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The court rejected an attempt to delay further a ruling on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and fiscal compact, which had previously been pushed back by months while the judges reviewed whether the German parliament is permitted under the constitution to ratify the treaties. Further delay to the ruling on the ESM would have upset bond and currency markets which are already on tenterhooks awaiting the green light from the 17-member eurozone's biggest economy.
Bielefeld University law professor, Franz Mayer, said the decision on Tuesday not to admit the last-ditch challenge lodged by conservative, eurosceptic lawmaker Peter Gauweiler was a "positive signal" for those hoping the court will allow the ratification of the new EU deal on Wednesday. "It indicates that the judges know very well what they can do and what they cannot do and proves that they are well aware of the consequences of their decisions in the euro context", he said, adding that Gauweiler had a record of "filibustering". Nonetheless, EU financial legislation is increasingly butting against limits the German constitution sets on national institutions relinquishing powers, so more cases seem likely.
The constitutional complaint by Gauweiler, a member of the Bavarian regional party in Merkel's centre-right coalition, could still upset European policymakers' latest attempts to solve the three-year-old sovereign debt crisis. His case, lodged at the weekend after the European Central Bank announced plans for unlimited purchases of bonds of crisis-hit euro states to reduce their borrowing costs, was not admissible for procedural reasons, legal experts said - because an ongoing case cannot be broadened to include new complaints.
But some law professors said Gauweiler's argument - that Germany should not ratify the ESM until the ECB rows back on the bond-buying plan - could hold water and will pose a problem if Gauweiler, a frequent plaintiff in Karlsruhe, refiles his case. The court did not go into its merits in a statement which said only that Wednesday's ruling "will go ahead as scheduled".