You can see why Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble are back-pedalling so frantically over the EU summit deal. While Mrs Merkel seemingly agreed to let the European Stability Mechanism (bail-out fund) rescue banks directly – starting with Spain – she did not have the authority from the Bundestag to do so. Indeed, she violated a categorical prohibition by the budget committee or Haushaltsausschuss. Here is the wording of Amendment 2 to the finance law or Finanzierungsgesetz on the 26th June, the day before the Brussels summit, sent to me by a very well-informed German reader. Finanzhilfen z ... (full story)