Brussels, 17/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - German universities and business leaders have brought a case before the German Constitutional Court of Karlsruhe against the ECB's 'Quantitative easing' programme to buy back predominantly public securities.
According to this complaint, which was revealed on Sunday 15 May by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the plaintiffs take the view that the highly accommodative monetary policy of the European institution is not the best way of boosting inflation to the target level of 2% in the medium term and is associated with considerable risks to German taxpayers via the Bundesbank. This decision is the latest expression of the discontent which has been expressed in Germany over the monetary policy, which stands accused of running counter to the interests of savers.
The 'QE' programme aims to buy back €18 billion' worth of securities every month until spring 2017 at least. It obliges the national central banks to absorb any losses on the sovereign debts of their own member states.
Having already been questioned as to the compatibility of the ECB's monetary policy with the European Treaty, the Karlsruhe court is to return a decision by the end of the year on the 'OMT' programme for the unlimited buyback of public securities set in place in 2012. This programme, which has never been activated, manifestly helped to appease the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. When consulted by the Constitutional Court of Karlsruhe, the Court of Justice of the EU found that 'OMT' was in line with the treaties (see EUROPE 11336). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)