GERMANY’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ruled today that a small sub-committee in parliament, which was set up to approve the release of funds to struggling eurozone countries, is “in large part” unconstitutional.
The ruling follows a complaint by two lawmakers, which claimed the committee was in violation of the constitution.
The court ruled that German MPs should have more of a role in approving the release of funds to heavily indebted EU states, and that the nine-person committee currently in charge of hastening decision-making on the release of aid violated the rights of other Bundestag lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Following the ruling, either the 620-seat Bundestag or the 41 members of the budget committee will have to convene to decide on new loans to any eurozone country – for example Greece and Portugal.
However, the court also ruled that using the committee when deciding about the European Financial Stability Facility’s purchase of sovereign bonds on the secondary market is constitutional.
The decision comes just one day after Germany’s parliament approved a second €130 billion bailout package for Greece – and two days after a Bild am Sonntag poll showed that 62 per cent of Germans were opposed to Greece getting any more aid, reports Bloomberg.
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