It said it would have passed the test if regulators counted a debt-equity hybrid, called "silent participation", as a capital reserve, but the EBA, having initially said it would accept this, then changed its mind.

BBC: Eight banks fail EU stress test with 16 in danger zone

And the EBA is insisting that plans to cope with such a default have to be drawn up by vulnerable banks within three months.

BBC: Business

This may seem like a reward to the banks for raising 26 percent more capital than the EBA had originally mandated, but it smacks of favoritism.

FORBES: Where��s the Beef?

Instead there will be a slightly messier process, in which there is central determination - by the EBA, in collaboration with national regulators - of how much individual banks need, and then individual countries will decide how the money can and should be injected into their respective banks.

BBC: Will euro banks be saved before meltdown?

Is there a chance that the UK's banks will be forced to raise additional capital, since the reach of the EBA is the whole of Europe, not just the eurozone?

BBC: Will euro banks be saved before meltdown?

The EBA said it recommends that these banks be forced by their respective national regulators to raise additional capital as a protection against possible further losses from loans going bad, with a deadline of 15 October for the formulation of remedial plans and 15 April 2012 for implementation.

BBC: Business