post funds and additional borrowing. No member state was well-equipped to cope with a large failure using only ex ante funds.
To date in the current crisis, the US FDIC has paid out in excess of $88 billion. It appears the EU equivalents can't pay out even 10 billion euros. All guarantee schemes are individual member country responsibility.
