Diplomats: EU chiefs agree on bank supervisor

BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union leaders announced early Friday they had agreed to create a single supervisor for banks in countries that use the euro, and said it would "probably" become operational sometime next year.

The deal, reached at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, represents a shaky compromise between the Germans and French, who had been tussling over how to shore up the eurozone's banking system.

France has been pushing to get all 6,000 banks in the 17 euro countries under the supervision of one European body by the end of this year. But Germany's Chancellor Merkel, wary of using taxpayers' money to prop up other countries' banks, tried to put the brakes on the plan.

European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said the single supervisor would "probably" be up and running next year.