Brussels, 22/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Germany's constitutional court has asked the German president, Joachim Gauk, to postpone signature of the fiscal compact and the European Security Mechanism (ESM) to allow time to examine an appeal against them by far Left party, Die Linke.
Gauk agreed to examine Die Linke's appeal the day after Chancellor Merkel reached agreement in principle on the legislation with the opposition once a few concessions had been granted (see EUROPE 10639).
Ratification was initially scheduled for 29 June, but has no legal standing without the German president's signature. The Karlsruhe constitutional court says three weeks will be needed to examine the appeal lodged by Die Linke.
The ESM, a eurozone bailout fund with lending capacity of €500 billion, was supposed to start up in July, assuming it had been ratified by countries contributing at least 90% of its capital. Without Germany's go-ahead, it cannot start up on time. Gabi Zimmer, head of the GUE/NGL Group, is delighted with Gauk's decision, saying it provides an excellent opportunity to hold a referendum on the ESM and the fiscal compact. Thus far, only Ireland has used a referendum to ratify the fiscal compact. The Slovakian parliament endorsed the ESM on Friday, joining Portugal, France, Greece, Slovenia and Finland. (EL/transl.fl)