German court gives conditional approval to Greece bailout

Germany's top court has ruled that aid for Greece, and rescue packages for other eurozone countries, was legal.

However, the Constitutional Court said in this landmark ruling that parliament must have a greater say in any future bailout deal and that all large-scale future aid packages must be approved by the parliament's budget committee.

Parliament must also have "sufficient influence" over the conditions attached to future rescue deals, a move that could limit Chancellor Angela Merkel in any new crisis.

The judges also insisted that the German Parliament may not approve any deal that leads to a pooling of national debt.

The ruling followed a complaint brought by six Eurosceptics, who argued that the first international rescue of Greece last year and the setting up of the European Stability Fund contravene both German and EU law.