BRUSSELS/PARIS, Nov 29: The European Commission denied a report on Saturday that it was blocking a French plan to shore up the capital positions of big retail banks, saying it was working with Paris to get it approved as soon as possible.

“There is no sort of blockage,” said Jonathan Todd, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, adding that the latter had spoken to French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde about the issue on Friday.

“They both agreed to pull out the stops to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” he said. France announced that it would lend 10.5bn euros to the country’s six top lenders before year-end to prop up capital reserves.—Reuters