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Testing the Eurozone’s Safety Net

On October 14, the European Court of Justice convened to begin assessing the German Constitutional Court’s ruling that the European Central Bank's “outright monetary transactions” scheme is illegal. This is a dangerous time for OMT – the eurozone’s most potent crisis-management tool – to be called into question.

PRINCETON – On October 14, as yet another financial storm gathered over Europe, the European Court of Justice convened in Luxembourg. In the coming months, the ECJ will assess the German Constitutional Court’s ruling that the European Central Bank’s “outright monetary transactions” (OMT) scheme – which allows the ECB to purchase weaker eurozone countries’ government bonds, in exchange for compliance with the rules of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) – is illegal.

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