Merkel Dodges Draghi Call for Clarity With Bank Union Swerve

When Portugal later called for a specific commitment to discuss banking union at an upcoming summit in June, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said such language wasn't warranted, the officials said, asking not to be named because the talks were private. A spokesman for Merkel didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dance between Europe's two most powerful policy makers shows the balancing act they're engaged in as they try to consolidate the economic gains of recent years while keeping their different constituencies on board.

Merkel, struggling to reassure her voters that she can get a grip on immigration flows, is sensitive to the risk of a domestic backlash against underwriting bank deposits in the rest of the bloc; Draghi has already faced German dissent in his battle to fan inflation across the currency union.