Karlsruhe

In Europe 13th October 2014

EU: Challenged OMT is back in town

MADRID | The Corner | The European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT) will be back on the front pages on Tuesday. The European Court of Justice (the EU’s highest tribunal) will have to respond to the challenge of German judges, who said the OMT can be seen as monetary financing of governments, banned in EU treaties. “Every time the monetary union takes a step forward, German individuals and/or civil or political groups file a case with the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe,” our senior analyst Luis Martí commented.

In Europe 19th March 2014

Germany feels sure about European rescue fund- not ECB’s OMT

MADRID | By Julia Pastor| German judges are removing uncertainties little by little. The country’s Constitutional Court confirmed on Tuesday that the European Mechanism of Stability is legal and does not damage the Bundestag’s budget. Furthermore, they also approved euro zone’s fiscal pact. The court had brought an appeal against constitutionality of both treaties in June of 2012. The third appeal regarding ECB’s bond purchase program is still pending of a sentence, however, and apparently it would be more difficult to solve: Karlsruhe’s court has required European Court of Justice to decide against the program following the arguments -more economic than legal- that Bundesbank has handed to them.

In Europe 14th February 2014

Karlsruhe, ECB’s OMT or the turn of the screw

MADRID | By Luis Martí | Each time the monetary union takes a step forward, German individuals and/or civil or political groups file a case with the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. So far, the Court has sanctioned that German governments were correct in accepting obligations emanating from Maastricht or the Lisbon Treaty, for example, but at the same time, it has also turned the screw on the Berlin executive by setting more and more strict limits to their freedom of action, by requiring –for instance- higher levels of co-decision with the legislative organs.