EU rescue complaints heard by top German court

The German Constitutional Court opened new hearings on Tuesday on complaints against loans to Greece and other eurozone countries in a move that might affect a future European Union rescue fund. Crucial payments from the EU's economic powerhouse are nonetheless likely to keep flowing however, in line with arguments by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who testified in person before the tribunal.
Although the country's highest court is unlikely seriously to curtail the government's room for manoeuvre amid the eurozone debt crisis, it could weigh in on terms of a permanent fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Given popular discontent in Germany against eurozone bail-outs, others within the 17-nation bloc will follow the proceedings closely to determine how much leeway Chancellor Angela Merkel has to commit to future EU rescue plans.
Lawmakers within the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, including within Merkel's conservative coalition, have become outspoken opponents of additional aid. Some claim that rescue measures already taken violate no bailout terms of the EU's Maastricht Treaty or parts of the German Constitution.
Peter Gauweiler, a conservative deputy who is one of the plaintiffs, claimed that EU rescue plans and the mooted ESM constituted "a de-facto abrogation of (the parliament's) budget sovereignty." The court's ruling is thus expected to weigh the legality of German participation in the ESM, a permanent rescue fund designed to replace the current European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in mid 2013.
The court in Karlsruhe, south-western Germany, is hearing appeals against the government's decision to contribute to rescues for debt-laden Greece last year and the EFSF, which was established two weeks later. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble argued in a statement to the court that Berlin had to stand alongside eurozone partners, saying "a common currency cannot make it without solidarity among its members." He added that "no significant measure to stabilise the eurozone has been taken without the parliament's support."