Germany:Academics To Challenge Greek Aid In Const Court;Press

BERLIN (MNI) – German economics professor Joachim Starbatty
together with constitutional law expert Wilhelm Hankel and other
academics will challenge before the German Constitutional Court the
financial aid promises made by Germany and the other Eurozone member
states to Greece.

“We will file a suit at the Constitutional Court against the loans
of Eurozone countries for Greece,” Starbatty told German daily
Rheinische Post in an interview published Wednesday. The offered loans
were in breach of regulations in the Maastricht Treaty, the professor
argued.

Moreover, the loans were a forbidden subsidy for Greece because the
interest rate is to be below market rates, Starbatty reckoned. It would
be better if Greece left the Eurozone and its creditors forego some of
their claims against the country, he said.

The German government argued on Monday that the targeted rate of
about 5% on the offered loans reflected market conditions over the past
three to six months. It asserted that the aid offer was not in breach of
the country’s Constitution.

–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com

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