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RAlph Brinkhaus was obviously not interested Tuesday in fueling differences of opinion in his own ranks. When the CDU man and the president of the Union faction in the Bundestag were asked before the start of another virtual meeting of deputies if they would also debate the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the bond purchase program of the European Central Bank ( ECB) confirmed this. There will be talk of “Of course”. You sit “in the background” and talk about how the Union faction should react to Karlsruhe’s criticism of the ECB.
But even the reference to the background nature of these discussions made it clear that Brinkhaus could not be expected to determine the content. Brinkhaus did not let his deputy Carsten Linnemann come to his side, whose critical view of the sometimes too great need for regulation by the European Union is well known. Next topic.
Trying to calm down
After the Court of Justice of the European Communities approved the ECB’s actions, the Karlsruhe judges ruled a week ago that the principle of proportionality had been violated. In the Union, which likes to present itself as the guardian of European values, it quickly became clear to everyone that it is a difficult signal when the highest court in the largest Member State openly questions the decision of the highest European court.
On Monday, the federal government made efforts to calm the conflict and resolve it in the most pragmatic way possible. At the CDU Presidium meeting, Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear that an explanation of the ECB’s bond purchases in response to the Karlsruhe judges’ verdict could continue. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert added a little later: “It continues to apply that the Court of Justice of the European Communities is the so-called guardian of European treaties.” “In our opinion,” the Federal Constitutional Court did not hesitate, Seibert said. He simply warned to carefully consider and justify in this case. “According to our analysis of the judgment, the Federal Constitutional Court has no doubts about the fundamental interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
“I consider a fatal decision”
But by then the boy had fallen quite deep into the well, as was clear Tuesday. Ironically, two of the CDU presidential candidates, and thus the chancellor’s bid, used the dispute to cover themselves again. They had gone there because they were not part of the executive and therefore had little to say in the past two months, that they were completely determined by the Corona crisis. Norbert Röttgen, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of Bundestag, sharply opposed the Karlsruhe trial. “This is the first time that I consider a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court to be fatal,” he told the “Passauer Neue Presse.” Röttgen does not seem to share the Chancellor’s hope that the conflict can be resolved calmly.
In his opinion, the Karlsruhe judges “lead Germany into a conflict with the European Central Bank and the European Union that cannot be resolved.” Röttgen, the foreign and European politician, fears that critical EU countries may trust Germany’s judgment. “Significantly, congratulations came from the national conservative government in Poland.” It was supported by the brother party.
“Red line” exceeded
CSU MEP Markus Ferber accused the German court of having crossed a “red line”. He was “on the side of Norbert Röttgen”. However, Ferber did not question that Germany had the right to obtain more information about the ECB’s loan program. He was also skeptical at Deutschlandfunk about an infringement procedure that the European Union is considering. Ursula von der Leyen is run not only by a German woman, but also by a CDU politician.
