The German Court in the E.U.: Exasperating or Mitigating Germany's Veto in the E.U.?

Did Angela Merkel violate the property rights of residents in the state of Germany by agreeing to the initial bank bailout in the E.U.? Should she have gotten the approval of the Bundestag first? According to a German state court on September 7, 2011, “no and a qualified yes.” The court ruled that the approval of the Bundestag’s budget committee is necessary for significant increases in the European Financial Stability Facility. The question as put by The Wall Street Journal the day before the ruling can be viewed as whether parliamentary politics on the state level should be allowed to potentially slow or obstruct the E.U.’s crisis-response ability. That is, should the prerogatives of state officials be strengthened just when the E.U.’s monetary affairs require more rather than less fiscal coordination?  By requiring the approval of the budget committee in the lower house of the state legislature, the German state court ruling avoids the potentially aggravating effects of a wider circle of state legislators. Even so, other states could follow suit with respect to their committees, making it more difficult for state officials to function at the E.U. level.

The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon.

The European Union: Dissolution or Consolidation?

In its 1993 Maastricht decision, the German Constitutional Court ruled that national authorities are not bound to respect and apply Community law to the extent that it exceeds the outer boundaries of Germany’s transfer of sovereignty to the E.U.  The Court also ruled that no transfer of sovereignty is valid to the extent that it results in a violation of the fundamental individual rights guaranteed in the German Constitution.  Nevertheless, a subsequent ruling on this subject indicated a willingness to rely on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for the vindication of those fundamental rights.

The complete essay is at Essays on Two Federal Empires.