Germany's Constitutional Court today approved the euro zone's new bailout fund while insisting on guarantees to safeguard German parliamentary sovereignty and limit Berlin's financial exposure.
The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe today dismissed motions filed by groups that sought to block the European Stability Mechanism, and a deficit-control treaty championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. The 37,000-odd plaintiffs included eurosceptics from Dr Merkel's centre-right coalition and Left Party hardliners opposed to European integration.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the decision averted a possible crisis. "Obviously, I welcome the fact that the German court has made a decision that this is constitutional with German basic law," Mr Kenny said in Dublin this morning. "It's good news in the sense that it moves us away from a potential crisis which may have arisen had that not been so."
The verdict hands Dr Merkel ammunition against bailout opponents in Germany, including in her ruling coalition. "This is a good day for Germany and it is a good day for Europe," Dr Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag in Berlin. "Today, Germany once again sends a strong signal to Europe and beyond: Germany is resolutely fulfilling its responsibilities as the biggest economy and trusted partner in Europe."
Stocks and Spanish and Italian bonds rallied after the ruling, while the euro rose to a four-month high. The single currency climbed 0.5 per cent to $1.2920 at 12:57 p.m. in Berlin. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 per cent.
The court stipulated that a cap of about €190 billion be set on German liabilities before ESM ratification, unless parliament decides to back extra funds. "The review has concluded that the laws that were challenged, with high probability, do not violate the constitution," chief justice Andreas Vosskuhle told the court. "Hence the motions for a temporary injunction were to be rejected."
Yet "some uncertainties" about the limit on Germany's contribution to the ESM and the scope of the German parliament's say over the fund also flowed into the ruling, he said. The legal challenge to the planned rescue fund highlights bailout fatigue in Europe's largest economy and delayed efforts by Dr Merkel and other euro-area policy makers to stem the debt crisis.
If the court in Karlsruhe had uphold injunctions against the bailout fund in its ruling, it could have devastated bond and currency markets and plunge the euro zone into turmoil by depriving it of funds to keep debt-laden states afloat.
The ESM was supposed to come into effect in July as a €700 billion firewall to stop the three-year-old debt crisis from spreading. Only German ratification is still pending: the fund needs approval by countries representing 90 per cent of its capital base, and Germany's share is more than one quarter.
The ESM's fate is tied to the other big hope for solving the crisis: the European Central Bank (ECB) buying Italy and Spain's debt to bring down their borrowing costs. ECB chief Mario Draghi has made clear such action requires the involvement of the ESM.
But his promise of "unlimited" bond-buying has struck a raw nerve in Germany, outraging some of Dr Merkel's more eurosceptic allies and prompting a last-minute attempt to delay the ESM ruling with a fresh complaint to the Constitutional Court.
Yesterday, the court rejected the lawsuit by lawmaker Peter Gauweiler from the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party of Dr Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). If he refiles the complaint, it could delay or upset the ECB plan. Karlsruhe has no jurisdiction over the ECB but could force Germany out of the euro if the ECB were deemed to fail in its obligations to be independent and to focus on a stable currency.
While Germany's central bank has criticised Mr Draghi's bond-buying plans, Dr Merkel backs him.
Despite neither being an elected body, the Bundesbank and the court are two of Germany's most popular institutions, entrusted with safeguarding democratic and economic stability. But the euro crisis has accelerated the rate at which new EU financial legislation clashes with German economic and legal concepts.
Agencies