German government’s court setback unlikely to impact EU fiscal rule reform

A German court ruling that forced Berlin to freeze 60 billion euros in planned green investment spending is unlikely to have much impact on the reform of EU fiscal rules now under review, senior euro zone officials said on Thursday. The German government froze major spending pledges on Wednesday after the country's constitutional court declared the use of left-over pandemic emergency funds for green investment unconstitutional. The ruling raised questions about the credibility of Germany's hawkish Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who is pushing for a stricter approach to EU fiscal and debt rules, called the Stability and Growth Pact.