Bundesbank steps up attempts to seize control over euro bailout cash
The German central bank has called for the role of the European Commission in managing Eurozone bailouts to be watered down.
In its monthly report, published today, the Bundesbank said it wants the finance ministers of Eurozone countries to set and enforce the rules that govern payments made by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). It is the latest call from inside the country for tougher conditions to be attached to the emergency loans dished out to indebted EU members.
Germany is the largest contributor to the ESM and faces domestic pressure to wrestle back more political control over the multi-billion euro payouts to countries like Greece that rely on emergency cash to tide them over.
Read more: Details, reactions and next steps after the latest Greek bailout deal
Currently, decisions on repayment terms are taken in concert between the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The so-called troika was at loggerheads earlier this summer over the details of the latest deal to Greece, with the IMF seen to want a more robust commitment to debt relief than Eurozone politicians were willing to countenance.