Euro zone finmins say won't allow big banks to fail

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers said on Monday they would not allow big financial institutions in the 15-country area to fail, seeking to contain the impact from the global financial crisis on their patch.

"We will...make sure that systemically important institutions will not be allowed to fail. That's our objective," Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro area finance ministers, told a news conference.

"We have all agreed that we want to do all we can to avoid financial institutions of systemic importance failing. The states will guarantee that this does not happen," Juncker added after the Eurogroup met in Luxembourg.

The finance minister of Slovakia, which is due to join the euro area next year, also sat in on the meeting.

The message of assurance followed a feverish weekend of bank bailout activity and state guarantees, during which Germany pushed through a rescue of lender Hypo Real Estate and promised blanket deposit protection for bank savers.

Following Dutch government nationalisation of the bulk of its Dutch businesses, the Belgian-Luxembourg rump of financial services firm Fortis was also sold to France's BNP Paribas.

The euro zone states and the broader 27-member European Union have stopped short of agreeing a rescue package for banks that would mirror the $700 billion plan in the United States, but have tried to present a coordinated response to the crisis.

"We will all take all the necessary measures to assure the stability of the financial system," Juncker said, adding that responses should be national but in the framework of European solidarity.

Earlier, French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement in which the 27 EU committed to do what was needed to counter market mayhem and ensure no savers lost any money. His country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

(Reporting by Paul Carrel)