German high Court to rule in 1 hour on legality of ECB financial weapon OMT https://t.co/H9Uka1x1W1 via @FT by @senoj_erialc

— Asgeir B. Torfason (@asgeirbt) June 21, 2016

German high court rejects case against ECB crisis tool https://t.co/HjP7hGGe1d

— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) June 21, 2016

Hans-Werner Sinn, Professor of Economics and Public Finance at the University of Munich, was President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and serves on the German economy ministry’s Advisory Council. He is the author, most recently, of The Euro Trap: On Bursting Bubbles, Budgets, and Beliefs

www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bundesbank-omt-brexit-test-eu-by-hans-werner-sinn-2016-05

MUNICH – June is shaping up to be a fateful month for the European Union. On June 21, the German Constitutional Court will rule on a challenge to a bond-buying program that is central to the European Central Bank’s response to the continent’s debt crisis. Two days later, voters in the United Kingdom will decide whether the UK should exit the EU. Both decisions will have serious consequences for the EU’s long-term political and economic stability.

The judgment by the German court is the less spectacular of the two, but it addresses the heart of the ECB’s interpretation of the Maastricht Treaty. The plaintiffs, who include members of the Bundestag, have questioned whether the Bundesbank should be allowed to participate in the ECB’s outright monetary transactions (OMT) program, arguing that it violates Articles 123 and 125 of the EU Treaty, which they claim forbids government bailouts with the printing press.

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That would put an end to some pipe dreams, but it would also mean taking a step toward strengthening accountability and put the eurozone back on the path to hard budget constraints, without which no economic system can survive.

Here a video clip with my remarks on green energy made
by the University of Amsterdam: https://t.co/wumgx94FJu

— Hans-Werner Sinn (@HansWernerSinn) May 13, 2016