July 9, 2012
Germany's Constitutional Court was set up after the war as part of an elaborate system of checks and balances. But recently it has been hampering the Germany government's efforts to solve the euro crisis, much to the annoyance of some politicians in Berlin. Critics accuse the court of wanting to safeguard its own power.
It isn't often that German Chancellor Angela Merkel shows her displeasure at something. One of the chancellor's strengths is that she is able to keep her emotions in check, which explains why her fellow party members were so surprised when the subject of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court was raised in a meeting of the executive committee of her center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) two weeks ago.
The judges had just admonished Merkel for disregarding the rights of the parliament during efforts to rescue the euro. It was already the second ruling in this vein this year. Criticism of Germany's highest court is generally viewed as inappropriate in political circles, but this time the chancellor had had enough.
How, she asked, could she pursue reasonable policies if she had to reveal her negotiating tactics before every meeting with a European leader? "This takes me to my limit," Merkel complained, to a murmur of approval from her fellow CDU members. They quickly realized that the chancellor views the judges as unrealistic law professors with no understanding whatsoever of the challenges of everyday politics.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.