Monetary Union Financial Stability Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on the assumption of guarantees to maintain the solvency of the Hellenic Republic, which is necessary for financial stability in the monetary union |
| Short title: | Monetary Union Financial Stability Act |
| Abbreviation: | WFStG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Budget law |
| References : | 660-6 |
| Issued on: | May 7, 2010 ( BGBl. I p. 537 ) |
| Entry into force on: | May 8, 2010 |
| GESTA : | D015 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The Monetary Union Financial Stability Act (WFStG) in the long title Act on the assumption of guarantees to maintain the solvency of the Hellenic Republic required for financial stability in the monetary union of May 7, 2010, enables loans for Greece to overcome the Greek financial crisis and stabilize the euro .
With the WFStG, Germany implemented the decision made together with the other member states of the euro zone on a financial aid package for Greece, which is linked to a three-year program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The overall program has a volume of 110 billion euros, of which the IMF is assuming 30 billion euros. The German share of the loans over the entire period amounts to around 22.4 billion euros. The loans are granted to Greece by KfW Bankengruppe , for which the federal government guarantees.
As the Greek crisis soon expanded into the euro crisis , the European Council decided to set up the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) just a few days after the Monetary Union Financial Stability Act was passed . In order to implement it in German law, the law on the assumption of guarantees within the framework of a European stabilization mechanism followed on May 22, 2010 . The ESM, which was used to finance loans for Ireland and Portugal in 2011 , is basically based on a similar functionality to aid to Greece, but has a different legal basis.
Emergence
On May 7, 2010, the German Bundestag and the German Bundesrat passed the WFStG. The SPD parliamentary group largely abstained from the vote in the Bundestag, as the government had not complied with the SPD's demand to campaign for the introduction of a financial transaction tax . The law of May 7, 2010 was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on the same day ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 537). It came into force the day after its promulgation (May 8, 2010).
Constitutional Complaints
The Federal Constitutional Court rejected the urgent requests according to § 32 BVerfGG against the law as unfounded.
On May 7, 2010, Joachim Starbatty , Wilhelm Hankel , Wilhelm Nölling , Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider and Dieter Spethmann filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court. In their opinion, the billion- euro loan violates the no-bail-out clause in Article 125 of the TFEU , which excludes any liability on the part of Member States or the European Union as a whole for the debts of other Member States. The aid to Greece turns the EU into a "liability and transfer company". In addition, the German Bundestag was not included in the resolutions in the form required by the Basic Law .
On September 9, 2011, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional complaints as unfounded, as far as admissible. There are no sweeping constitutional concerns about the Monetary Union Financial Stability Act and the Act on Assumption of Guarantees within the Framework of a European Stabilization Mechanism.
See also
Web links
- Text of the Monetary Union Financial Stability Act
- bundestag.de: Report on the day of the meeting (with further links)
- Roll-call votes (with further links)
