FRANKFURT (MNI) – Questions regarding the legality of the European
Central Bank’s recently-announced bond buying program could soon find
its way to the European Court of Justice, the Bild reported on Tuesday.
According to the German daily, there are doubts within both the
European Central Bank and Germany’s Bundesbank about whether the
recently-announced bond purchase plan is legal.
In-house lawyers at the central banks are looking at the limits,
both in terms of timing and amounts, beyond which would constitute a
breach of the EU treaties, the paper reported, citing information it had
obtained.
As a result, the “explosive” question could soon be submitted to
the European Court of Justice for clarification, the newspaper added.
There is strong sentiment in Germany against the ECB’s new bond
purchase plan, known as “outright monetary transactions” (OMT), and it
has been criticized publicly by Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann and
in much of the German media.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@mni-news.com
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