BERLIN (Bloomberg) – European banks that fail stress tests will "in the worst case" need government aid to strengthen their balance sheets, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

"The goal is to make it clear that European banks are stable and wherever there are problems, there have to be consequences," Schaeuble said. The stress tests "won't create disturbances, but rather clarity," he said.

European Union regulators are examining the strength of 91 banks to determine whether they can survive potential losses on sovereign-bond holdings.