Arguably this Franco-German attempt to turn the Basel requirement into an EU maximum is an attack on the UK's fiscal or tax independence: if the FPC were to lack the tools to reduce dangerous risks in financial markets, that would increase the likelihood of British taxpayers' money being used to bail-out reckless banks.

BBC: EU block on making banks safer

Mr Osborne sees the French and German position as a distortion of what the Basel committee agreed.

BBC: EU block on making banks safer

Until the public banks lose political support, new rules from Basel and Brussels will only half-cure the distortions in the German market.

ECONOMIST: German banks

"Europeans are usually more concerned with quality hotel accommodations, good food and one-of-a-kind shopping, " says Chrismar Kuhn, a Basel-based luxury travel agent and fan of Sylt, a German North Sea island.

CNN: 10 secret European summer getaways