Top EU lawmaker hopes ECB will use 'reason' when tackling bad loans

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should use "reason" and tackle the bad loans weighing on some euro zone banks on a case-by-case basis, rather than introducing new and potentially damaging rules, a top European Union lawmaker said on Wednesday.

"On the stock, I hope that reason will prevail," said Roberto Gualtieri, the chairman of the EU Parliament's committee on economic and monetary affairs, to which the ECB is accountable.

"An additional push on the stock has to be done bank by bank," the Italian socialist added.

He warned that applying the same guidelines that the ECB adopted for new unpaid loans to legacy credit would threaten the stability of the banking sector.

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)