German litigation may trap ECB in pincer
Multiple uncoordinated legal actions compound Merkel’s woes
The European Central Bank may become trapped in a disruptive pincer movement as a result of four disparate German court challenges to vital elements of Germany’s European policies.
The litigation at the constitutional court in Karlsruhe could, in extreme circumstances, upset the European Union’s plans for a ground-breaking €750bn borrowing programme, starting this summer, and the ECB’s possible autumn extension of its €1.85tn emergency asset purchases.
The lawsuits signal a new phase of intensity in a 30-year jurisdictional tussle over European integration. German judges and lawyers increasingly argue that European policies infringe German constitutional principles, especially parliamentary budget sovereignty. Permanently breaking the impasse would require Germany to amend its constitution, allowing greater financial integration to accompany monetary union. However, all sides deem this solution politically impossible.
The latest legal action, including delaying German ratification of the Next Generation EU plan, could result in the court asking for further Berlin parliamentary control over borrowing, lending and disbursements under the recovery plans agreed in July 2020. This could undermine the EU’s aim of setting up a pan-European sovereign borrowing agency. And it would dismay Germany’s European partners at a difficult time for Angela Merkel, due to step down after Germany’s September parliamentary election.
A senior government official said he was ‘not losing any sleep over the matter’. At present, just over half the EU’s 27 members have ratified the NGEU plan, but pressure on Germany to move ahead will rise if it becomes one of the last ‘hold-outs’.
The chancellor is turning defence into attack on several fronts (see Box 1) after recent state election losses and opinion poll setbacks caused by disappointing pandemic-fighting results and multiple party misdemeanours.
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Πηγή: omfif.org
