During Sunday's informal Yle radio press conference, the premier said that the prime duty of European bank supervision will be to prevent future banking crises.

Since banks operate internationally, bank oversight must also be international, he noted. Closer monitoring will also support the market economy, he argued.

Katainen admitted that there are still questions that remain open about the reform, and details that must be fine-tuned. However he said he believes there is broad support for the idea.

Neighbouring Sweden, which is not part of the eurozone, has taken a highly critical view of the proposal floated by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso last week. On Saturday Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg told Yle that Sweden did not intend to allow the EU to supervise the Nordic region’s largest bank, Nordea. The Stockholm-based bank is also one of Finland’s largest.

Half a century of prime discussions

At the beginning of the interview, Katainen estimated that handling the euro crisis takes up about one third of his working time.

He was speaking during the 50th anniversary broadcast of the Prime Minister’s Interview Hour featuring a round-table discussion with journalists at the premier’s official residence, Kesäranta. Over the course its 500 broadcasts, 15 prime ministers have faced questions from reporters from 70 media outlets. The programme was originally produced four to seven times a year, but since the late 1980s has become a nearly monthly event.

The debut programme was broadcast on September 30, 1962, with the colourful premier Ahti Karjalainen meeting the press at Yle’s Pasila studios.

Also taking part in Sunday's two-hour anniversary broadcast were his three immediate predecessors, Mari Kiviniemi, Matti Vanhanen and Anneli Jäätteenmäki, all of the Centre Party.

Another Centre PM, Esko Aho, is away at Harvard while SDP premier Paavo Lipponen declined an invitation to take part.