There are worrying signs of a credit crunch developing in Germany and Italy and the European Union should take urgent action to loosen capital requirements for banks, German and Italian employer’s groups said Thursday.

In a joint letter to European Commission President Barroso and Swedish PM Reinfeldt, Italy’s Confindustria and Germany’s BDI warned the signs for the second half of 2009 “are not reassuring” adding “this could have dramatic consequences for investments and employment in two of the European Union’s largest economies.”

The letter went on to call for a change in the way lending risk is assessed, to give business more access to credit.