Economic policy ‘for politicians, not judges’

GERMANY’S finance minister defended the rescue packages for Greece and other eurozone countries at a supreme court hearing yesterday, as opponents argued the bailouts violated German and European law.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Federal Constitutional Court that “the stability of the euro is of paramount significance.”

He pointed to the risk of financial instability across Europe and beyond at the time the government signed on to the initial Greek rescue of May 2010 and, shortly afterward, the wider eurozone fund.

Those plans foresee Germany — Europe’s biggest economy — guaranteeing loans up to €22.4 billion for Greece and €147.6bn for other countries.

The plaintiffs filed their suit to block the rescue measures before they were agreed and want Germany to pull out. Among the plaintiffs is Peter Gauweiler, a backbench politician with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc who has challenged previous European integration measures, as well as a group of professors.

Chief Justice Andreas Vosskuhle said the right economic strategy in the crisis was a matter for politicians, not judges. But, he said, his court “has to consider the limits that the constitution sets for politicians”.

Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider, speaking for the professors, insisted that “what is economically wrong can’t be legally right.”

A ruling is expected later this year.