Rosalia SánchezSEGUIRCorresponsal in Berlin Updated: Save Send news by mail electrónicoTu name *
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As a reaction to the judgment, criticism issued by the German Constitutional Court last may, with regard to the programs of debt purchase by the ECB, the plenary of the German Bundestag has approved this afternoon a motion of support to the issuer committee and to its policy of buying bonds, backed by the votes of the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU, the social democrats of the SPD, the liberals of the FDP, The Greens , with only the opposition of the parties of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the far-left Die Linke. “The fact that we are voting together practically all the parties of the house, from the conservatives to the greens, in addition to social democrats and liberals, is a sign very clear to the Bundesbank, which of course may continue to do their shopping, but it is also a signal very clear to Karlsruhe from the Bundestag we will continue working on the responsibility of the european integration with eagerness continued and consistent with through our intense parliamentary activity. And, finally, it is also a signal to Brussels, so you know there that we have neither the slightest doubt about the independence of the ECB and the independence of the Bundesbank”, concluded the deputy of the CDU, Andreas Jung.
The argument of the responsibility for germany towards the european integration, collected by the German Constitution , has been the most used in the interventions. Christian Petry, the SPD, has referred to this principle as an engine, not only of this motion of support, but there is also an unfinished fiscal integration that Europe has pending in its opinion and that the great German coalition wants to reinforce. “Let’s defend bravely to Europe, his open society,” he said, continuing: “let’s Seize this opportunity to move forward in the Europe peaceful, fair and ecological that we want to”. Petry has also been highlighted in another argument repeated over and over in the debate, the competition for the control of the ECB, which does not lie in the German Constitutional nor in the Bundestag, but in the European Court of Justice, an assertion that aroused outbursts of cholera on the banks of the AfD.
“Since 2015 it is perfectly clear that the ECB is violating the sovereignty of european and that this zoombización of the economy can only lead to a depression”, has responded to the deputy AfD Peter Boehringer, who has cited documents of Commerzbank which in turn cited reports of the ECB in which they spoke of “risks for stability” of the european economy. “And if you don’t see it is because they do not want to see. AfD takes years filing motions, bringing the matter to parliamentary committees, 7 of the 10 motions about the we have raised us, 6 of the 11 parliamentary questions, but has had to be the Constitutional Court who take care of a control that you are avoiding”.
The nuance introduced by Florian Toncar, of the FPD, is that “the independence of the ECB does not mean you can act without controls”
Fabio di Masi, member of parliament for Die Linke, has explained why his party voted against it because his party does not accept “that the ECB can finance banks but not be able to finance States”, since the speakers in favor were stressed in repeated interventions that the programs of bond purchases “does not mean the financing of States by the ECB” and are “a proportionate response” to the crisis. The nuance introduced by Florian Toncar, of the FPD, is that “the independence of the ECB does not mean you can act without controls”, that “buying debt is not the same as moving to interest rates, so we have to be aware that they are nearing a dangerous border”, and that “a central bank is not independent to the extent that it has bought a lot of debt and is too exposed to a party, to a government” .
The member of the Council of the ECB, Yves Mersch , has declared that it considers that “after this vote, there is no obstacle for the Bundesbank to continue with its purchases” of debt. The Constitutional Court also considers the case “closed and is not acting on its own initiative on the topic, once all the answers that his statement calling on the Bundesbank have been brought up, according to a spokesman. However, the institution continues to be legally obliged to examine the material received and the background of the question if you receive a demand in that sense and, as has been expressed by the parliamentarians of the AfD during the debate, the demands will keep on coming, as this party believes that “you are putting at risk the solvency of the Bundesabank and the stability of the German economy”.
Before the parliamentary session, in a charge addressed to the Bundestag, the Finance minister Olaf Scholz claimed to have examined the documents provided by the Bundesbank, provided by the ECB itself. And concluded that the German central bank will be able to continue participating in the programs of asset purchases by the ECB, in accordance with the opinion issued by the Constitutional and having demonstrated the proportionality of its operations. “From our point of view, the Bundesbank is allowed to continue to participate in the implementation and enforcement of the decisions of the ASPP,” he says. (…). Therefore, I intend to send to the Constitutional Court the documents to prove that it complies with the requirement of the opinion issued in may.”
