Germany's top court on Monday is to convene its
judges for urgent consultations on a new constitutional challenge by
a German lawmaker to the European Central Bank's (ECB) bond-buying
program.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Constitutional Court said the judges
would issue a statement Tuesday on "how it would proceed" with the
objection lodged by Peter Gauweiler, who is a legislator in
Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition.
The spokeswoman said the judges would meet in private Monday
afternoon to consider the new case.
Gauweiler's move has raised concerns that the constitutional court
might be forced to delay a separate ruling on key parts of the euro
rescue plan, due to be handed down on Wednesday.
He is a member of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union
(CSU), which is a junior party in Merkel's coalition.
Leading members of the CSU have been critical of Europe's plans to
head off the long-running debt crisis, including moves to bailout
debt-stricken eurozone members.
They include the CSU's general secretary, Alexander Dobrindt, who
told the German daily Augsburger Allgemeine that he had "considerable
sympathy" for the objection submitted by Gauweiler.
Announcing his challenge on Sunday, Gauweiler described the ECB's
decision last week as "wrong and highly dangerous," saying the
unlimited bond-buying programme would place Germany's budget at risk.
He urged the court to delay Wednesday's verdict because of the ECB
move.
The Karlsruhe-based court has been considering about 37,000
objections to the constitutional validity of Europe's fiscal compact
on budget discipline and the creation of a new 700-billion-euro
(895-billion-dollar) bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM). The ESM had been due to come into operation in July.
A decision by the court to uphold the objections would represent a
major blow Europe's hopes for bringing the debt crisis to an end.
German critics believe both the powers for the ESM and the fiscal
compact are contrary to the parliament's constitutional right to
decide on budget questions and could leave the nation exposed to
unlimited liabilities. Germany would be the major contributor to the
ESM.
