Part II Developments at the EU Level, 8 Economic Governance

The concern of the Bundestag to oppose any relaxation of the stability criteria derives support from the Protocol on the Convergence Criteria. Without German agreement, the convergence criteria cannot be relaxed. Extract from the Judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court, 18 October 1993, recital 861 We must not apply the treaty provisions on imposing [fiscal] mandatory requirements and sanctions too mechanically. …More respect should be given to the EU members’ primary competence over economic and fiscal policy. Gerhard Schröder, former German...