(MENAFN) Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Finance Minister of the European Union, talked to reporters after a meeting that was held on how to react towards failing banks, saying "that shareholders and creditors are liable first and foremost," reported Bloomberg. The meeting also included an agreement on certain guidelines for organizing public assistance and assigning losses to private creditors. It is worth mentioning that this meeting is expected to be a first step in the long road of plans from the European Commission to centralize handling of crisis-hit banks.