ECB again defends bond-buying programme in Germany’s top court

The European Central Bank defended on 16 February 2016 its never-used scheme to potentially buy unlimited amounts of government debt in Germany's Consitutional Court, insisting that such programme did not overstep its mandate.

A preliminary rule from this court in 2014 had agreed with concerns from Eurosceptics, passing the case on to the European Court of Justice before issuing its final ruling. The ECJ considered there hadn't been any violation of EU law, leaving the German court to issue its final decision.

The ECB launched its Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) scheme in 2012 at the height of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis as a weapon to warn off investors from speculating on government bonds.

The programme was never implemented and later on superceded by a bigger bond purchasing programme known as Quantitative Easing (QE).

In May 2016 the Constitutional Court announced that it had received a new complaint against the ECB's monetary policy.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The OMT programme announced by the ECB in September 2012 is compatible with EU law http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-omt-programme-announced-by-the-ecb-in-september-2012-is-compatible-with-eu-law/

ESO: Background information: The German Constitutional Court's ruling on the ECB's bond buying decision http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-german-constitutional-courts-ruling-on-the-ecbs-bond-buying-decision/

BBC News, 16.02.16: Top German court questions ECB bond-buying http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35586118

Deutsche Welle, 16.02.16: Fight over ECB bond-buying returns to German court http://dw.com/p/1Hvu2

The Local.de, 14.02.16: German court to probe ECB bond-buying http://www.thelocal.de/20160214/german-court-to-rule-on-ecb-bond-buying

Luxemburger Wort, 15.02.16: Germany's top court to examine if ECB's bond-buying is legal https://www.wort.lu/en/business/outright-monetary-transactions-germany-s-top-court-to-examine-if-ecb-s-bond-buying-is-legal-56c171200da165c55dc52cab

EurActiv, 17.05.16: German constitutional court confirms complaint against ECB policy http://www.euractiv.com/section/euro-finance/news/german-constitutional-court-confirms-complaint-against-ecb-policy/

Euronews, 17.05.16: ECB monetary policies face complaint before Germany Constitutional Court – again http://www.euronews.com/2016/05/17/ecb-monetary-policies-face-complaint-before-germany-constitutional-court-again/

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