German Court Tosses Out Challenges to Greek Bailout

While some were pleased with the outcome, others were not. German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter said after the ruling, “The government already adheres to the requirements to seek approval from the budget committee for new payouts under the rescue fund. The government got full backing from the court.”

But one of the plaintiffs, law professor Karl Schachtschneider, said of the decision, “The court bears the historic responsibility for the destruction of the euro—and even more so: for the destruction of the EU. The ruling is a blow especially for the poor in Germany as the court declines to protect the value of our money, which will hit the poor most.”

Schachtschneider and his fellow plaintiffs, economists Joachim Starbatty, Wilhelm Hankel and Wilhelm Noelling, former Thyssen AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Spethmann and Peter Gauweiler, a lawmaker from the Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, had argued that Germany’s participation in the bailouts undermines the budgetary rights of parliament and violates the right to democratic representation as well as the protection of property.

The battle will no doubt continue, as the German government continues to send mixed messages. Horst Seehofer, chairman of Germany’s Christian Social Union and Bavaria state premier, said he could not eliminate the possibility that Greece would be compelled to leave the euro zone. Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, warned that such a move could set off a dangerous domino effect.