Karlsruhe court gives ESM breathing space

Published on 11 September 2012 at 12:42

The German Federal Constitutional Court rejected, on September 11, an emergency request by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler aimed at delaying the court's ruling on the ratification, by the President of the Republic, of bills concerning the European Stability Mechanism and the Budget Stability Pact. The court's ruling is expected on September 12. The bills have already passed in parliament and the implementation of the ESM, originally scheduled for last July, is awaiting the green light from the court.

According to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the magistrates delayed their ruling on the merits of Gauweiler's case. Gauweiler, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) the Bavarian branch of Angela Merkel's CDU, filed his suit following the September 6 announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB) that it would buy back more sovereign debt. This announcement created "a totally new situation", the suit alleged, thus justifying a delay in the court's ruling. The ECB was by-passing parliamentary control on the ESM, Gauweiler's suit said.

Gauweiler is not alone in his opposition to the ESM, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung adds. It notes that —

Standing beside Gauweiler and the left-wing party, Die Linke, are about 37,000 citizens who have formed an organisation called "Mehr Demokratie" [More Democracy] and who are also opposed to President Joachim Gauck putting his signature on the treaty establishing the ESM.

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