Luxembourg, 19/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference on Thursday 19 June, the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, said that the Portuguese constitutional court decisions “have not made the Portuguese government's life very easy”. He said the ESM was aware of the Portuguese government's decision not to ask for the final aid instalment under its bailout plan, and commented that, “given the market situation, it's fine”. In order to be eligible for the aid, Pedro Passos Coelho's government would have had to submit new measures to compensate for savings planned in the 2014 budget that the constitutional court ruled last month were unlawful (see EUROPE 11092 and EUROPE 11100). Regling said the markets “did not have blind trust in Portugal, but did have a certain confidence. And the ruling had been expected” so there was not much reaction from the money markets. (EL)