EU leaders bicker but debt deal moves closer

Ireland’s bid to offload billions of euro of debt was slowly making headway last night despite EU leaders bickering over the details of a banking union.

The latest developments to the plan to make the country’s massive debt manageable came as the ratings agency Fitch signalled it may soon remove Ireland’s negative outlook, helping the country secure cheaper funding from the markets.

However, upgrading the credit rating from its current standing of two notches above junk would depend on the country getting a credible deal to cut a sizeable slice of the massive €63bn banking debt, Fitch said. Getting a deal depends on the first step in a banking union being agreed — a single European bank supervisor — and then agreement that the EU’s rescue fund can fund current banking debt.