Asked about the question of parliamentary control over the European Financial Stability Facility, recently mandated by the German constitutional court, Merkel deadpanned: “We do live in a democracy and we are pleased about that. It is a parliamentary democracy. That means that the budget is a key prerogative of parliament. Thus we will find ways to organize parliamentary codetermination in such a way that it is nevertheless market conforming, so that the appropriate signals appear in the markets. I hear from our budget specialists that they are conscious of this responsibility.”
